Joyce Kane-Special to the Sun

On Sunday, Dec. 9, members of the Bodfish Beamers Club donated $500 in memory of Don Tolle to the Fish and Game Habitat Club at their annual Christmas potluck dinner at the Senior Center in Lake Isabella. It was a quiet affair with about 20 people in attendance.

The Christmas spirit was abundant in the room, but the mood was a bit somber when Art Robinson, representing the Fish and Game Habitat Club, and Barbara Tolle, Don’s wife, spoke. Don Tolle was the writer of 'Cook’s Corner' and a beloved member of the Lake Isabella community. He died on July 26 of this year. He was only 74. Robinson's wife, Barbara, also recently died. As they shared reminiscences, Robinson held back his tears while Barbara Tolle spoke.

Fish and Game Habitat Club representative Art Robinson, center, and Bodfish Beamers vice president Dee Messmore, right, greet Barbara Tolle, left, with a $500 check from the Beamers to the Habitat Club at the Senior Center in Lake Isabella Sunday.

'Still hurts me to talk,' she said, but she pressed on, '[Don was] a volunteer for everything that came along. His ultimate goal in life was to make everyone happy.' She said Don used to like to tell everyone, 'We met on July 30 and got engaged on July 31’Ķ Two years later.' They got married on the Fourth of July. 'July was our month,' Tolle said. 'He had to leave me on July 26.' She dabbed her eyes with a tissue. 'Yes, I miss him.' Robinson responded, 'We all do.'

George McCluskey, president of Bodfish Beamers, said the club was started by Lloyd Prindle in 1979 and is part of the international Jim Beam Bottle and Specialties Club, with over 200 bottle-collecting clubs in the United States and other countries. Members collect rare, antique, or unusual bottles known as 'specialties': everything from Jim Beam whiskey bottles to Avon perfume figurines in shapes ranging from cars and trains to people and animals, and even footballs.

Like other kinds of antique collecting, it can become an expensive hobby. 'You don’t have to collect bottles to join. Some people just come to socialize,' said Bodfish Beamers’ vice president Dee Messmore. Anita Carrington, club secretary, chimed in, 'Some people don’t like to dust all the bottles.'

Bodfish Beamers grew from 12 people in 1979 to more than 160 members in the 1980s, when the club became very prosperous through donations and fundraising. It is privately funded and currently has 35 members. Sometime in the 1980s, before McCluskey joined the club, Beamers officers and board members got together and decided to start a charity fund. The club currently raises funds with raffle events, pull tabs, bus trips, donations, chances on bottles and other projects.

Messmore organizes bus trips to Eagle Mountain Casino. Free buses are offered to groups of 20 or more. This year there were two trips, with each person donating $10, and some members of the Shriners Club coming along to form a crowd.

Every December, the Bodfish Beamers hold their annual Christmas potluck and share their bounty. They have a grab-bag gift exchange with all the presents bought by the club’Äîit’s free for all members to participate. Each member must also bring canned or dried food and a toy to donate to the Food Pantry on Lake Isabella Blvd.

Tolle joined the Bodfish Beamers in January 2007, right after he accepted their $500 donation to the Fish and Game Club at the Beamers’ Christmas potluck dinner in 2006.

Jim Parish, longtime friend of Tolle, writes a column for the Bodfish Beamers Newsrunner. He does historical research on various bottle specialties and companies. He said Tolle liked to collect decanters and mugs; it seems he liked to give them away, too. He gave a rooster bottle to Parish's wife, Marilyn. According to his daughter, Sheryl Muncy, 'He has thousands.'

Parish, McCluskey and Robinson all agreed that Tolle was a 'jokester.' Parish said, 'Don’s just like your buddy’Äîjust like your brother. You’d never see a frown on his face.' McCluskey said Don 'was always smiling, always joking around. He was very entertaining.' Parish confirmed, 'You’d never find anyone who didn’t like him.'

Robinson told a story about Tolle teaching Robinson's son, Ryan, how to fish. Tolle brought along ’Äòsnacks’: kipper, herring, oysters, Spam, sardines and crackers. He called it 'gourmet breakfast.' He encouraged Ryan, just a pre-teen at the time, to eat some. Tolle said, 'Just try one,' and the kid finally gobbled it up. Robinson said his son is 26 now and still talks about fishing with Tolle.

McCluskey explained why the Bodfish Beamers give to the community with, 'Because we like the valley. We could use the money to help ourselves, but we want to donate to help the community grow.'

The Beamers embody the Christmas spirit. On Sunday, friends were giving, caring, sharing, and supporting each other through difficult times. They truly 'pay it forward.'