I’m always pleased to hear directly from classmates. This time I received two emails with news for the column.
Eighteen years ago, Tom and Karen Damon Guter ’71, ‘73G, retired and moved from North Yarmouth, ME, to Fort Collins, CO. Tom had been director of human resources for the town of Scarborough, and Karen had been a librarian/media specialist in the Yarmouth School Department. Tom attached a photo of the two of them taken on the porch of the historic Beckwith Ranch in Westcliffe, CO. He went on to say: “In 1869, the Beckwith family moved from Bar Harbor, ME, to establish a cattle ranch in the beautiful Wet Valley, situated between the Wet and Sangre de Cristo mountains of Colorado. The cattle operation turned out to be very successful. Interestingly, as they started their ranch, they bought their first cattle from Charles Goodnight in Pueblo, CO. Goodnight’s cattle drive exploits were the inspiration for Larry McMurtry’s 1985 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Lonesome Dove. Who would have known that we easterners could have such a notable effect on life in the Rocky Mountains?” (Thanks for reminding me of one of my favorite books, Tom!)
The second email was an update from David Hutcheson, who lives in Weston, MA, with his wife, Emily, and their family. “One bit of interest and pleasure for us has been observing the construction of the Mass Central Rail Trail (MCRT) close by. Work to extend the trail a half mile east over the Fitchburg Line tracks on an 1880s iron trestle bridge and to Jones Road in Waltham is going well and is nearly complete. It will be so sweet when this trail can be officially opened and people can really benefit from it!” An enthusiastic advocate of rail trails, David has also been a member of the Friends of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail since 2006. The Bruce Freeman Rail Trail runs through the communities of Lowell, Chelmsford, Westford, Carlisle, Acton, Concord, Sudbury, and Framingham in Massachusetts — following the 25-mile route of the old New Haven Railroad Framingham & Lowell line. I have walked and biked on portions of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail myself and concur with David that it is a great asset to the communities it passes through.
Bruce Albiston and his wife, Annemarie, founded the Adaptive Outdoor Education Center (AOEC) in Maine in 2015. The center’s mission is to enhance the quality of life for all people with disabilities through adaptive recreation and education programs. The AOEC offers year-round programs such as rock climbing, skiing, and music. They also offer camps geared toward specific populations such as people with aphasia, adults with spinal cord injuries, caregivers, and more. U.S. Sailing awarded the AOEC and SailMaine with the 2024 Robie Pierce award. This national award celebrates the profound impact of their collaborative efforts on making sailing more accessible and inclusive for all. You can read about AOEC at adaptiveoutdooreducationcenter.org
Last April, George and Katherine Allen MacLeod ’75, ’02G closed their landmark restaurant in downtown Bucksport after 45 years. According to the information I received from the Alumni Association, MacLeod’s Restaurant started out with a shoestring budget, two household cooking ranges, a rickety cooler, and dining room tables hammered together from salvaged plywood. They grew to the point that customers traveled just for the restaurant. George and Katherine estimated that they had served more than a quarter million slices of French chocolate silk pie. They were looking for a buyer last spring, so I’m hopeful that someone has been found to continue the tradition.