Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org
Surnames: Schmitt
----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 1/31/2018
Schmitt, David “Grandpa Bear” (Rock Dam – 2018)
Rock Dam’s “Grandpa Bear” lives, teaches The Bear’s Life
David Schmitt of Rock Dam was joined by “Geraldine” a stuffed toy he uses to help in educational programs he does about bears. (Scott Schultz/Clark County Press)
By Scott Schultz
David Schmitt recently looked out of the fig window in his house overlooking the Rock Dam Lake; he talked about the enjoyment he gets watching and photographing the birds at his bird feeding station.
But no matter how much he professes his love for those birds, all about him says black bears always are on his mind.
Schmitt, who calls himself Grandpa Bear, has turned his long passion for black bears into a bear education program he does for people of all ages.
“Black bears have always interested me, and I want people to know more about them,” Schmitt said.
The depth of his black-bear interests is immediately visible to anyone entering his house. The walls, shelves and even furniture are filled with bear memorabilia.
There are bear knick-knacks, bear carvings, bear photographs, bear pillows, a bear quilt and a bear lamp. He has a nativity scene that uses bears.
Schmitt pointed to a large stuffed toy bear sitting in a chair.
“That’s my friend Geraldine,” he said about the toy. “She goes with me and helps me talk with people about bears.”
His interest in bears started when he was invited on a 1969 bear hunt in the Glidden area. That interest grew quickly, with Schmitt learning all he could about black bears while continuing hunting them.
Raised in the Colby area, Schmitt worked at Marshfield in law enforcement and then with a diary equipment company.
He and his wife Carol bought a cabin at Rock Dam in 1984. There, he established Hay Creek Outfitters to offer free assisted hunting services to people with disabilities.
The Rock Dam home has become known as Camp David.
Schmitt worked with other people in the region to continue offering hunting opportunities for disabled hunters.
He’s hunted wild game of all sorts throughout his lifetime and helped others hunt. But, he said, black bears always held his attention.
About 25 years ago, a friend who he got involved in hunting bears presented Schmitt with a stuffed toy bear that Schmitt started called Geraldine. Geraldine quickly became a traveling companion on Schmitt’s all-terrain vehicles, on which he had bear-paw prints and called Bear Patrol.
An interest in wildlife photography combined with his bear-related interests to help him collect many photos of bears in the wild. He also took part in bear-tagging programs that gave him access and understanding of black bears of all ages.
Schmitt said his age and ailing back dampened his ability to hunt as much as he had in earlier years. Caring for his wife, whose health has been failing, also drew him away from hunting. However, he added, none of those issues dampened his enthusiasm for researching all information he can find about black bears.
And then, he said, he woke to realize that he has the knowledge and materials to help others better understand the bears.
Schmitt developed the educational program he calls “The Bear’s Life,” which he’s started presenting at schools and wildlife education centers.
As the program’s name suggests, Schmitt discusses bears’ lives and habits from when they’re newborn cubs until their deaths. He uses visual aids, including his own photographs of bears of all ages, that he’s gathered throughout the years.
Schmitt said he’s been receiving positive feedback from the groups to which he’s presented “The Bear’s Life.”
“I’ve gotten out of the loop with the hunting, but the bear classes are really starting to take off,” he said.
There’s no sign that Schmitt intends to back away from his bear-related passions. Extra confirmation about that arrived in recent months, in the form of a bear-paw tattoo he had inked into his left shoulder.
“I knew that, at my age, my skin wouldn’t be sagging much more to make a tattoo look bad as I get older,” he said. “I’d always thought about getting a bear tattoo, and one day, just stopped at an Eau Claire tattoo place and had it done.”
“I didn’t know how scared a 73-year-old could be to get a tattoo.”
Bears are among David Schmitt’s favorite subjects. He recently expressed that feeling when he had a bearpaw tattoo placed on his left shoulder. (Scott Schultz/Clark County Press)
Schmitt turned his shoulder toward his house’s big window to shine more light on the tattoo. Just then, he noticed a few of his beloved birds at the feeding station and mentioned the deer that also visit the station and talked about the wolf track he’s recently seen near it.
But, as always, after a few moments his conversation turned back toward his interest in black bears.
Information about Schmitt and his black bear program is available at Geraldine of Rock Dam Lake on Facebook, or by emailing him at haycreek1944@gmail.com.
