A Tribute To Bob Lawton: 90 Years Of Fun

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— BOB LAWTON, 1931-2021, Published Thursday, December 9, 2021 —

Live Free Or Die:

Death Is Not The Worst Of Evils.

— General John Stark

A Tribute To Bob Lawton: 90 Years of Fun March 2, 1931 - November 11, 2021

Bob Lawton waterskiing in Lake Winnipesaukee in the 1950s with daughter Sandra in his arms. As he would later reminisce about this image he would always laugh and say, “if I did that today, they’d lock me up!” due to the fact that neither of them wore floatation devices in those days.

Bob on the Winnipesaukee Pier in the Weirs with his childhood summer vacation home in the background in the left of the photo.

“Do not expect and depend on assistance from strangers or anybody – you will succeed best by working your own way up. Merit is the surest way to success. … If you are independent and steadily employed your services will be in demand. If idle, no one wants you.”

Bob Lawton took these words from his grandfather Dennis Long to heart.

He kept them in a scrapbook about the man he always thanked for bringing him to New Hampshire as a young boy. If things had been different, Bob may have never come to live in Central New Hampshire

where he, along with his brother and business partner, John Lawton, opened Funspot, which is today the largest arcade in the world and a destination spot for people from all over the world.

Lawton, who passed away Veterans Day, November 11th at the age of ninety, spent every day of his life, up until Covid shutdown, seven days a

week, tending to the business he created along with John, who passed away in 2003.

Bob started the business in 1952 as The Weirs Sports Center above Tarlson’s arcade in Lakeside Ave in the Weirs after borrowing seven hundred and fifty dollars from their grandmother, Mary Long. Two years later he brought in his brother John as partner, and in 1964 turned their success in purchasing land on Rte 3 to open Funspot.

Bob’s story began far from the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee, in Akron, Ohio, where he was born on March 2, 1931. His father left when he was two when his parents divorced.

Bob, along with his mother Doris Lawton and brother John, moved to Lowell, Mass., where Doris was originally from, to live with her parents. Dennis A. and Mary Long.

Dennis Long also owned a summer home on Simpson Avenue in the Weirs and the family would

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— BOB LAWTON, 1931-2021, Published Thursday, December 9, 2021 —

Bob was thrilled by a chance meeting in 2015 with the current owners of his grandfather’s house on Simpson Ave. in the Weirs. Brian and Doreen Rillahan (right photo) were gracious hosts and let their guest tour the entire house, including the 2nd floor balcony (left photo) of the room where Bob’s uncle Alan Long would stay when he visited the Weirs.

Bob (right) at the ripe old age of 8 hanging out with some of his pals at the Weirs back in 1939.

D.A. Long (known as “pop”) age 69 and grandson Bobby Lawton age 5 in 1936 with a 7-¼ pound smallmouth bass D.A. caught near Jolly Island on Lake Winnipesaukee. spend their summers on Lake Winnipesaukee when Bob and John were just boys. It was on these visits that Bob’s love for Lake Winnipesaukee took hold.

It is interesting to note D.A. Long’s own business history to understand Bob’s own determination and perseverance.

D.A. was an entrepreneur and shrewd businessman who made

Bob (to right of sign) joined with other local business owners to fund the installation of the iconic lighted sign for the Weirs.

his mark in both the newspaper and baseball venues. He was responsible for starting the American League, the playing of the first scheduled night baseball game as well as the first dual circulation Sunday newspaper.

“His dedication to hard work and to be able to envision the future in business is in my genes,” Bob once said. (Bob’s quotes throughout this article are from interviews with him over the years.)

D.A. Long was pivotal in starting baseball’s American League as owner of the Toledo Mud Hens in the late 1890s, part of the minor baseball league that was formed due to the growing popularity of the National League. He later helped form the Western League which was renamed the American League in 1901 and grew to major league status where the League champion went onto play the National League champion in the first World Series in 1903.

Long, always looking for innovation, as would

his grandson, suggested the first night game on the Fourth of July, 1896 in Wilmington, Delaware.

The results didn’t go exactly as planned, but it planted a seed for the future of the game.

About 2,000 fans paid a dollar each for the event.

According to an article in a 1950 issue of Collier’s Magazine: “The lights were of the old-fashioned arc type with two sticks of carbon between which a flame leaped and sputtered.”

The “lights” didn’t exactly illuminate, and an indoor baseball was used as well.

