By Robert Lucke
One thing you can set your watch by, this Fathers Day Roy Shaw will probably be fishing and with his children, or his grandchildren or great grandchildren.
Since he and his wife Dolores arrived in Havre in 1948, Roy has fished and taken children and their children fishing in almost any pothole that could be even loosely construed as a fishing hole.
We have 10 grandchildren and three great grandchildren and I think I have taught most of them to fish, said Shaw.
Even if some do not hunt and fish right now, Shaw thinks it is a temporary vacation.
I have all my boys fishing and hunting all their lives and they get married and quit it, said Shaw with a laugh. But I think they will get back into it.
Going back to it has never been an issue with Shaw, who has fished and hunted himself since he was eight years old in Fairmont, N.D. There he fished the Red River and with lakes every mile and half to fish, it was a wonder he had time to walk the girl across the street to school. Her name was Dolores. They have been married for 52 years, have eight children and plenty of dogs around the house as well. In fact, there is a sign in Shaws dining room that reads, No home is complete without the pitter patter of doggie feet.
Fishing courses through the blood of all the Shaw children.
Jody (Lander) is my real fisherman, confided Shaw. She fishes all the time. And Jason, her son, fishes with grandpa everytime he gets a little time off.
If a Shaw does not fish now, just wait and he will is Roy Shaws philosophy.
I had Derrick out ice fishing when he was three. His leg slipped into a hole and he was stuck, Shaw remembered. I had to fish him out. Since then he has not been fishing all that much.
Winter or summer, the fishing is good for Shaw and associates.
You know, I think that ice fishing is as fun if not more so than fishing in the summer, Shaw admitted. People get out in their ice houses and boy do the stories flow when they are fishing.
Shaw has taught his children and grandchildren to fish for the same reason that he fishes.
You know, I just like being out in Mother Nature, said Shaw. If I hadnt fished all my life, I wouldnt be here now. It really helps me to relax and get out of doors.
Roy Shaw started out an avid stream fisherman. That is what he taught his children and found out the miles of stream fishing he has done really add up.
I was strictly a stream fisherman for a long time, said Shaw. There is nothing better. I would be three or four miles away from the outfit. You know how it is. There is always one more hole ahead of you. You know, through the years I think I have fished Beaver Creek, Clear Creek, and Little Box Elder Creek from their headwaters darn near all the way to the Milk River.
When the Shaw clan is not fishing or hunting, they are camping out.
All my kids loved camping out, said Shaw with a smile. I have had the shack on Beaver Creek Park for 32 years now and I have always taken the boys and girls out to camp. We still do.
I remember one of my neighbors out there, Bill Garrahan, saying that all he could see was a bunch of blonds swinging from the trees around my place.
Not only were there always Shaw family fishing and camping outings, but there were always neighbor kids to teach to fish, too.
We always had other kids with us, added Dolores Shaw. That is why I think it is such a good program in the schools these days to take kids out and teach them to fish. Why, the school even has poles for them to use.
Roy Shaw can sum up his life with his children and grandchildren very easily.
If you want to do something for a kid, teach him to fish, said Shaw with a smile.
And this Fathers Day, as with so many other days, Shaw is teaching so much more than fishing as he teaches kids how to fish.
