MIKE BRAUN R. Dale May will not be forgotten

In last week's column I wrote about buying locally when shopping for the outdoor lover on your holiday gift list.
I had the best of intentions when I named a number of local shops and businesses where readers could find such gifts.
Since the column was an upbeat and generally positive article, I was a bit surprised when I saw an e-mail early Sunday from a reader notifying me that I had erred.
The e-mail really hit home, however, when I opened it to find that the owner of one of the local businesses I mentioned in my column had died a few days earlier.
R. Dale May, as fine a person as you would ever want to meet, was the owner of the Books and Hooks fly-fishing shop in the old Maple Elementary School at 110 Maple Avenue in Girard. He died Nov. 13.
Dale, who was still young at age 62, was an exuberant promoter of fly-fishing. The times I visited him at his cozy little shop, he would excitedly take me around and show me the new items he had in or something else equally special that anglers might enjoy.
Dale's shop -- still appointed with the blackboards, chalk trays, wooden floorboards and lockers -- filled a nice little niche for area fly anglers, and I was disheartened to hear of his death.
New owners
If there is a bright spot in this sad story, it is the fact that someone will continue to operate Books and Hooks for the foreseeable future.
Bud Hanselman of East Liverpool and his son, Scott, are the shop's new owners. The elder Hanselman, a general contractor by trade, said that Dale was instrumental in getting him and his son interested in fly-fishing.
Hanselman said Dale contacted him about taking over the fly-fishing outlet shortly after he was diagnosed with cancer in mid-September.
"We are going to try to keep everything the same and run the shop the way Dale did," he said. "We even made Dale and his wife a promise that we'd have doughnuts for the customers at the shop every Saturday morning like he used to do."
For now, Scott, 28, will be at the shop full time.
Hanselman added that Dale will be missed very much. "He always had a smile and a joke for you," he said. "Sometimes they were a bit corny, but that was Dale."
Remembering Dale
Jay "Fishy" Fullum, a fly-fishing specialist, author, lure designer, illustrator, photographer, former newspaperman and local native, lamented Dale's passing.
Fullum, who visits Books and Hooks to sign books or give demonstrations, said he will miss Dale greatly. "It's very difficult coming back to the shop now," he said. "It will take some time."
Fullum and Dale had also been fishing partners, sometimes joining with Dr. William Sweeney of Boardman on fly trips.
Sweeney, a local dentist who for a time operated the Boardman Fly Fisherman shop where Dale used to work, said Dale was a true friend and gentleman.
"Dale was one of the most honest people I ever knew and a lovable guy," he said. "I can't think of one person who, after meeting him, didn't like him."
Sweeney concurred about Dale's proclivity for puns and said that, even staring his illness in the face, the Warren native was able to joke about his situation.
Dale got his first taste of retail selling at Sweeney's former Market Street shop.
"He was also a good salesman," he said. "He'd find out the level of a person's talent and then sell him exactly what he needed."
Countless anglers have been the beneficiary of his advice, recommendations and assistance over the years.
Dale was also instrumental in bringing in such experts as Oliver Edward, a well-known and top-flight fly-fisherman from England.
Impact
A Mahoning Valley native through and through, Dale touched a lot of lives. He was a 1958 graduate of McDonald High School and a 1966 graduate of Youngstown State University. He was a CPA and had retired just two years ago from First Place Bank.
The recommendation I made last week -- that Books and Hooks is a great place to find gifts and the like for the fly angler for Christmas -- still stands.
The shop is open, and Larry Hepler, who had been with Dale from the shop's start almost three years ago, stands ready to help anglers with the same type of friendly advice and tips that Dale offered.
And while Dale won't be there in the flesh to suggest this lure or that rod and point out an interesting book or new gadget, his spirit will undoubtedly join those of past schoolchildren at the old Maple Elementary School to watch over and guide the building's current occupants.
Here's to you Dale -- God bless.
braun@vindy.com