Austintown’s lovable ‘Bear’ has helped Falcons for 45 years

AUSTINTOWN — For over 40 years, David “Bear” Patrick could be seen pretty much everywhere on the Austintown Local School District campus.

Behind the scorer’s table, near the dugout or attending football practice, Patrick has been a fixture in Austintown athletics going back to his high school days.

“It’s been fun to be around the kids,” Patrick said.

Patrick wears many hats when it comes to Austintown sports.

He’s an assistant coach for the middle school football team, and he handles the clock for soccer games, volleyball matches, freshman football games and middle school basketball. When the spring rolls around, he makes sure the umpires have baseballs and keeps track of pitch counts with an old clicker counter when the Falcons take the diamond. He does all of this, in addition to hel