The Cabin That Would Not Burn

MEMBERS OF THE Outing Club, or Chubbers, as they call themselves, tend to be pretty fond of their cabins. But Harris Cabin, which sits on a shoulder of Moose Mountain in Etna had become a costly liability. Easily accessible and roomy, Harris was a magnet for fraternity groups seeking an off-campus party spot (a safe distance from roving deans and campus police), and local vandals. For several years now a favorite slogan among the pyromaniacally inclined Chubbers has been "Harris must burn!"

It is, in fact, DOC policy to destroy unused structures by fire .The cabin was closed, and last winter word went out over Chubbernet, the electronic mail network of Outing Club alumni, that Harris was finally going to burn. Chubbers began stocking up on marshmallows. But a funny thing happened on the way to the blaze. With Harris's fate set, alumni began to grow more nostalgic and less hot on burning. Electronic words were exchanged. Then, a week before D-day, David Hooke '84, Moosilauke Ravine Lodge manager and DOC historian, hatched an idea and sounded it over the net: why didn't DOC alumni adopt the cabin? It seemed a shame, he said, to burn down a perfectly good cabin. Local Chubber alums had been talking for some time about building a cabin that would always be available for their use, and Harris "has the prime qualification of already existing," said Hooke. If enough alumni were interested in helping to maintain the place, it would no longer be eating at the DOC's cabins budget, and everyone would be happy. Hooke asked for an electronic "show of hands," and responses poured in from around the world. Comments ranged from "interesting idea" to "yeehah!" and, save for one pyromaniacal holdout, the alumni were pretty enthusiastic about the idea.

Cabin & Trail Chairman Troy Baisden '93 and Director of Outdoor Programs Earl Jette decided to nix their pyro plans for the time being and put the matter before the DOC board, which later voted to delay burning of Harris for a year "to explore ways alumni could manage it." Meanwhile, discussion of the proposal led to something broader: the formation of an alumni group called the DOC of Northern New England.

The cabinwas savedby e-mail.