Hope

Ross Mckenney

Woodcraft Adviser (1937-1959)

One time I was down by the Ledyard Canoe Club and I ran into a couple of big oarsmen carrying an old canoe. Now, the canoes then were wood and canvas, they were pretty heavy, and these two guys were struggling to get it up on their shoulders. Ross McKenney came along and said something like, "Fellas, let me show you a little trick here. I'll show you how you can more easily do that." Ross was about five-ten, weighed about 160 pounds, and he was 51 years old. He stood close to the canoe, rolled it up on its side, tilted its bottom against his leg, then flipped it right up onto his shoulders with no trouble. That was just like Ross to me robust, always looking to help people.

Ross was from Patten, Maine, up above Baxter Park. He'd been on log drives and had worked in the woods. He was the chief engineer and superintendent on the Ravine Lodge, which had just been finished a year or so earlier. At the College he was the woodcraft adviser, affiliated with the Outing Club. He put on demonstrations, such as how to sleep in wintertime in very low temperatures with one blanket or maybe even with no blanket. I was not consciously studying under him. But, at least as much as most of the faculty, and maybe more than many, Ross McKenney inspired me. He conveyed a kind of readiness to live, to get out there and do whatever needed to be done. He struck me as someone with good personal qualities, who was approachable, who showed sympathy toward others, who had physical and mental vigor. In a way, he was a kind of a philosopher somebody who lived honestly and made good efforts in everything in his life.

I always felt that he appreciated me, that he saw in me good qualities. As a young man that meant a lot. It was a time when I was struggling with meaning and purpose in life. Those were burdensome questions for me in those days. In Ross, I felt a good spirit. Sensing that spirit, in a way, implied that I might come to have it, too. That was encouraging to me then. He gave me hope.

"He conveyed a kindof readiness to live,to get out there anddo whatever neededto be done."