THIS SMILING, HANDSOME FELLOW is Bob Heim
THIS SMILING, HANDSOME FELLOW is Bob Heim. We’ll get back to him in just a moment… Here at the Cabin-in-the-Woods, in the grove also known as the Church O’ The Pines, Kathy and I feed the blue jays. And crows. And red squirrels and gray squirrels. And nuthatches and pileated woodpeckers and other feathered friends. And deer. And a whole variety of congregation members. (It is, after all, an ecumenical gathering). This means that we regularly need to restock the tables in Fellowship Hall, or else the congregation gets cranky. And as any parson knows, nobody wants a cranky congregation.
So, from time to time, we visit this establishment to replenish our stores. Heim’s Mill has stood at the confluence of the Sauk and Mississippi Rivers since 1887(!) when the first structure burned down. It has now been operated by the Heim family for 125 years (!!) first by George Heim, then his son John, then his son Dave, then his son Bob. The guy in the picture. And now his son Nathan works there, too. That, my friends, is called a Family Tradition. And when the congregation is casting us sidelong glances and beginning to get surly, what a pleasure it is to visit such a fine place (on the National Historic Register) to keep everyone happy.
Carrying sunflower seeds and cracked corn and other goodies out to the tables, we have the sense that we are supporting not just a happy, healthy congregation, but a part of history. From a time when good people did good work for honest prices in a manner that was sustainable (for 125 years and counting). The smiles seem to cost nothing extra. Not a cent. Nor the concerned inquiries about Kathy’s health and well being. And I am informed, by the blue jays, that even the sunflower seeds taste a little bit better. And my congregation never lies.