I remember hearing that Don was going to be at the fishing swap meet a couple years ago and he would be bringing some of his coveted CP reels so I headed out to try and get one. When the doors opened his table was immediately swamped with people trying to get reels. I decided that I didn't want to be part of the frenzy so I held back and waited for the people to clear out and things to settle down.
Once things cleared out I went back to his table and it had been picked clean. I asked him if there was any way for me to get a reel from him at some point. He handed me a pad of paper as asked me to write down when I wanted (colour and what hand) and my name and phone number and then he handed me his business card and then said the following. "When your reel is ready I will give you a call. I make them when I feel like so I don't have an exact ETA. DO NOT call me and ask me when it will be ready, if you do, you won't be getting one.
I followed his instructions and never contacted him and a couple weeks later he called me and said the reel was ready. I headed out to his place to pick it up and when I got there he gave me a tour of his shop and then invited me in for a coffee and a chat. I had a great visit with him and his cats; he's a fantastic storyteller, filled with knowledge and quite a character.
I'm glad I was able to spent some time with him before his passing, he will be greatly missed.