RTR

RON SEYMOUR BIOGRAPHY

Forward - By John Bryan

Being in the right place at the right time is an art form. However most of us who practice the art seldom have an opportunity to understand the exact moment in our lives when it occured.

Ron Seymour is one person who has been blessed with that understanding.

As you explore his biography you will see how the first 50 years of his life were well spent in preparation for the last 30 (total 80).

As a communicator, as a writer and as a goodwill ambassador for his beloved Big Bear Valley Ron has for 365 days a year given of his skills freely and often without payment, except of course the accolades of not only the current 20,000 residents, along with the millions of annual visitors young and old, employed or not, in business or not, through all four seasons, he devotes most of his day to us, his constituency.

For Big Bear Valley there will never be another like him and so while we still have him we ask that God will bless all the rest of his days and keep him safe from harm.

Round Town Ron

If you have been in Big Bear for more than five minutes, you have probably seen Ron Seymour somewhere around town. For the past eight years he has been working with the local Channel 6 doing his own show, 'Round Town with Ron. And as the "around town" man, he shows up, video camera rolling, at nearly every event in Big Bear Valley. "I love this Valley," says Ron, "and I love this job. It's not work; it's all fun. I get to attend all the events and meet everyone."

Seymour's parents bought a home in Big Bear for $2000 in 1929. So from the time he was born, 80 years ago, he started spending every 3-day weekend and vacation up here and eventually moved up full time. He moved off the hill to join the Air Force during the Korean War. "I joined the Air Force to see the world," he explains, "and then spent all four years just down the hill at March Air Force Base." He wrote speeches for the Commanding Officer of the 15th Air Force.

His degree in Business Administration and Communications from San Diego State College paid off during Seymour's many years in the Valley. "I seem to have a knack for knowing what will go in Big Bear," he says. With that special talent, he has founded several businesses here, most of which are still in operation.

For three years in the 1950's he owned Stillwell's Skyroom, on the location that is currently B's Backyard BBQ. It was a steakhouse and bar with live entertainment. Later, he started the North Pole Fudge and Ice Cream Company in the Village and ran it for three years before he sold it. He started the Cowboy Steakhouse, ran it for two and a half years and then gave it to his son who ran it for five years before selling it. And he started Sandy's Sports Bar and ran it for two years before selling.

Down the hill for awhile, Seymour accumulated 20 years of experience in Chamber of Commerce management at three different chambers. Seymour moved back up to Big Bear permanently in 1980. This time he started the Big Bear Shopper and ran it for 14 years before selling it to the Grizzly newspaper. It was in that publication that 'Round Town Ron made its debut.

More recently he started BigBearNews.com, one of the nation's first total internet newspapers, and ran that for three years before selling it.

A widower for 35 years, Seymour has three children and 13 grandchildren, who all currently live off the hill. But he visits them often. "I love kids," he says. "They are like little sponges soaking up everything. That's why if there is a child around when I'm filming, my camera will always be on them."

Now keeping all the tapes he makes of Big Bear events, Seymour has archived more than 1000 interviews in the past year and a half. He estimates he has done over 6000 interviews in the last 7 years. So, if you haven't been filmed by him yet, keep an eye out for Ron and his trusty camera at your next event.

Page Change detection by email:
hundreds of new video clips to come

                                                                                 

">	Monitor this Page
Web Page Monitoring by ChangeDetect

Lindas Pet Sitting

Your comments are welcome...
mailto://roundtownron@verizon.net