1952

Everybody knows that the state of Maine is fabulous in the summer and we have many classmates who spend their summer months there. But there's the rest of the year. One hears that Maine winters are bitterly cold and in the spring there's a mud season closely followed by a black-fly season. However, all this may just be unsubstantiated rumor. We have a dozen classmates who live in Maine year 'round. We called a few to ask why.

Fred Barstow also lives in Brunswick. Fred bikes, camps, sails, and canoes—a couple of times down the full 100-mile length of the Allagash River. But, get this, when the winters get really cold, Fred and Dffie escape to their other home—in New Hampshire! —where they cross-country ski almost every day.

Recently retired from lawyering, Dort Bigg is no newcomer to Maine. He's lived for 62 years in the same house in Turner in which he grew up. From his windows he can see the elementary school and high school that he attended. So, obviously, he isn't going anywhere else. Adjoining his home is a large structure housing his huge collection of animal trophies, which he's hunted around the world using a muzzle-loading, black powder rifle. His collection is truly world famous. Dort invites classmates to come see it and him.

Jack McNary lives in West Bath. He claims the winters aren't all that bad and, anyhow, "they keep out the riff-raff." Retired from the construction materials business in Connecticut, Jack and Betty, who's originally a Maine girl, say, "We're very happy here."

Long since out of his family's shoe manufacturing business, Chuck Jones loves wood-working, so he's lucky to have a part-time vocation doing just that. At his large home workshop in Auburn he crafts miniature wooden replicas for a display firm. But his avocation is sea kayaking—he owns four of them. Does he feel at home in Maine? Chuck says that he actually feels uncomfortable when he has to leave the state and go as far as Massachusetts.

Joe Scully lives in Cape Elizabeth, except in the summers, when Susie and he move to their cottage on Southport Island, Maine. Joe started as a banker but after 20 years he shifted to a career as a fee-only financial advisor. Life's been good in Maine Joe thinks. Any problems? "Well, the unbelievable increase in the prices of land and houses is driving out the lumbermen, fishermen and lobstermen who are the salt of the earth and the backbone of Maine."

So there you have it. Happy classmates who enjoy both the outdoors and life in Maine!

Don't forget to check out our Web site at www.dartmouth.org/classes/52.

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