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Date: 9/12/2023
AMHERST — He was known around town simply as “Mr. Moon,” a member of the community, a longtime volunteer and a fixture at the town transfer station for more than 20 years.
Mr. Moon had a first name but he didn’t like to use it, said Transfer Station Supervisor Steve Telega.
“His first name is only known to a few of us and he hated it, so we never used it but his last name was actually Moon so he is Mr. Moon,” Telega said.
Telega said Moon was a staple not only at the transfer station but at youth and high school football games.
“I’ve been here for 22 years and he was here from virtually day one,” he said. “He was here almost every day, rain or shine, the only time he missed a day was because of a family commitment.”
Moon took great pride in the book shed at the transfer station, which Telega said began as a shelf more than 30 years ago where people could take and leave books and which grew into the 12-by-8 foot shed that stands today.
“Somebody asked if they could put up a shelf, the way some people do in front of their driveways,” he said. “It started out as that and then it moved into its own little building.”
Telega said Moon would vacuum and keep it all tidy and if someone was looking for a particular book, he would keep an eye out for it.
“He would organize the book shed when new books came in, he would shelve them and he actually had them set up by genre,” he said. “If somebody was looking for a title he would actively look for it and when he came across it he would remember it, grab it and give it to whomever looked for it.”
Moon also volunteered at the football games Telega said, drawing the lines and yardage markers, something he began doing when his grandson was playing football.
“He didn’t know the first thing about football, which was the great part,” he said. “He didn’t know a field goal from a punt but then he did it for so long that he became semi-knowledgeable.”
Telega said the football coaches would tell stories about how a new coach once encountered Moon early one morning before a game and he had everything already set up in the concession stand and on the field. He said Moon introduced himself to the coach and said, “My name is Mr. Moon, I show up and I do this every day, if you don’t like it, that’s the way it is.”
“He was a fascinating guy,” Telega said, adding that Moon would always try to help out in any way he could.
“If someone had something heavy in their car, he would go and help them take it out, he was good like that too,” he said.
Moon, who had owned businesses in town, passed away April 30 after a long illness, according to his obituary which does identify his first name.
“All the kids know him,” Telega said “Kids from the football program showed up at his funeral.”
On Sept. 16 at 10 a.m. a ceremony will be conducted at the Amherst Transfer Station to dedicate the book shed in honor of Mr. Moon.
“We’re naming the book shed after him so it’s going to be the Mr. Moon Memorial Book Shed,” Telega said.
Telega said since his passing, people in town have asked about Mr. Moon.
“People were always surprised to hear that Mr. Moon was a volunteer and that he didn’t actually work for the town,” he said. “He was here every day, they would say, ‘we thought he worked here.’”