Still, the fans were restless as were the players and when Honus Wagner came to the plate in the sixth inning, the Wilmington pitcher threw a “torpedo” firecracker instead of a baseball.

Wagner whacked the ball and there was a loud explosion and chaos ensued as the fans poured out of their seats demanding their money back.

Fortunately, Denny Long, with the foresight of what was about to come down, had already taken off for his hotel with the receipts. Seeing that the league really needed the money, he saved the day.

Having established the Lowell Sunday Telegram in 1899, D.A. Long saw the benefit of joining with another paper to help with circulation, an idea he had had for a few years.

Talks with the Boston Herald fell through and Long turned his attention to the Boston Post, which was selling for three cents a copy and had a circulation of 600 in Lowell. Long offered the Post owner, E.A. Grozier, one and a quarter cents per copy.

Grozier wanted to talk it

— BOB LAWTON, 1931-2021, Published Thursday, December 9, 2021 —

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Ribbon Cutting Ceremonies at Funspot .. The photo at left is the 1964 opening of the new location for Funspot on Route 3, with Bob (left), brother John, (right) and their mother Doris (Long) Thompson next to Bob. The ceremony was honored to have dignitaries attend from the city of Laconia and the NH State Senate. Funspot hosted another ribbon cutting in 2012 to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the business. Bob does the honors with the oversized shears surrounded by members of his and John’s family, many of whom are part of the management team that is continuing the founders’ legacy. over with his brother, but Long didn’t want to delay and he walked into Grozier’s office with a pile of money and said “I will buy 204,000 copies of the Post at one and a quarter cents per copy. Here’s the cash.

Count it.”

The deal went through and it ended up being extremely beneficial to both parties. At the height of the arrangement Long was buying 18,000 copies of the post for distribution with the Sunday Lowell Telegram.

“I never had anything in writing from Mr. Grozier, but his word was better than a government bond and as a businessman I believe he had no equal among the heads of American newspapers,” Long was quoted in a newspaper article.

Bob Lawton, like his grandfather, saw the growth of his business also start with just a handshake and inspired him as he grew into an adult.

As a teenager Bob at-

Bob with his wife Jeannette surrounded by their growing family at their home in Meredith in 1963. Donna (left), Sandra (right), and Timmy. tended Norwich University in Vermont where he achieved a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry. Still, Bob knew in his heart that wasn’t going to be the avenue he pursued.

“I wanted to do something fun,” Bob said.

In 1952, a college roommate of his raved about a new indoor mini-golf he had seen in Barre, VT, that was all the rage.

“I looked around the Weirs for a spot where I could do something like that. There wasn’t a mini golf in the area at the time.

I saw 6,000 square-foot the room on the second floor of Tarlson’s Arcade and thought that would be a great spot,” Bob said.

George “Jeff” Gefftas ran a snack bar on the first floor and rented the room above from George Tarl-

Bob and John where Funspot’s first outdoor attraction started. Hole #1 of the “famous landmarks of NH mini golf.” The brothers were a great team, akin to Roy and Walt Disney, for over 50 years until John passed away in 2003. son,” said Bob. “He had juke box dancing there but wasn’t doing very well. I said I wanted to open an indoor mini golf in there and Jeff agreed to partner with me. He would provide the coin-operated games and food and I would build the mini-golf.”

So, with the money borrowed from his grandmother, and with the help of his brother John, Bob opened the Weirs Sports

Center in the summer of 1952.

“There was a line out the door that first day at 35 cents a round of minigolf.” Bob said.

The next spring Bob, who was serving in the army in Alabama, bought out the lease from “Jeff.”

“I had a meeting with “Jeff” and John, Bob recalls. “I asked “Jeff” ‘How much do you want to get out?’ He said ‘$1,000.’ I

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— BOB LAWTON, 1931-2021, Published Thursday, December 9, 2021 —

Bob working on a major restoration of the Spindle Point mini-golf ornament. Working with Bob are longtime employee Gary Vincent (left) and Bob’s nephew and the Early on in business Bob and John were able to buy a company’s business manager Steve Lawton. The ornament truckload of used penny arcade equipment from a warehouse still stands as a centerpiece of the landscaping around the in Revere Beach, MA. The equipment needed extensive Funspot Ice Cream stand. restoration and repair before it was operable. Here Bob is restoring a ‘mutascope’ an early motion-picture device that flipped photographs in succession, giving the impression of movement. reached across the table, shook his hand and said, ‘you’ve got it.’”

