Rifle comes home again

Home again Photo:

RIFLE RETURNED - Sylvia Bosse of Norway, holding the rifle her dad gave her, and Mike Sawyer of Mechanic Falls, holding a rifle Sylvia gave to him.

NORWAY — Sylvia Bosse’s dad, Warren Willey, gave her a rifle shortly before he passed. The rifle inadvertently slipped away over 30 years ago. Many times over the years Sylvia and husband Fern wondered where the rifle ended up.

Fern and a friend of the family, Robert Purington, were talking about guns this past summer when the subject of Sylvia’s rifle came up. Robert said he thought he might know where the rifle was and suggested to Fern that he speak to Mike Sawyer.

Amazingly, that’s where the rifle ended up. Also amazing is the fact that Sylvia’s mom and dad, Lillis and Warren, used to care for Mike at times when he was a youngster. Fern asked Mike if he ever was to consider selling it to keep Sylvia in mind. Mike told Fern to see him in a week or two. Fern did go to see Mike after returning from his November moose hunt to see if Mike would indeed sell the rifle. Mike said no and that he had given it a lot of thought and had decided to give the rifle back to Sylvia.

On Friday, November 12, Sylvia again had the rifle that her dad gave her and she gave Mike a rifle in appreciation for what he had done.