We are in this together

[Chris K]

For the life of me, I can not wrap my head around the fact that fellow disc golfers think it is OK to keep a lost (and now found) disc without making an effort to return it to its owner. I lost a putter of mine at JB a few weeks ago. A golfer who knows me stumbled across my lost putter this week. It was being thrown by a new club member, Dan Kraus. When asked how he got it, none of the three stories he gave added up; ‘Chris gave it to me; a friend gave it to me; I bought it from a stranger.’ Then Dan Kraus extorts another disc from my friend to trade for mine. So now he has doubled his theft; first he steals mine, then he lies about it, and then he extorts my friend’s disc.
The position of ‘You lost it; you stopped looking for it; I earned it cause I climbed the tree or fished it out of the water’ does not justify keeping it. It is another story if the owner of a lost disc does not bother to write his name on it; after all, who are you going to call?

We play this game together; we are in this club together; we take care of each other; we look after each other; we are a family. I return or attempt to return every disc I come across. When I can’t locate the owner, I put it in the club’s lost and found bin. People who know me give me discs they have found because they know I will make the effort to return it.

This brings back the memory of Don Heiple, who stole $150 this year from Greg Dohogne during JB league payout. Don took advantage of a confusing opportunity and ran off with the club’s money. Greg has run the JB league for a few years now and would give the shirt off his back, if he was asked. Don didn’t only steal from Greg; he stole from all of us. On top of that he consults his priest on whether to return the money; that is some Christian or should I say Catholic! Asking for a ‘blessing’ for stealing from your family; what a mind set. Don, your parents raised you well.

As a club member, there is an implied responsibility to take care of our parks and our fellow golfers. Our members do not trash the golf course or break branches or commit other acts of vandalism. We respect what we have and we are thankful that we are allowed to operate with relative freedom to maintain and improve our golf courses. A few bad apples can ruin our experience and can put our relationship with the County in jeopardy. Please protect disc golf in St Louis by looking out for each other and taking the higher road. We are in this together. It’s time some of you act like it.

Chris Kinsella

[jalbanese]

I have found "marked" discs and made solid efforts to get them back to the owners. I have found unmarked discs and given them to newbies and also thrown them and lost them again. I have lost "marked" discs and not gotten them returned to me. It's a trade off. The bigger this sport (recreation) grows, the more troubles come along with the growth. The efforts of the good people out there on the courses will almost always be negated by the bad people. Keep throwing and have FUN! Thanks Chris for all of you efforts.