Now he told me the other day that as he gets closer to age 86 he is going to do the 46 peaks again so he can become an 86er.

Please run right out and buy my book, “You Know What” because there is a great story on page 104 about Ron and how he won the first annual Long Lake/Tupper Lake Flat Water 44-mile Marathon … after breaking an oar on his guideboat about a half mile into the race.

I am not telling you the punch line because then you won’t have to buy the book … and the story was written by his granddaughter, then Hailey Dell, track and cross-country star and now a star teacher in the Lake Placid Central School District. Hailey wrote the story as an essay to renew a scholarship she had been awarded the year before.

Ron has always said how much he loves reading the police blotter columns because he remembers some of the events and names as they occurred. So the following is a police story he wanted to share … in his own words.

1984 Plymouth Horizon (Photo — Cargurus.com)

Very popular car — stolen twice

“On a Friday in the early 1980s, a couple came into the dealership of Upstate Auto and purchased a car and traded in a Plymouth Horizon. After they left I parked the trade-in at the end of the building so it could be serviced and cleaned before being put on display with the other used cars.

“Later in the day a couple came in looking for a small used car. They spied the Plymouth Horizon at the end of the building and said, ‘Oh, that is just what we are looking for.’ I told them that I had just taken it in and it hadn’t been serviced or cleaned yet. They took it for a ride and agreed to buy it. I told them I would call them Monday when it was ready for delivery. Shortly after I got to work on Monday morning, a mechanic came up to me with a used car repair order in his hand and said, ‘I can’t find this Plymouth Horizon?’ I walked out with him and sure enough the car was nowhere to be found. I called the police and told them that the car must have been stolen over the weekend. Then I called my people and told them what had happened. They were very nice about it and said they would wait until they heard from me.

“Later in the day as I was out in the dealership I noticed a car going by. Suddenly I realized that it was my missing car. I ran into the building, called the police and told them I just saw my stolen Plymouth Horizon go by the garage headed out of town.

“I didn’t hear anything the rest of the day, but the next morning a policeman called me and said, ‘Ronnie we have your car here at the station. You can come down and pick it up and bring a copy of the serial number with you.’

“At the police station, I walked up to the counter and introduced myself to the only officer there. He invited me to come around the counter, verified the serial number of the car and had me sign a form. I then got a very serious reprimand on the importance of not leaving the keys in any car on the lot overnight. We have a very strict police but somehow that car got overlooked. He was right so I quietly listened. He ended up by saying, ‘all of this would have been avoided if the keys hadn’t been left in the car.’

“Then he smiled and said, ‘OK, follow me, we have your car out back. We went out the side door and down the alley [the police station was then located in the town hall where it should still be located] to the back of the building. Behind the building was an area enclosed by a high chain link fence with a wide gate.

“The fenced in area was completely empty. There was no car inside. The gate was open with a padlock dangling on it. The officer just started for a moment and then said, ‘Oh, my gosh. Whoever put the car inside last night forgot to lock the gate and take the keys out of the car.’

[I talked to Ronnie last Sunday and he did not say anything to the officer about the keys and the open gate…so I just want to say; that officer must have been in his small shoes after reprimanding Ronnie about the key thing.]

“I went back to the dealership. Later I got a phone call: ‘Ronnie we found your car. It was parked beside the road beyond the N.A.P.A. store.’ I asked if they knew who had taken it. The answer was, ‘we had an idea who it was from the start. It was Darwin Baker. Every year at this time he does something to get himself locked up for the winter.’

“I knew who Darwin Baker was [as we all did – he was always walking around town and as I remember he had problems]. The police delivered the car to me. I looked it over good and there was no damage done.

“We serviced and cleaned the car. I then called the people and told them they could come pick up their car. It was ready for delivery.”

[Ronnie told his story just as he remembered it, no editorializing. So, it was Darwin Baker who stole the car twice; once from the lot at Upstate Auto and once from the police confiscated car compound; And Darwin, if you are looking down on all of this, the car compound is now located at the Village Garage on Van Buren Street … but be careful, because big Wayne Voudren looks after things there.]