“That was a pivotal point in this business,” Bob said. “After that I brought my brother John on as a partner, and he ran the business that summer. We paid “Jeff” a hundred dollars a week for ten weeks.”

With John running the Weirs Sports Center, Bob, still in the army, was sent to Pusan, South Korea, where he served in the Chemical Corp at the end of the Korean War. Through his life, Bob always talked of how the South Korean people always held a special place in his heart.

Returning to New Hampshire, Bob not only embraced their business, but also absorbed everything wonderful the Weirs and area had to offer. He was an excellent water skier and would spend many summer afternoons show-

ing off his skills. In the summer evenings it was heading to Irwin’s Gardens to enjoy the big names of Big Band who came to play like Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Harry James.

With the success of the Weirs Sports Center over the past twelve summers, in 1964, Bob and John purchased 21 acres of land on Rte 3, where Funspot sits today. Their first attraction, “The Landmarks Of New Hampshire”, an outdoor mini-golf course, opened on August 1st to crowds comparable to their Weirs Sports Center opening 12 years before.

“Business was good that first year,” Bob recalls. “We found out quickly that we didn’t have enough parking to handle the crowds, so we expanded the parking lot the next spring.”

In 1966 a driving range was built followed by the Indian Trading Post in

Bob and Calvin Hahn, jr. in 2015 displaying the new front they built to replace the weather beaten original one on the mini golf’s little summer cottage ornament. Cal was an extremely talented carpenter and dedicated member of the Funspot maintenance team for over 40 years. He unfortunately passed away in 2020.

1967. This was followed by the popular Indian Village which opened in 1971 and featured recreations of dwellings from Indian tribes across the country.

In 1976 Storybook Forest was built.

“We opened the Trading Post first to see if there was any interest in Indians,” Bob said. “When we saw the great response, we spent the next few years researching and building

Indian Village. We really had a ball doing it. John did a lot of research on it, he loved history. We wanted to make sure everything was authentic down to the last detail.”

“I used to compare John and myself, in our own small way, to Roy and Walt Disney,” Bob said.

Bob, like Walt, was always thinking of new ideas and John, like Roy, would figure out the way to pay

for it.

“We never did anything just to do it,” said Bob. “We always made sure that each project was something good to do and would create additional income. Everything always took a lot of planning.”

Storybook Forest was opened in 1976 as a children’s theme park featuring petting zoos, ventriloquist shows and some of the Mother Goose characters.

“Being outdoor attractions in this area of the country, it soon became too labor intensive to refurbish them every year so we closed them,” said Lawton.

“What really made this business flourish was video games.” said Bob. “Here at Funspot people flocked to play video games from the mid-70s until 1990.

We were in business for twenty-five years before we had a video game. Before that it was pinball and shooting games and the like.”

The first video game at Funspot was “Tank.”

At about the same time Funspot put in one of their enduring staples - SkeeBall machines.

“We originally bought seven machines,” Bob recalls. “I asked Hazel, the woman at Skee-Ball Inc., how many machines did she think we’d need. She told me ‘It doesn’t matter how many you buy; you’ll always need more.’”

Skee-Ball continues today to be the most popular game at Funspot. On a busy day all seventeen machines will be in use with lines waiting.

In 1981 Bob and John bought the property known as “The Enchanted Forest” across Rte 3 from Funspot and opened a two-story

— BOB LAWTON, 1931-2021, Published Thursday, December 9, 2021 —

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The outdoor mini golf was a monumental maintenance chore that Bob enjoyed very much through the years. Some of the ornaments were original hand made wooden structures built by Fred Thompson in the 1960’s. (left photo) Bob giving the North Conway Railroad Station ornament a fresh coat of paint. (right photo) Bob and maintenance crew member, Calvin “Bubba” Hahn, III doing a spring spruce up on the wooden rails. Bubba was hired

by Bob in 1984 and is still working full time year round at the business. arcade called “The Mezzanine” and gift shop. Along with video games there was a motion ride simulator and a shooting gallery.

During that time Funspot satellites were opened in Wolfeboro, Concord, Dover and Amherst as well as South Portland, Maine and Port Richey, Florida.

All were closed or sold in 1990 after the Video Game Boom went Bust.

