He's like a hungry man heading non-stop in a straight line for the buffet table.

When there is a goal in mind, he reportedly is nearly impossible to stop.

Like the time when …

He, S.F. "Buckshot" Hoffner - a founder of Buckstop Junction, which is a collection of transplanted historic buildings on land owned by Burleigh County near the fairgrounds - wanted to move a monster of a historic hotel from its spot in Tappen to Bismarck.

The idea brought out the brakes in people.

"It was huge. It was old. … Some of the board was apprehensive about it," said Em Holly, a former Buckstop board member. "When I first looked at it (the hotel), I thought he was crazy."

But Holly said Hoffner pushed for it "against all odds."

"He had a vision, and he made it work," she said.

Holly, still a volunteer there, said the circa-1914 Lewis Hotel "makes the town site."The big building is now a popular place for people to rent for weddings and other events. It has a beautiful bar and other amenities.

"Day in, day out, he was on call for about anything you wanted him to do. It was his life,"Holly said.

The 15-year-old "town" now has 20 buildings.

But it doesn't have Hoffner.

Hoffner, 83, who had a history of community service prior to Buckstop - such as serving as a state legislator for 18 years and being the director and organizer for the state's 1989 centennial event - was fixing his fence Wednesday at his north Bismarck home. And making plans to make some keepsake furniture for his three grown kids.

Hoffner's era at Buckstop ended several months ago when the board decided to eliminate the $600-a-month executive director position, which was heavy on public relations work. The focus needs to be more on creating a database and doing other administrative duties, said Carl Vender, Buckstop's board president.

"Buckshot"Hoffner, nicknamed after a movie character by childhood classmates, said his big project now is a national campaign to convince retired people to not put their feet up.

"I've had so many people tell me, 'I just want to relax (in retirement) and put my feet on a desk,'"he said.

"That's wrong. That's wrong,"he said.

Hoffner said being active is what has kept him young, particularly his volunteer efforts, which not only kept him physically active, but had other benefits.

"When people volunteer, they really feel like they're doing something," said Hoffner, who saw what it did for people who volunteered at Buckstop.

He said studies show that being active will increase longevity by about eight years.

So, his mission is to spread that message far and wide and on Oprah Winfrey's talk show. He said he hopes contacts he has will be able to get him a guest spot on Oprah, another volunteering enthusiast.

His wife, Pat Hoffner, married to him for 61 years, said he remains busy in the post-Buckstop Junction era. His treadmill in the living room is used year-round. But she does see him in his easy chair quite often and her numerous requests to get him to help her hang a sizeable painting of his father have fallen on deaf ears that aren't really deaf.

He also isn't of much use in the kitchen. "I can fry eggs and make toast, that's about all," he said and smiled.

In the early 1990s, Russ Richards wanted Hoffner to cook up something. And thought he was the man to do it. Richards, who owns Capital Trophy in Bismarck, but now lives in Fargo, said he loves old buildings and was getting dismayed about the tendency in Bismarck to just tear them down.

The last straw was when Richards heard there were plans to tear down the old circa-1877 Yegen grocery store in Bismarck.

John Yegen was Bismarck's first baker and grocer, starting out in a tent at Fifth Street and Main Avenue in 1876 - the year Lt. Col. George A. Custer took off from Fort Lincoln and never came back. It was in 1877 that Yegen built the the building that was to be leveled for a parking lot.

Richards decided it was time to do some historical preservation, starting with Yegen's building, with Hoffner's help.

"He just oozes enthusiasm," Richards said.

Richards had gotten to know Hoffner during Hoffner's preparations for the state's centennial celebration and decided he was the right person to help him start saving buildings by establishing a pioneer town and moving buildings there.

A Jan. 15, 1992, Bismarck Tribune editorial agreed, after praising "gung-ho can-do" Hoffner for the yearlong centennial bash he put on: "His centennial success, unflappable enthusiasm and statewide network of contacts make him the perfect person to breathe life into the budding plans for a pioneer town east of Bismarck."

Richards said Hoffner agreed to participate and the two holed up in Richards' office trying to come up with plans on how to recruit community leaders, pick a board, get start-up funding - which ended up being some county funds and private donations.

They didn't understand why there wasn't a historical society, so they started one - the Missouri Valley Historical Society.

Richards said from the beginning he stayed in the background of the project.

It was Hoffner who fielded calls at his home, found buildings, arranged moving the buildings and so on. "If it wasn't for him, they wouldn't be there," Richards said.

"He's passionate; that's the kind of person you need in leadership roles," he said.

The day they moved the first building, the grocery store, it was exciting, but scary, Richards remembers.

There was a little bit of, "Oh, my … how are are we going to do this - maintain buildings and raise money to fix buildings up? It kind of hit us this was real."

But when times were tough and funds were short, Hoffner just kept on, kept moving forward.

Hoffner grew up in a family of 13 on a farm near Esmond and then went to Wahpeton to study aviation engineering and become an airplane mechanic. He biked 11 miles from his apartment to school.

But three months into his studies, he had the choice of going back to the family farm and getting a deferment from serving in World War II - or serving. He headed overseas. And that's where he met his wife, Patricia, at a dance in England.

After serving for three years, he returned home to farm near Esmond and became almost immediately involved in politics, first with the Nonpartisan League Party, then with the combined Democratic-NPLParty.

Testifying on a bill once, he was dismayed when the issue was taken out of public view and into executive session. When he later became a state legislator, starting in 1962 - the start of an 18-year run in leadership roles in the state House and Senate - he sponsored a bill to prevent that type of closed-door process from happening. He later would be a recipient of a People's Right to Know Award, for being a champion of open government, open meetings and recorded votes.

He would run unsuccessfully for several positions, including as a Democrat in 1966 trying to win a U.S. House seat against Rep Mark Andrews, R-N.D.

And he would lose the agriculture commissioner race in 1980. Along the way, he also lost races for labor commissioner, public service commissioner and governor.

He said he knew his chances of winning the races weren't good, but felt the races shouldn't go unchallenged.

In a 1984 Bismarck Tribune article, several months after he left the Democratic State Convention in Minot without the nomination for governor, he was quoted as saying: "I'm too young to fade away. 'Buckshot' Hoffner is going to (be) heard from for years and years to come."

(Reach reporter Virginia Grantier at 250-8254 or at virginia.grantier@;bismarcktribune.com.)