By Tank Hoover

Dick Wizda was the local neighborhood cop. He had five kids and struggled to make ends meet on his cop salary. Dumpster diving for day-old donuts was common cuisine for his family. Despite having a large family, Dick always had time for other kids in the neighborhood. Piling kids into his woody station wagon with a, “Hop in boys, we’re going to town!” was always an adventure. The usual tour included going to the local surplus store followed by ice cream at the soft ’n serve. Everyone loved Dick! He had a sense of adventure about him, no matter what he was doing, no matter how mundane.

It was nothing for us kids to come home from school and see Dick skinning a deer hanging from a tree in his front yard. Dick would tell us all the details of the hunt, making us feel as if we were with him when he pulled the trigger. It was during these times I realized how important it was to note the details when telling a story, to help paint a picture in the listener’s head, just as I was imagining being with Dick when he told his tales.

Dick was an innovator. He kept the trajectory of his .300 Savage taped on the stock of his Savage Model 99, sewed strips of fluorescent orange crossing guard belt to his hunting coat for visibility, and collected urine from the bucks he killed to use as buck lure during hunting season. He was one of the first I ever heard of reloading his rifle and pistol cartridges. He was even crazy enough to hunt squirrels with a Smith and Wesson model 17 .22. Everyone in camp thought he was nuts when he left with his pistol, but they all ate crow when Dick returned with a brace full of bushy tails. Dick made squirrel gravy with biscuits for dinner as he told us how he did it.

An Adventure In a Box

Whenever Dick was to go on an out of town adventure, he always had his hand-made red box loaded on top of his woody station wagon. Made of marine-grade plywood to keep its contents dry, he painted it bright red and it made his wagon like the inspiration for the “Ghostbusters” emergency vehicle. This box contained anything for any kind of situation imaginable. First-Aid kit, boxes of cartridges, canned goods, fire-making tools, an axe, shovel, saw, frying pans, pots, an old tarp, fishing rods, anything!

It always seemed whenever we were on a hunting, camping or fishing trip, if we ever needed something, ol’ Dick would look in his “emergency box” and pull out whatever we needed. It might not have been the exact tool or item for the job, but through innovation and imagination Dick could make it work. This was usually followed with a laugh and a surprised look on his face that it actually worked.

This was a big lesson to us kids. Don’t be afraid to try things out and use your noggin for more than a hat rack. Think about your problem, analyze it, kick it around with your buddies, and go at it! If it doesn’t work, try something else.

Hook, Line & Sinker

Dick always seemed to have the perfect treat for us kids at these outings. He was tricky about it. He would start out talking about when he was a kid, about how he would toast marshmallows on outings like this. Then he would describe how hot, gooey and sweet they were. Our mouths would be watering while Dick would keep on describing the roasted marshmallows until someone would finally say how they wished we had some now to roast. Dick would pause, lean his head back, close one eye and say, “There just might be some in the ‘emergency box’ and would get up to go look. He would always make a huge production as he pulled out various odds and ends until, finally, he would come up with them.

He would do the same thing with Baby Ruth candy bars, bags of potato chips, and even ice cream sandwiches packed in ice in a smaller cooler. The trick was the presentation and description of the item, and when we took the bait, WHAM, Dick would set the hook! Timing and presentation were everything to make the simplest treat seem like something special.

Ol’ Dick died much too young at the age of 56. I miss him. A lot. To this day I carry my own “emergency box” in the back of all my vehicles. Mine’s a gray plastic bin, rather than a hand-made red box. I figure an original box deserves an original character like Dick to carry it around with all his memories in it. The world would be a better place if we had more men like Dick Wizda. Take a kid hunting, shooting, or fishing. Get them involved in the outdoors and away from the indoor Gameboys and Xboxes. Show them what’s in your “red” box … no matter what color it is.

Check Back Each Wednesday For More Think Tank Articles

Make sure you get Think Tank every week. Click here to sign up now.