Sometimes, you just don't realize the importance of a moment as it happens.

After my senior year at Linden-McKinley High School, I had the opportunity to spend 20 days in August as a member of the All-Ohio State Fair Youth Choir. I joined with 319 other voices from throughout the state to entertain fairgoers. It is an opportunity that thousands of Ohio youth have had since the choir was formed in 1963.

I, however, enjoyed a chance meeting that few of them had.

That year featured the first summer of the extended 17-day run of the fair. It promised to be a busy time, as we began performing even before the fair started.

On the night before the opening, Wendy's Restaurant would unveil the "World's Largest Salad Bar." The youth choir would perform and sing Wendy's theme song at the time.

Amazingly, the words and tune to that jingle escape my memory.

After we sang, Wendy's took care of the bill as the entire choir ate. As I left the line, most of the tables were full.

I passed by the table where our director, Glenville Thomas, sat with two of the dignitaries from the ceremony. One of them glanced around, saw the tables were pretty much full, then offered the fourth seat at the table to me.

That man was Wendy's Chairman Dave Thomas.

Although he sat with the choir's founder and former Ohio Gov. James Rhodes, he asked me where I was from and what school -- or in my case schools -- I represented. I wondered not only why he had invited me to sit down, but why a teen-ager from Columbus was the key topic of conversation at a table that also seated three great men.

He made me feel at ease, and laughed when I told him that in my heart I was representing both Linden and Columbus North, the school I had attended as a sophomore. He even apologized when he realized his questions were keeping me from eating.

He went on to talk a little business with the governor and with the other Mr. Thomas. Then he wished me luck with the choir and on whatever paths life might take me.

It was clear then that he was a humble, down-to-earth man. He valued every person he had the chance to meet, even if that meeting was just a brief encounter.

It was that attitude that led to Thomas' role as pitchman for Wendy's. His success in that effort is probably the reason that few, if any of us, remember that jingle from long ago.

During his lifetime, Dave Thomas had an impact on many lives. His death earlier this month has reminded us all what he meant to the community -- not only in business, but with his charitable work, especially with adoption.

But the unique thing about Dave is the impact he had on individuals. Whether it was a Wendy's store manager or employee; an adopted child or a member of Congress; a corporate executive or simply an ordinary Joe eating at a restaurant he happened by; you felt that Dave was real, and that he valued the chance to spend a moment with you.

In our busy world, we often find ourselves with less time then we'd like to spend with our friends and families. In our world of corporate businesses, we seldom take the opportunity to get to know anyone other than those we work closest with.

Although we have causes we believe in, we sometimes struggle to find the time and money to support them.

Dave was in this same world, yet he made the most of his time with friends and family. He took the time to talk to those he happened to meet. He made the time to work on the projects that meant most to him.

In his passing, we are reminded of all that Dave Thomas accomplished during his lifetime. If we can emulate just a portion of what Dave was able to do, we will be better for it.

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David Morgan
Owner/Editor
http://www.CentralOhioSports.com