Let me first start off by saying I owe Will an apology.
I thought Will was like most men who have their own clique that they hang around with.
After talking with Will I was completely astounded with his answer and here it is:

If you could be anyone (musician, actor, or someone famous) who would you be?
His response was "Me".

I mean I have heard a lot of people say someone who they are not even close to but his answer
had me totally astounded when I heard the words "Me".

He also said if he could be anyone it would be hard cause there are so many people that inspire Will.

The first question was what inspired Will to write music?
His Response was "The Beatles" which he saw on the Ed Sullivan show.

Will started out playing a guitar then went from:

Guitar to Bass,
Bass to Fiddle,
and finally Fiddle to Bagpipes.

Wow, a man of musical talents and he still has time for interviews!

My next question was why does Bearidise inspire Will?
His response also made me wonder which was

"Bearidise is community minded.
We can be where we are without judgment from others."

I agree with Will that Bearidise is not judgmental and is community minded
But to some degree cause mostly the bears are there for relaxation and fun
not to work or do extreme tasks unless asked by a Bear.

To end the interview I asked the question which few people seem to ask Will.

It was what thrills him other than music.
His Responses were:

Bike Riding,
Swimming, and
Being with Family (the Bears).

So my interview with Will was a memorable one.

Will has showed me that you can't judge a book by its cover unless you read it first.

I've read Will and found that he is a really great guy and would offer any other Bear a nice catch.

Until next time Bears!

This is Jeff Griest Saying

STAY TUNED.......

Let me start by saying that I have met a lot of great friends and even some I consider family here at Bearidise.

First Person I'd like to thank is Brian Mcklveen for bringing me here. Secondly a big thanks to Dave Ressel and Andrew Churlik who brought me back a second time.

You could say it was my Second Coming.

And I would like to thank Arthur for allowing me to live here when I did.

This is my story of how I came to realize that I am and forever will be a Bear. Now as far as my story goes I think most of you know about my coming out, but for those who don’t here is how it went down.

After I came back from Bearidise I figured it was time to tell my mother that I was gay. Let's say it wasn’t the pleasantest of things and I was told my mother could not deal with a gay son, so I was asked to move in with my friend Robert but I thought about Arthur and the Bears I met so asked Arthur if I could live with him. He replied with “Yes” and so my adventure began although I didn't know what the hell would happen.
I just kept on finding myself and sticking to what my goal was which was to change and to change for myself, but I kept doing it for other people cause I didn't know how to do it by myself. I'm still at times trying to do things for other people cause doing things for myself seems meaningless.

However certain events would unfold that would test some of my friendships at Bearidise. Then a Very Unusual thing happened. In March Don, another bear who lived at Bearidise, took me under his wing  without even knowing me. Its funny and yet sad in some ways cause Don didn’t know me yet he was taking care of me. It wasn't til later down the road that a new change would begin. I was sitting on the deck  with Don's then fiance Roy was asked a ? by Roy that would really change where I was with my own biological father. He asked me if I wanted to be his son and for him to be my Dad. The Things going through my mind were:

What the Hell was Going on here?
Why the hell did this man want me for a son?
Could I trust someone and even attempt to love them even thou my own father abused me?
Would I  answer that question with a yes or run away and say no like I have done before?

Then with a few days thought I said yes and its been very positive in my life. Now I have 2 dads (even thou I don’t call one dad but my best friend).

Now the past 18 months with Roy and Don have been testy and even sometimes rocky as I have the tendency to misunderstand things. Roy and Don have shown me things in myself that I found rather difficult  to accept. I do things without even knowing that I have done them. If I have ever offended anyone here at Bearidise please know it wasn’t intentional.

Most of the time I speak my mind and as a wise drag  superstar said “What People think of me is none of my business”. I agree 100% percent on that cause what everyone thinks of me isn’t my business.
Another saying is “An ounce of anger is worth a pound of pain”.I agree with that 100% percent as well. Most of you have helped me out without even knowing u have.

I wanna say that I have met a lot of interesting people here at Bearidise. Some of us had disagreements, some of us even have a lot of things in common, some I even have worked with and found it was really cool to work with you, even if you were my boss and now a great friend. Now I am starting a journey of finding myself and also discovering the inner child in me who I have neglected for a long time.

Here's a question  for you all. Has anyone done something for you that was beyond the call of duty because, in the helping, it hurt them? Someone did for me and I don’t yet understand why they did it other than they love me.

Now, I have made some really good friends here:

Duke
Sam
Jacob & Sid
Jason
Patrick
Micheal
Aaron
Denny
Don W.
Dennis & Ray
Dwight Yoder & Jim Gray
Bill
Jeff & Frank

One person who wasn’t mentioned due to us losing him to a car accident was James Buescher who was from the same county I'm from, Solanco County, Pennsylvania.

James Buescher, I wish I got to know you better.

Thank you for taking the time for reading this.
Until next time … Stay Tuned ...

Jeffrey Louis Griest