In the winter 1988, Funspot added yet another addition, the 20-lane bowling center with room for another 100 video games.

With the addition of the Bowling Lanes a Tavern was built in order to meet the needs of bowling leagues. The tavern was the perfect opportunity to honor his grandfather and Bob’s daughter Sandra came up with the idea to name it the D.A. Long Tavern. Among some of the interesting paraphernalia adorning the Tavern walls today is a photo of D.A. Long holding a 7-½ pound bass caught off Jolly Island in 1936, In the picture with D.A.Long is “… Five Year Old Grand-

A surprise party was held in honor of Gary Vincent’s 30 years of service at Funspot. Bob & Gary worked together nearly every day and Bob always counted him as one of the most resourceful members of the Funspot employee family. son Bobby Lawton who didn’t do so bad for he hooked one weighing 3-½ pounds.”

In 1999, an addition to Funspot became one of the its biggest draws from gamers all over the world when the American Classic Arcade Museum was created.

Longtime Funspot employee, Gary Vincent, who has worked at Funspot since 1981, came up with the idea of what to do with

Bob loved taking a hands-on approach to the projects he undertook and here he works with (l-r) Chris Ferguson, Bubba Hahn and Gary Vincent setting one of a series of light poles along the front of the property.

all of the “classic” video games that were spread throughout Funspot from the video boom days.

“Gary thought it would be great to have a museum to put all these games in, “ Bob recalled.

Eventually the floored in area above the Kiddie Room became the American Classic Arcade Museum with over 250 pre1987 games. Gary registered the name and it soon became a 501©3 non-

profit organization and is now the largest collection of classic games in the world with many pieces being donated or old machines being bought and refurbished.

For years the Classic Arcade Museum hosted the Annual International Video Game Tournament where players come from all over the world for the 4-day event. The museum was also the setting for the highly acclaimed docu-

mentary film “The King of Kong” which was nominated as Best Documentary in 2007 by various film critics associations.

Bob never stopped innovating and was not afraid of failure as it merely brought him to the next level.

In 2000, the indoor golf center was built using state of the art golf simulators. Bob also built a meticulous retro-indoor, selfserve mini-golf in the same room which was designed on his original mini-golf above Tarlson’s Arcade in 1952. A few years later, the indoor golf center was torn down.

The original outdoor mini golf, was still going strong in the summer after almost fifty-five years.

Bob made the decision to move it indoors in 2015.

All of the landmark ornaments used on the mini golf were made of wood and every year, for the previous fifty years, they would bear the brunt of summer weather: rain, storms, heat and humidity as well as regular wear and tear as thousands of

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— BOB LAWTON, 1931-2021, Published Thursday, December 9, 2021 —

John (left) and Bob with their mother Doris Thompson at the NH Statehouse in the 1970s. Bob and Doris served in the NH House while John worked behind Bob with mother Doris Thompson the scenes to craft strategies to assert the family’s c a m p a i g n i n g f o r G ove r n o r Meldrim Thomson. influence on pending legislation.

Bob with son David and daughter Sandra at the NH Statehouse in 2011 for a special proclamation from the legislature honoring Bob’s achievements in business and for his 16-years of service in the NH House of Representatives. players would traverse the course over the summer months.

At the end of each summer, the models were removed from the course after Labor Day and transported to Funspot’s maintenance building where they would each have a makeover every year.

Some just needed a simple paint job while others had to be rebuilt as time and Mother Nature worked against the wood.

“It was always one of our biggest projects in the win-

ter,” Bob said “It was time consuming and used a lot of manpower but we were always proud that each year for fifty years, every one of those models would be ready for the summer looking as good as the first day they appeared.”

Of course, Bob was hands on doing a good portion of those restorations himself every winter.

He worked along with Cal Hahn who had been with Funspot for over thirty years and passed away in 2020.

Bob still wanted to have the popular mini golf operational, but knew it now needed to be inside and become a year-round attraction. So, the decision was made to build a floor over the Bowling Center using a section of Funspot that had never been utilized since it was built, and floor in a new addition for the indoor mini golf, which is still a popular attraction today.

Bob’s philosophy on work and success came not only from learning from his grandfather and carrying his words with him. Bob was also deeply inspired by the novel “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand which explores important philosophical concepts pertaining to reason, individualism, capitalism, and liberty.

