Main Sections

Lion, Solider, Gentleman Sharing Memories With Bob Barrows

Tuesday April 17, 2018

By Cookie Steponaitis

Keeping up with this father of four, grandfather of eleven, great-grandfather of eleven and great-great-grandfather of one is a task better suited for people half his age or less. At 92.5 years young, Vergennes Lions Club founding member Bob Barrows begins every morning with a series of stretches, twenty-five pushups, twenty-five planks, squats and an exercise regimen that many thirty-year olds might pause before attempting. Add to that a 3 p.m. ritual of using a tread mill/cross tracker through at least one television show because as Bob explains, “exercising can be monotonous,” this very fit super senior has a plan for health that has carried him into his senior years with health, sharpness and a passion for helping others. Sharing Memories with Bob Barrows is more about keeping up with Bob Barrows.
    Bob was born in the Little City on December 7, 1925 and raised in Vergennes which his family called home for generations. Getting a lot of his passion for helping others from his father Charles Barrows, Bob grew up the youngest of four children and worked helping his father in the drug store he owned and operated just up the street from Dalyrimple’s. “My father loved people and he loved to help,” explained Bob. “He always took time to listen to the people who came into his store and if he met them on the street there was more conversing. He would find small ways to help others and it wasn’t until the Fire of 1958 when the store burned that he found himself on the receiving end of needing help. I ran into the store and he was standing there in all of the smoke, unsure of himself. He grabbed the cash register and we ran out. The whole side of the street burned that day and some business owners rebuilt, while others like my father did not.”
    Bob graduated from the old Vergennes High School in 1944, joined the Air Force and served as an aerial gunner in a B-24. “You had to be really small to fit into the tight places in that aircraft,” grinned Barrows. “And let’s just say I fit the bill.” Coming back home to Vergennes Barrows worked as a taxi driver, coal hauler and saxophonist in a dance band in the area for many years. Bob married his sweetheart Virginia Lackard in 1946 and the couple eventually had four children. Barrows used his G.I. Bill and went to the University of Vermont graduating with a mechanical engineering degree in 1951. He promptly went to work for the Vergennes employer that has been known by many names including Hercules, Goodrich, Simmonds and is currently UTC. During the time Barrows was an engineer the style of manufacturing shifted and not only did the technology become revolutionized but the number of people employed at the Vergennes plant fluctuated and changed greatly.
    Barrows was invited to see a presentation by the Middlebury Lions Club about starting a Lions Club in the Vergennes Area in 1954. Needing twenty-five members to start the group, the newly formed Lions Club met in Ralph Booth’s Restaurant and in other locations while getting started. “Being in the Lions Club really appealed to me,” shared Bob Barrows. “There are clubs all over the world and they share the same mission, to help people and to have fun and fellowship.”  Serving as the third president or King Lion of the newly founded club, Barrows has served since in programs both large and small. “Lionism is about answering a call for need,” the founding member explained. “Lions actually stands for Liberty, Intelligence, Our, Nation Safety. We always had a good time and we did not make programs to fit people but raised money to fit the needs of the people.” Barrows is very proud of the scholarships, eye glasses and programs large and small that are a part of his memories of serving others. While the needs of the world are great, Barrows shared the formula for service is actually very simple; meeting with others, raising funds and awareness and sharing of time and energy brings about results. Whether it is the Memorial Day, Vergennes Day, scholarships, ramps or simple service projects like picking up the old Christmas trees, Barrows thrived when he was helping others. “I was the chair of the Merry Mulch group,” chuckled Barrows. “We picked up the trees and recycled them and my gosh did we have a bit of fun doing it. You know it really isn’t about the size of the project, it is about serving others and helping. Lions do that and have a great deal of fun at the same time.”
    Like any true Lion, soldier and gentlemen, Bob Barrows continues his recipe for life every day. He works on fitness and chuckles when he remembers basic training and the lessons learned between fourteen mile hikes and sleeping overnight in pup tents. “You realize they cover about half of your body,” explained Barrows with a smile. “I woke up in that hot Texas desert with a Tarantula about the size of a small dinner plate about three inches from my face. I tell you I broke speed records getting up that morning. I still love getting up and getting started with my day.”
    At last count Bob Barrows’ total tread machine fitness activities have walked him the equivalent mileage of walking to California and back and his twenty-five morning pushups have kept him healthy and motivated to talk to people, help people and find time to measure life in moments well lived and not in total time on the planet. The Valley Voice congratulates Bob Barrows and thanks him for being a Lion for sixty-three years, a solider in service of his country, a father, grandfather, great-grandfather and great-great grandfather and a man who will always listen and always try to find a way to help. “My father loved people,” concluded Barrows. “And everyone thought he was such a nice man.” Like father- like son.

Printer Friendly

Top

Advertisements

Search our Archives