Mac loved to sing! One of the many joys that we had was that we (The Quartet) got invited to sing all over the Valley and beyond. We did many church potlucks (Could hardly sing after the big meal). We sang in two melodramas, one in Crestone (I think) and the other in town. We never got booed or thrown popcorn like the villains. What fun!! We made a special trip to Lake City and had rooms in a very nice lodge. And you can't forget "Mountain Glow" every year near Estes Park. I used to call it 'The Barbershop Orgy'; quartets from all over the state competing in pick up quartets (each pick a card out of four decks so you had the 4 Kings vs.the 4 Jacks, etc. Some of us were horrible). We once went to Denver to a real competition and got first place in the Novice category. Of course, we were the only ones in that category. Just like being the best quartet in the Valley; of course we were the only quartet in the Valley. We always had some jokes to tell. One was that we thought of calling ourselves the "Four Decades" because I was in my 30's, Larry in his 40's, Don in his 50's and Mac was in his 60's. However, we thought that the "Decadent Four" might have been more suitable. Also, we posed the question of: When does life begin? I answered "At conception". Larry said, "When the baby draws its first breath." Mac pipes in, "You're both wrong! It's when the kids leave home and the dog dies." We always had fun, even during practice (Except when the Broncos lost the Super Bowl. At the first kick off to Denver, we ran it all the way for the first touchdown of the game. Unfortunately, that was the Broncos last touchdown - bummer!). That was one of the worst things about moving to SC - no more quartet fun. But Mac didn't give up. He sent me Barbershop CD's and a VCR of a Mountain Glow (I was horrible in it - Thanks Mac!) And I still have all of my sheet music. There is so much more to say about what a great person Mac was (And still is in my heart). I'm so happy that he is now enjoying the Reunion with his sweet wife Dottie. Those two were our surrogate "Grandparents" to our two young children. Moving (back) to SC gave them the chance to enjoy their real Grampa & Gramma (Patty's parents), but we still missed them all the same. Last Story. I was very fortunate to have worked under Mac at the Division of Water Resources. I first met him looking for a job in Geology and met a wonderful fellow Geologist. Two years later at our yard sale, he invited me to come sing with him and the guys. When an opening at Water Resources came up, he hired me as the groundwater commissioner keeping track of new irrigation wells. Many may not know, but it was Mac who got Colorado (the Valley) out of hot water by finally paying off the water debt we gained when NM and TX won a suit against us for using more than our share of water from the Rio Grande. It took years of being frugal of the Valley farmers use of irrigation, carefully watching the snow pack in the San Juans and predicting how it was going to melt in the Spring (without the weather tools we now have) and replenish the reservoirs and river and the ditches. He helped pay back over 900,000 acre feet of water to NM & TX. What an engineer! It was not a popular job with the farmers. These are just a few of the fond memories I have of Mac.