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In Middlebury, our Court Street next door neighbor, Hilton Bicknell, coincidentally happened to be an ardent and dedicated hunter, fisherman and conservationist. Hilton and his wife Theresa had 3 children of approximately the same age as my brother Peter and I. Primarily through Hilton, my dad, the Cub Scouts and later the Boy Scouts, I learned about responsible woodsmanship, firearms safety, marksmanship and a true appreciation of "being outdoors". Hilton headed the Middlebury Rifle and Pistol Club and ran the local indoor firing range in the basement of a feed and grain warehouse in Middlebury. He taught many of us younger Middlebury children the basics of marksmanship, firearms safety, and a great deal about hunting, fishing and conservation.
When I was 4, Dad began teaching me to ski on a small slope on the side of Chipman Hill in Middlebury. Equipment back then was pretty rudimentary, with leather toe straps and spring cable heel bindings. Someone had converted an old motor car to run a rope tow up to the top of the slope and I spent many pleasant hours learning to ski. Scouting was also important in my youth, first as a Cub Scout and later as a Boy Scout. Through the Scouts I began to learn citizenship and eventually earned a wide range of merit badges. When I was 7 we moved across town to a smaller home in Chipman Park, where my father still lives today. My early schooling started in the Middlebury Grade School not far away in the village. In addition to playing first base in Little League I continued with my skiing in winter, scouting in summer and marksmanship. During this time my family sold the summer camp in Ripton, purchased an empty lot on the east shore of nearby Lake Dunmore in Salisbury, and constructed a summer cottage which we used for many years thereafter.
There I swam a lot and would once or twice a summer "swim across the lake", usually with a friend. This was a good 1/2 mile swim and my mother or another person would bring the rowboat along for safety. |
