Wednesday, February 14, 2024
In Memory of Dave Webb
Dave was my next door neighbor at Willow Beach RV Park. I can only assume that initially he was deeply suspicious of me, a New Yorker woman moving into an adjacent trailer. But soon enough he introduced me to "Webb World," a conglomeration of trailers/structures on his three lots at the eastern end of the peninsula known as "The Pit."
Dave had created his own "mountain" of boulders to protect his lots from the high waves. It had a secret trail that he let me climb up and around each morning. Atop the boulders was one of three cannons he had salvaged during his jobs at Fort Niagara. The other two cannons were strategically placed pointing south over the lily pond and east toward his neighbor (not his favorite), as though the British were still expected to attack. He prided himself on his collection of local historical memorabilia that filled the walls of his TV room in one of the trailers.
The lot next to mine held his wood shed, a veritable "Home Depot" of tools. "Help yourself to anything," he said, soon after my arrival. One day he announced that I had a family of skunks under my trailer. "Got any mothballs?" he asked. I did--and together we tossed a sh..... load of mothballs at the cavity where we thought they were hanging out. Another time, a dead otter had washed ashore in front of my trailer. Dave scooped it up with a shovel and carried it over the boulders to toss it into the waves, giving it a proper burial at sea.
Talk about creativity! Last summer he constructed a floating raft, anchored off his bank of the pond. You could walk out on a shaky ramp, sit in a lawn chair contemplating the wildlife, feed the fish from a dish of pellets, and use one of the fishing poles to haul them in. He loved nature and was part of it.
Dave Webb was unique to this world. I miss him this summer and for many to come.
Laurene Buckley
