The Mayor of Deer Lake says the town and the province are considering ways to honour the life of an American hunter who lost his life while visiting the province on a dream moose hunting trip.

Mike Goosney recently took to Facebook to pay tribute to Gene Spoon who made a big and lasting impression on the people he met on his short trip to the province.

Spoon was a guest at the Driftwood Inn when it was destroyed by fire. Sadly, Spoon never made it out.

Goosney says as the reality of the tragedy set in, he realized how important it was to reach out to Spoon’s family and keep them informed, and he’s glad he did.

He admits, its not the kind of thing he ever thought he’d have to navigate when he considered entering public life.

“You can never predict what’s coming and when it does, you have to pull everyone together. I think that’s part of my job as a community leader to pull everybody together to find brightness in dark times.”

Gene Spoon’s daughter Gina Heller recently expressed her gratitude for the way in which the mayor and a staff member at Jungle Jim’s reached out to her in her time of grief, and told VOCM News she’d like to meet them both one day to give them a big hug.

Goosney says the town and the premier, who is the MHA for the district, are already giving consideration to ways in which to honour Gene Spoon’s life.

“We’re looking at doing a plaque in a special area of town, a nature walking trail where the moose actually cross by.” Goosney calls it a “sharing lesson to everyone to really try to be kind and enoy life as much as possible, because none of us are granted (the ability) to know when the last time you close your eyes, that could be the last time…so do as good as you can.”