Class Note 1973
Summer in full swing….
In March The Boston Globe ran an article about the Shawnee Peak ski resort (originally called Pleasant Mountain) in Bridgton, Maine, featuring a nice photo of owner Chet Homer, who purchased the resort in 1994. Chet is quoted as saying, “When I ski, I think I’m in a pretty cool place. I don’t think of myself as owning the mountain, but basically being a steward of the mountain and the people. I decided I just wanted to be my own boss and thought it would be interesting to own a sport and recreation type business.” The ski area opened with a rope tow in 1938 and was the home of Maine’s first T-bar and chair lift. Now there is a state-of-the art triple chair featuring a conveyor loading system where skiers slide onto a moving belt before sitting on the chair. Chet also is proud of a charity Moonlight Challenge, started in 1995, that’s raised more than $500,000 for children with life-threatening illnesses.
Jon Dreazen sent a thought-provoking note, commenting “after reading month after month and year after year of 100-percent stories of accomplishments, etc.” that he felt another point of view was in order. “I had an epiphany three-and-a-half years ago when my older daughter developed advanced cervical cancer while working in London, where she lives. In the past the cancer from which my daughter suffered would have had a dismal cure rate. Fortunately, medicine has advanced and now she is free of cancer. I did not heed an earlier warning when my wife was treated for breast cancer seven years earlier. So I left the family medicine practice that I had started in the hands of a local hospital and spent three months pondering my future. I found a job in the area of occupational medicine, which was an easy transition and gives me an 8-to-5 job five days a week with no pager calls. Now I can work fixed hours and come home and spend quality time with my wife and younger daughter and grandson, who live with us. I can also more easily take time off of work to visit my older daughter in England without having to struggle to find coverage for my practice. I have written this update on my life as a balance to the many encomiums that I read in our class newsletter and in the Alumni Magazine that give one the impression that all of my classmates have had wonderful lives that have led to the acquisition of great wealth allowing them to have lifestyles that I will never achieve and to have the time and influence to serve on a variety of corporate and community entities for which I never had the time. I would encourage any and all of my classmates who are part of the silent majority to share stories of their lives no matter how unimpressive.”
Hope everyone caught John Grossmann’s “Personal History” article, “The ‘Happy’ Swindler,” in the May-June issue.
—Val Armento, 227 Sylvan Ave., San Mateo, CA 94403; val.armento@alum.dartmouth.org
