I received a newsy email last December from Dave Hutcheson, who was originally in the Class of 1970 but dropped out for a bit and graduated with us in 1972. He and his wife, Emily, met in high school in Weston, MA, where they currently live. They have been married 48 years and have four children and three grandchildren. “We have a small house, formerly a ‘woods garage’ on my late parents’ property that we illegally converted to living space with working skills from several family members. Our non-legal work was later forgiven…. In my working life I ran a very small landscape maintenance business. I never owned or used a leaf-blowing machine. Hate them. Rake, broom, flat shovel, tarp, leaf bucket. I did run a gas lawn mower and chainsaw. Because of our low housing expense, my work did not need to provide high money earnings and it didn’t. Beyond work, the biggest part of my life has been my mostly self-directed voluntary work trying to advance the Mass Central Rail Trail (MCRT) and the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail…The Mass Central is on the southern end of our property, so we have direct access and I’ve spent much of my life doing the physical work, happily, keeping it usable for ourselves and other trail users. And since 2019 it is fully built and improved by Eversource and DCR in Weston and Wayland. Yahoo! Construction on the MCRT in Waltham, MA, started July 5, 2022, and is largely complete with the exception of one major bridge. I worked for a dozen years on the MCRT Waltham as a member of the Waltham Land Trust. So nice to have this progress for the public good.”
I also received clippings from the Alumni Association about two classmates. Richard L. Parent, Jr. decided not to seek reelection as a Knox County commissioner. At the time of his decision, he was serving his fourth consecutive term (16 years) on the commission. He holds the distinction of the second-longest consecutive service in the history of Knox County.
Rick and Rebecca Skehan Vigue ’80G of Hampden announced their plans to retire and sell Rebecca’s, their downtown Bangor gift shop, which they opened in 1985. The shop is known for its Brewer-made ceramic blueberry dishware. It also sells chocolates, candles, wine, baby clothing, a variety of antiques, and is a year-round Christmas shop. Rebecca’s has been a mainstay in Bangor for nearly 40 years. Rick and Rebecca put the business up for sale with the hope that the next person to acquire it will carry on its legacy as a cornerstone of downtown Bangor. In retirement, they plan to spend more time at their camp near Rockland and visit with their three grandchildren.
Since I received some news from Dave Hutcheson and from the Alumni Association, you are spared the details of our family reunion at an 18th century farmhouse on the Nantucket moors last fall! Suffice it to say that Hurricane Lee canceled flights and ferries, so we were “stuck” there a couple extra days. Aside from an adrenalin-inducing, geyser-like plumbing emergency with the old clawfoot tub, the gathering was all I had hoped for.
That’s it for now. What have you been up to that you’d like to share with classmates?