There will be a shelter showing on Sunday, from 3 to 6 p.m., at Brewer Creek Park in Webster City. That’s when the public can see the improvements made to the shelter, as well a the new fire pit, all donated in the memory of Scott Jaycox.

If you lose someone you love, is it your instinct to give? If the answer is yes, you might be a loved one of Scott Jaycox.

He was a July man. Born that month. Died that month 49 years later, unexpectedly, and far, far too soon.

And there’s another thing about July: It is a great month for a bonfire.

“Even two days before he passed, he had our ‘golf group’ — that met every Wednesday late afternoon, rain or snow or shine — over to his house to have a bonfire and discuss the problems of the day,” his friend Jason Struchen, of Webster City, remembers.

“Anytime we went to an ISU football game, he cooked the food. Fourteen of us went to Lake Rathbun a few years ago and if we were eating at the cabins, he was the one cooking.”

If you say his name paired with the phrase labor of love, there won’t simply be one story. Jaycox had too many friends, too much family, and far too many acts of selflessness to limit the scope of that phrase.

Tiffany Larson says, “Scott had a big heart, and definitely embodied service above self. Not just with his family and friends, but in the community as a Rotarian. Scott was a great supporter of Rotary. He was an active member of Rotary After Hours — RAH. He was a vital part of the club’s sledding event at Hospital Hill in the winter. Scott would round up the lumber for the fire and prepare the warming shelter at the Brewer Creek location.”

That is where his loved ones gave back.

“It was a labor of love,” his mother, Deb Jaycox, said.

She was describing the work so many volunteers put into rehabilitating the warming shelter at Brewer Creek Park at the foot of Hospital Hill. They revitalized the fading shelter with paint, new windows, a new overhead door, and lighting. They installed a mantel over the fireplace inside, and they commissioned Webster City artist Tim Adams to create a family-size fire pit that is the focus of a permanent seating area outside.

“The thing about Scott was that he was always a ‘provider,'” Struchen said. “He always wanted to take care of his people.”

“He was always enjoying life,” said Larson, “involved in his kids’ lives and their activities.”

And he was important to Rotary.

Not long after his death, Jaycox was honored in memoriam by being named a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow, Larson said. The recognition acknowledges individuals who contribute, or who have had significant contributions made in their name, to The Rotary Foundation. The Rotary Foundation then transforms that gift into projects that change lives both close to home and around the world.

Scott Jaycox keeps giving.

Larson said, “I love seeing how the Jaycox family is utilizing the memorial funds to keep his spirit alive in a special space for so many to enjoy all year, whether sledding Frisbee golf, utilizing the trail, or celebrating a family event.”

Struchen said, “He was always volunteering to help others in the community when there was a need. He is tremendously missed everyday by his core group of friends, and I’m sure by more than just us.”