Kristen Inbody

kinbody@greatfallstribune.com

A knife has become a lesson in faith and an inspiration for the Voegel family.

In 1983, Don Voegel was fishing with his sons Brian and Bob at Cottonwood Creek on Holter Lake. He lent Brian, 8, his Buck pocket knife and showed him how to clean fish.

When they got home, Don realized he never got the pocket knife back. Brian started crying and said he’d lost the knife.

“Oh, Brian, it’s just a knife. I don’t care about it. I love you,” Don told him. “We might end up finding it, but if not it’s OK.”

Havre bladesmith carries on brother's legacy

Three weeks later, Don returned to Holter Lake, but the fishing was slow so he walked back to where he and Brian had cleaned fish. He figured the knife would have shuffled into gravel as the creek flowed. So he reached into the creek, grabbed some gravel and emerged with the knife in his fist. First try. It looked as good as new.

Daughter Kirsten was only 3 years old when Brian, 20, drowned on a rafting trip, but she heard the story of the knife lost at Holter “at least 100 times,” she wrote, with her dad telling her, “I carry this knife because it’s a fond memory I have with Brian and every time I use it, it makes me think of him, and I thank God for our son and the time we had with him.”

Three years ago, Don was fishing in Nelson Reservoir near Saco when the knife slipped over the side of the boat into about eight feet of water. He and friends tried every “MacGyver scheme” they could think of to retrieve the knife – duct tape and magnets among them. No luck.

Then this summer, most of Nelson Reservoir was drained for repairs. Returning from fishing at Fort Peck, Don stopped at Nelson to see if he could find the knife.

He walked to the spot where he recalled losing it. He went to a sort of hump and bowl on the lake bed. He looked down and there it was, right at his feet. Don started screaming, “Thank you, God!”

“It is a knife, but it is a neat thing what’s happened,” he said. “I was hoping I could find it.”

Kirsten heard the good news over the phone and thought her dad was losing his mind. For one thing, he was at the wrong lake. She didn’t realize he’d detoured to Nelson on the way home from Fort Peck.

“I said no, Dad, it had to be a knife like it. It couldn’t be the knife,” he said. “He finally got it out to me that he’d stopped at Nelson. We were about crying. It really touched us all.”

Kirsten shared her family’s story in the Phillips County News and on Facebook. Don said he was grateful she told the story from her perspective.

“A lot of people are really touched by it,” Kirsten said. “Malta is a small town where everyone knows everybody. Everywhere I go someone will say something to me about it.

“They say it’s a cool and neat story,” she added. “Every person can look at it differently. I know it’s just a knife. Our material items mean nothing, but it’s one of those things that encouraging, little ways God communicates with you.”

Don is a loving father, Kirsten said. To her, the story highlights his strong faith.

“He doesn’t look at that type of thing as a coincidence but as a blessing, like a reward from God for being obedient,” she said. “My dad is the most unlucky guy I know but yet the craziest lucky things happen to him. When I was a little kid, it was a nice story to associate with my brother. Now it encourages me that if I follow in my dad’s footsteps with the strong faith he has I’ll be rewarded in life, too.”

Don laughed and acknowledged, “I’ve had my share of mishaps.”

While people have suggested he leave the knife just as it is, Don is working on restoration. The stainless steel blade will need sharpening but it’s in remarkable condition. The handle is more of a project.

“Some people said to frame the knife as a miracle. I always figured I would put it back into use. It won’t be perfect, but it will be usable,” he said. “I look at it as, we’re lost and then found. Christ restores us and for a purpose, so I figured it would be a good witness.

“If he cleans it up and uses it, he’ll probably lose it again,” Kirsten said. “But it’s coming out really good. It’s going to be as good as new again.”

Make-A-Wish sends boy to Cubs

Nik Herman and Benji Phillips fulfilled a dream in Chicago with the help of the Make-A-Wish Foundation this summer.

Nik has IgA nephropathy, which destroyed his kidneys, requiring dialysis and then a transplant. He and friend Benji traveled by limousine to Wrigley Field, attending batting practice, sat in the dugout and met five Chicago Cubs players.

Nik received a jersey signed by first baseman Anthony Rizzo, the Glasgow Courier reported.

‘Insane devotion’ to the Fergus Co. Fair

Gene Meier stepped down after 13 years on the fair board, years that saw him devote an average of an hour a day to the fairgrounds 365 days a year.

Booking talent to the fair has been among his biggest roles on the fair board, and he’s brought Kansas, Three Dog Night, Faith Hill, Tanya Tucker, Brooks and Dunn, Chris LeDoux and Travis Tritt to town, the Lewistown News-Argus reported.

“Whenever there was a shortfall on money, there was always an anonymous donor who stepped forward,” Fair Board chairman Paul Huff told the newspaper. “It was Gene.”

Reach Tribune Staff Writer Kristen Inbody at kinbody@greatfallstribune.com. Follow her on Twitter at @GFTrib_KInbody.