A Relic from the Past

So this one has got to make my top-ten list for great email stories... just in the way the issue is phrased, if nothing else. The key player? Henry Neale '94, with whom I did my student-teaching up at Mooresville High School long ago. Henry, did you lose something on Spring Break once upon a time?! Hopefully we can get it back for you. Stay tuned.

From: Michelle and Rick Shiver
Sent: Monday, August 30, 2010 1:17 PM
To: Wagner, Peter
Subject: Henry W Neale Jr.


Hi,


I'm wondering if you have any alumni information on a Henry W. Neale Jr., birthday 9/14/70, student number 0156365 having attended Davidson College in '89-'99? I live in South Florida and several months ago fished his student school ID out of my backyard canal. Before I discard it, I wanted to make sure he was not in the same place I found his ID.


Thank you for your help,
Mrs. Shiver

OFF the Road

I anticipated that by this hour we'd be well down the road from the Holman/MacGarvey home... but as we climbed in the Nissan to depart this morning we found that the starter in the vehicle had gone bad. So it looks like we might be in Dorset for one more night while the car is fixed. As I write, John is out cold on the hammock -- the sound of the rain surely did him in -- and Dodger is laying quietly on the deck next to him. I'm inside with a cool breeze while I try to plow through some of the email that's been accumulating over the past two weeks.

And the photos I've been hoping to add to this blog? They're tied up on my phone... there isn't cell phone service so I can't upload them mobile-ly... and I can't seem to make my computer and my phone talk to one another. So that will have to wait. But for any of you following along, we've hit a bit of a snag in the itinerary.

On the Road

So John Syme '85, Dodger, and I started our 2010 Road Trip on Monday with lobster at Five Islands followed by a wonderful event in Portland, ME. After spending time with Nat May '95 -- the executive director of SPACE Gallery in Portland -- and then hitting Portland Head Light on the way out of state, we made it as far as Loudon, NH on Tuesday. Today's visits have included Elena Bell Wagner's alma mater (New England College) in Henniker, NH; a stop in Hanover, NH to chat with Kelly Sundberg Seaman '85 at Dartmouth College; and a wonderful night with Georgine and Steve Holman '78 at their beautiful home in Dorset, VT. Kelly is a writer for the Dartmouth communications operation, as well as a Class Secretary for Davidson's Class of 1985. Steve is a master craftsman in the world of contemporary furniture, and is highly skilled in restorations of pieces dating back to colonial times.

It's been such a treat already being on the road and meeting so many Davidson people, and I'm thankful that John thought of including me on this year's venture. It's a great combination of alumni events (along with Portland, we're doing Lancaster, PA this Friday night), scheduled interviews/meetings like the ones with Nat May and Steve Holman, and serendipitous and spontaneous drop-ins with volunteers like Kelly and -- fingers crossed -- Stephanie Moffett Hynds '84, who we hope to see on our way south tomorrow.

Now before I get to some gratuitous photo posting, please be sure you take some time to follow our trip a little more closely on John's blog, Daybook Davidson. Great stuff -- he's a professional. Please keep up with us, and be in touch!