Much like the words of D.A. Long at the beginning of this article and written long before “Atlas Shrugged” instilled in Bob the essence of hard work and not depending on any other person for your own success, the words from Rand’s novel struck the

same chord. “I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.” Bob made sure that all of his children had a copy of “Atlas Shrugged” since the message was so important.

Possibly you have driven

by Funspot over the years and seen the message: “Who Is John Galt” displayed on the front sign and wondered what it meant. This is the first line in “Atlas Shrugged.”

It was also this philosophy which inspired Bob to run and serve in the New Hampshire House of Representatives. First in the in the 1970s with his mother, Doris, and later in the 1980s and early 1990s with his son David for a total of sixteen years (eight

the Pittsfield (NH) News.

“We were at the Howard Johnson’s in Concord,” said Lawton. “Fred suggested than that I should put in a bill to change the license plates. I went down to the state prison, where the plates were printed, and I asked the man in charge how much it would cost to change the plates to read “Live Free or Die.” He found out it would only cost Ninety-two dollars to change the template “I figured that no one could argue that the state couldn’t afford it, so I went ahead and introduced the bill,” said Lawton.

There was hardly any opposition to the bill, in fact it was very well-received by the members of the legislature and the public as well.”

In 2016 Bob got a surprise visit from Pete Herbert, Funspot's first full time employee. Pete stopped by to reminisce with Bob about the many years they worked together and got a grand tour of the new indoor mini golf during his visit. terms).

It was during his first term in the house Bob was the sole sponsor for a bill that would have the state motto “Live Free Or Die” replace “Scenic” on New Hampshire License plates.

One afternoon Lawton had met with future New Hampshire Governor Mel Thomson and Fred Noyes, an acquaintance of Lawton who was also publisher of

“I can remember getting a lot of phone calls and support for the bill,” said Lawton. “The day the bill came up for a vote the visitor’s gallery had a large contingent of people waving American flags in support.”

Today, fifty years later, the motto “Live Free or Die” is possibly the most famous state slogan in the country.

— BOB LAWTON, 1931-2021, Published Thursday, December 9, 2021 —

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lished in June of “I don’t think it 1992 and the prowould be as recduction was left ognizable to evto Ron Stevens, a eryone if it wasn’t graphics person on the license doing some work plates,” said Lawfor Funspot. In ton. “Whenever I December, Ron travel anywhere he gave his notice and tell people I’m to work for Anfrom New Hampnalee Dolls after shire they always only a few months say, ‘the Live Free of publishing. or Die State.’”

Neither Bob or Bob always anyone in the liked to give credit family had any where credit was experience in the due, and he noted newspaper busithat “the first liness, so a decision cense plates prohad to be made. duced with the “I went to my new motto were daughter Sandra vanity plates and and son David that the very first Hans Hug, jr. with Bob at the Lake Winnipesaukee one printed ended Museum getting ready for his PowerPoint Bob with son Tim at the Museum they founded together and they asked up on the car of presentation on his diving explorations with his to help preserve the numerous artifacts that the two had ‘what are we goFred Noyes who side-scan sonar on his shoulder. recovered from the Lake while scuba diving in the 1980s. ing to do now?’

Bob said. “I told helped me with the bill.”

Bob was also one of the organizers of the Weirs Secession Bill in 1990. Many Weirs residents and businesses, disillusioned with the lack of support they felt they were getting from the City of Laconia for their tax dollars, decided to secede from Laconia and form their own town.

The organizers worked extremely hard covering all the aspects on the legal and infrastructure sides of the process. Not an easy task. The bill handily passed the New HampBob didn’t take many vacations but did enjoy getting away to shire House, but was play golf in Orlando during the winter and often was joined narrowly defeated in the by family. Here (l-r) are Bob’s nephews Steve and Randy Bob in Las Vegas on the set of the History Channel series Senate. It was a disap“American Restoration” in 2011 as the fully restored Sea Skate pointment, but Bob kept Lawton along with his son Dave after playing one of their kiddie boat ride is unveiled. (right-left) Dave Lawton and his looking forward and not favorite Disney courses, Magnolia. wife Eva Ashton, Sandra Lawton, Rick Dale and Bob. letting the letdowns of the their more significant find- main building renovated ings was the davit from into the Lake Winnipepast deter his future.

