Search Is On For Special Young Man

    “I’m so impressed with him.”
   The only problem is, Frank Bartle doesn’t know who ‘him’ is. And he would sure like to find out.
   Bartle was a busy man before Christmas at his store at the Renningers antique center in Mount Dora, and was busy with a line of customers when a child approached him. Bartle, a US Army veteran who is apt to identify as such, asked the boy to wait while he attended to customers. Maybe surprisingly, the child did just that for several minutes.
   "It's just before Christmas and we had wall-to-wall people," Bartle said this week recounting the experience. "He was kind of pushed aside for paying customers. We made him wait, and he stood there so patiently."
   After about ten minutes, Bartle was able to turn his attention to the child.
   “He handed a card to me, said ‘thank you for your service’, and walked away.”
   Bartle opened the card, which contained the message hand-written by the boy: 'Hi, my name is AJ Ashby and I am 11 years old and I just wanna say thank you for your service. In my opinion i (sic) think veterans are very special and them (sic) and their fallen comrades need to be rememberd (sic) for their heroic actions. I hope you have a good Chrismas (sic) and a good rest of your day'.
   The sentiment had a big impact on Bartle.
   “The morals and values this young man showed is a testament to him and his parents.”
   By the time Bartle was done reading the card, the child was long gone and couldn’t be found. But Bartle isn’t giving up, and this week is putting out the call to anyone who might know the child to ask him to come by Bartle’s 3rd Generation Antiques and Estate Jewelers.
   “We’d like him to come to the shop. We’d like to know a little more about him and extend our appreciation to him.” 3rd Generation is located at 121 North Bay Street in downtown Eustis.
   So if you know the young man, pass the word!