Goodbye Mosquito Man

Mosquito Lake State Park Campgrounds has a lot of great features - the lake itself, good fishing, campground activities, marina and beach close by, and great campsites. One of the longstanding attributes of the campground was Ray Best, known as the Mosquito Man. 

Ray started out as a camper himself at Mosquito, accompanied by his wife, Liz. He enjoyed the campground so much that he applied for a job one weekend while he was camping. Shortly thereafter Ray was hired and worked in the check in station.

Anyone entering the check-in station was greeted with a smile when Ray was on duty. He was always available to patiently answer the same questions most previous first time campers to Mosquito had already asked. He willingly helped the campers with any problems they might incur and offered suggestions to help them. If a camper became unjustly upset with Ray about a rule or regulation, he would calmly say, still smiling, “You’ll have to take that up with management.”

He was the kind of man you could sit and talk to for hours. His gentle nature was inviting. Ken loved to go to the check in station on Sunday mornings and have coffee with Ray while he worked. He loved to hear Ray tell stories in his slow gravelly voice about days gone by.

Ray loved Mosquito Lake so much that he had a mosquito tattooed on his arm, thus he became known as the Mosquito Man. During the Halloween Bash weekend, there normally is a scavenger hunt. One of the things the kids would need to find was “Mosquito Man”. Ray would sit patiently outside his campsite and watch the kids hurrying by, trying to figure out where the Mosquito Man could be. Eventually they put it together with the clues and would ask him if he was “the Mosquito Man”. He would roll up his sleeve and show them his tattoo, mark their cards, and the children would wander off in awe that there really was a “Mosquito Man” at the campgrounds.

Ray was known by so many people that it took him a longer than normal amount of time to get from his camper to the check in station because everyone would stop him to talk. Ray and Liz’s golf cart had a cover they could snap in place to keep them dry when it rained. Ken and I used to tease Ray and tell him he looked like the Pope in the Pope Mobile.

 

Ray passed away this week peacefully with Liz and his son by his side. Site #48 will not be the same without Ray. Mosquito Lake Campers will share many memories of Ray for years to come. He will not be forgotten by the campers and campground visitors who were lucky enough to know him.

While we may swat, spray, light candles and Tiki torches to avoid mosquitoes and keep them at bay, we will never “Zap” the Mosquito Man from our hearts. We miss you already Ray.