Bob also felt he also had them we were going to run In 1985, Bob started the the SS Mount Washington saukee Museum. Today, the newspaper business in it ourselves and we have Lake Winnipesaukee His- which was destroyed by the museum is one of the his blood from his grandfa- three weeks to learn how torical Society with his son fire in 1939. popular stops on the New ther who, as noted earlier, to do it. Everyone jumped In 1999, the Bridges Mo- Hampshire Heritage Trail started the Lowell Sunday right in.”

Tim, after the two of them had collected a significant tel (formerly the Y.D. Cab- from late May thru Octo- Telegram, and in 1992, “There were three things amount of historical arti- ins) next to Funspot of Rte ber and that davit displays Bob started The Weirs I insisted on from the facts while diving in Lake 3, was purchased by the the sign welcoming visitors Times Weekly newspaper. start,” said Bob. “One was Winnipesaukee. One of Historical Society and the to the museum.

The first issue was pub- that it be in tabloid form

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— BOB LAWTON, 1931-2021, Published Thursday, December 9, 2021 —

In 1992 Bob revived Matthew Calvert’s original Weirs Times newspaper (inset photo top left) and had a handson role in his new Weirs Times (inset photo bottom left) for the first 10 years of operation, doing manual paste up page layout in the 30-foot long hallway.

and the second was that it was never to be folded on the display racks. The third was that we keep the map in the middle which is consistent with Calvert’s original Weirs Times . The map really defines the paper.”

From 1992 to about 2002 the paper was produced each week by waxing and cutting stories and pictures from 8 x 11 sheets of paper and then pasting them, column by column, onto giant sheets which were themselves laid out along the wall about thirty-feet long and then driven to the Concord Monitor to be printed.

It was a tedious project that took hours and hours each week. Bob committed to laying out the paper himself every weekend for those first ten years.

“I used to spend thirty hours a week on the paper,” Bob said. “I’d spend all day Sunday here. Everything would be ready

to be waxed and cut when I got here. The deal was that I would do it as long as no one came in while I was working!”

The Weirs Times never missed a deadline or an issue.

When the Weirs Times was first published in 1992 about 2,000 copies a week were printed and distribution was in the Laconia area. Today, about 30,000 copies a week are printed and distribution reaches all around the state.

Today the paper is laid out on computer by Bob’s son Dave, who is managing editor, and editor Brendan Smith. The paper is sent down to the printer with the press of a button.

Bob’s daughter, Donna Carlucci, also works as a sales representative for the Weirs Times.

Bob’s daughter, Sandra, who worked designing graphics for the paper as well as driving the proof pages down the Concord Monitor every week for years, relinquished her role at the paper to con-

Bob enjoyed meeting guests at Funspot and relished the opportunity to share his stories with them. He had a favorite seat at the corner of the bar in the D.A. Long Tavern where, on Saturday afternoons for the last 13 years, he would visit with guests, often joined by his good friend Tom Boriso.

Bob’s last visit to his ice cream stand in June 2021 as the 70th summer season of his beloved Funspot gets underway. He enjoyed a slice of blueberry pie with vanilla ice cream while visiting with daughter Sandra and granddaughter Starr. centrate more on assisting her father in the day-today operations at Funspot.

Bob continued to proofread the paper every week up until a few months before his passing.

Through all of Bob’s nearly seventy years in business at Funspot, nothing gave him greater pleasure then the laughs and smiles of the children who came to visit. Bob loved to walk through the three levels of Funspot and hand out tokens, and

later token gift cards, to thousands of children over the years. It wasn’t always about the money for Bob, it was also about the joy he could spread.

He even created Birthday Party Rooms at Funspot where children could celebrate their birthdays with dozens of friends, free of charge. Hundreds, if not thousands of birthday parties have been held at Funspot over the years.

Over the last few years, Bob dedicated his Satur-

day afternoons to taking up his favorite chair at the end of the bar at the D.A. Long Tavern and greeting families, hand out gift cards and have his picture taken.

Often there would be a line of folks who wanted to meet with Bob. Some who had been coming to Funspot since they were kids and were now there with their own children and even grand-children, some of them former employees of Funspot over the decades who worked there as teenagers, coming back to say hello and introduce Bob to their children.

The familiar figure of Bob Lawton walking through Funspot in his red suspenders will be missed by customers and employees alike. He lived an extraordinary life and built a landmark in the Lakes Region. Most of all he brought a tradition of fun to generations of locals and tourists alike.

A tradition his family will continue.