In each “Behind the Scenes” segment, Village Media's Scott Sexsmith sits down with one of our local journalists to talk about the story behind the story.
These interviews are designed to help you better understand how our community-based reporters gather the information that lands in your local news feed. You can find more Behind the Scenes from reporter across Ontario here.
Today's spotlight is on SooToday's Alex Flood, whose story "Decades later, U.S. woman searching for long-lost Sault crush" was published on March 4.
Below is the full story, in case you missed it.
A woman from Minnesota who formed a brief but special connection with a young man in Sault Ste. Marie 59 years ago is asking the Internet to help her track him down.
Shari Roberts was 18 years old when she and a few of her girlfriends began a road trip around Lake Superior in her then brand-new Ford Mustang.
During the late summer of 1965, the girls crossed over the International Bridge and pulled into a local gas station near Customs.
That’s when Roberts encountered a charming pump attendant named Bobby.
“Bobby comes sprinting out of the gas station, and we all just thought he was so cute,” she said. “He had a great big smile and curly dark hair, and he had a big personality and was very friendly.”
During their visit, Roberts and her friends stayed in a hotel “on the main drive” that had underground parking.
While she was only in the Sault for a few days, the young Minnesotan made an effort to visit her new crush at his work throughout the week.
“Every day I was in town, I’d run down to the gas station and say hi to him,” she said. “We just had a real connection for some reason. We were the same age, and he was totally crazy about hockey and his future in hockey.”
“We were just a couple teenagers; it was kind of an infatuation,” she added. “He was super cute and super respectful. We didn’t have any kind of physical relationship; it was just a spark.”
Near the end of her stay in town, one of Roberts’ friends wanted to go home, so the girls drove back to Minnesota.
But she couldn’t stop thinking about her special acquaintance.
“I was bouncing around the house, and I thought: ‘You know what, I got time. I’m going to run back up there,’ ” she recalled. “It’s quite a far drive from Minnesota to Sault Ste. Marie.”
“Bobby lived at his grandma’s, so I stayed with her while I visited him,” she added. “I don’t know if his parents were gone or what. I was there for a couple days and then went back home again.”
That second visit would mark the final time the two saw each other — but not out of choice.
Months later, Bobby hitchhiked down to Roberts’ southern Minnesota hometown of Mankato, but she happened to be away when he arrived.
“My mom told me that he was in town,” Roberts said. “She felt so sorry for him coming all that way. I didn’t get a chance to talk to him then, he just spoke with my mom. I guess he went back home, and we sent him our contact. I can’t remember how long he stayed in Minnesota.”
By the next summer, Roberts ended up marrying her “on again, off again” boyfriend from high school, and the two of them moved to Alaska to begin a new life.
A few years later, Bobby gave Roberts’ mom a call, but she broke the news to him that her daughter was married and living far north with two little boys.
“There’s never been any other contact since,” she said. “We never talked on the phone or anything.”
Now 77, Roberts is a proud grandmother and great-grandmother and enjoys spending time with friends, going to church, and attending Tai Chi classes in Soldotna, Alaska.
Roberts married twice and has been widowed for 13 years. She's taken on the last name Tackett, but asked to use her maiden name Roberts for this story to better the odds of Bobby recognizing her.
Last month, the long-time Alaska resident came across the “Sault Ste. Marie Memories” page on Facebook while scrolling through social media and was reminded of simpler times gone by.
Without access to photographs, personal details, or even a last name, Roberts posted her story about Bobby to the group in hopes that locals could assist her in finding the mystery man.
Despite receiving a considerable amount of reaction and suggestions from around town in recent weeks, she hasn’t had any luck.
“It’s been on my mind for a little while now,” she said. “I thought it was something worth asking about. It’s not something I’ve dwelled on my whole life or anything like that.”
“He could possibly be dead, we’re getting up there in that age,” Roberts added. “There was a Bob Smith who played on the Greyhounds and was born in 1946 which matches some of the description, but his photo isn’t the Bobby I met. I’m not sure what his last name is.”
While the search for her long-lost connection remains active but unpredictable, Roberts only wishes that Bobby is doing well — wherever he is.
“Our connection was obviously strong enough to drive us both to come all those miles in both directions and attempt to see each other,” she said. “It’s not like we dated or wrote to each other or anything like that, but it stayed with us for some reason.”
“I think it would be fun to meet up again,” she added. “If he’s married, then of course I wouldn’t want to meet up, I don’t want to stir up anything. But I can travel, I’m healthy, and I’m open to coming back to the Sault again. I'm hoping he'd recognize my old photo or the Mustang."
Readers who believe they may be able to assist Roberts in her search can email [email protected].
