Atwood, John - Fryeburg Academy Teacher

John Atwood, Sr. Longtime FA Teacher This is a story about one of my favorite teachers – Mr. John Atwood, Sr. He is former FA Faculty (Business & Accounting) and former Athletic Director at Fryeburg Academy. I went to his home on Main Street in Fryeburg to interview him and his wife, Esther, on January 5, 2008. Mr. Atwood will be 85 years old on April 26th (he was born in 1923).

Mr. Atwood began at Fryeburg Academy as an accounting teacher in 1966 and retired in 1981. He also coached girls skiing and golf and was the Athletic Director from 1967 to 1975. “I taught four classes of accounting, one class of business and one class of business math,” Mr. Atwood says. “When I became A.D., I said to Headmaster Phil Richards, ‘Do I still teach as much as I’m teaching, and he said, ‘Oh sure.’”

John Atwood, Sr., was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, the only child of Elizabeth and Harrison Atwood. When he was young, his family moved to John Atwood at his home in Wellesley Hills, MA. and he went to the local schools Fryeburg, January 2008 and then was sent to Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, NH (near Dartmouth College). “I went away to high school for a few reasons. The main reason was that my mother was a school teacher. I think the second reason was my parents had close friends who had a son two years older than me who had gone to Kimball Union, and they were very pleased with the school. Of course, the other reason was that I was a problem child. Going away to school was a good way to have me taken care of when they were working!” Mr. Atwood says, “I enjoyed Kimball Union very much, and that is where I first really got going on skiing. I was on their ski team through my high school years. KU was right next to Dartmouth. I got to go to a lot of their events, and it was interesting to see what was going on there.”

“After I graduated in 1941, I went to UNH. During my sophomore year, the entire college was called to active duty – yes, the entire college. UNH was an ROTC school. I was a sophomore when we were called up to the Army. They were interested in us because of our skiing abilities and the Army was training ski troops. The War Department wanted to form a division of the Army which would be mountain and ski trained. This Mr. Atwood in the 10th Mountain group would soon become known as the 10th Rock Climbing School Mountain Division. We had to get three letters verifying our skiing experience, and we had to take a test at a ski area. They sent me, along with five other UNH skiers, to Cranmore in March of 1943. Hannes Schneider gave us the test. We went up the hill with Hannes, and he said, ‘I’ll ski down half way and you ski on.’ So we all skied down to the bottom and he said, ‘You all will make the Army easy.’ We went to Colorado to train for over a year. Then as we were just about to ship out, they sent a bunch of us that were sergeants to officers candidate school, and I was one of them. I got out of officers candidate school, then I went overseas.”

However, now it gets better. Mr. Atwood goes on to tell, “My first assignment as an officer was to escort 350 mules to Italy. You can image what all my buddies said. Even as an officer you had to be awfully good with a shovel. They gave me a detachment of men from another section of the Army. They weren’t too happy about it! But this gave me a few fellows who had already trained with the ski troops and had used mules for practically everything in the transportation of supplies and weapons. We also had a veterinarian on board. It took us 30 days to go from New Orleans to Italy on the water, and I don’t think the ship stopped rolling once. 350 mules and us. We hit a couple of big storms and two or three of the mules died. It was a very interesting way to go overseas.”

“We got to Italy and the war ended. I think it was late winter of 1945 when we arrived and the war was over in the spring. I was never in danger in WWII. I wasn’t being shot at, nor were the people around me. I was further back.

I was not exposed as much as a lot of others. My exposure was sort of cleaning up Esther & John Atwood on their wedding day and helping in the recovery. Having only been in Europe for two or three months, October 23, 1948

-11Fryeburg Academy, 745 Main Street, Fryeburg, Maine 04037, (207) 935-2005, www.fryeburgacademy.org, e-mail-alumni@fryeburgacademy.org

I didn’t get to go home right away. I was put on occupation duty stationed on the border between Italy and Yugoslavia.”

“Then a very fortunate thing came up. A directive came around stating that any troops still overseas when winter rolled around may qualify, if interested, in forming a US Army Ski Team. The point of this was to start spreading the good will of the US into the resorts and ski areas in Europe. So about ten of us signed up and spent that winter touring and skiing in Europe. Maybe the taxpayers don’t want to hear about that.....”

“After the war, I went back to UNH and graduated in 1948. I met my future wife, Esther, then a junior at UNH. She was a sociology major. UNH gave us all credits for our military service, and I got through in three and a half years.

I majored in hotel and business administration. Esther and I graduated from UNH in May of 1948, and we were married in October of 1948. (On October 23, 2008, John & Esther Atwood will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary).

The newlyweds worked together in the hotel business. Their first stop was the Mountain View Hotel in Whitefield, NH. When that ended, they went to work at Mount Sunapee State Park. Mr. Atwood was the Assistant Manager and Esther was the secretary.

Encourged to become a member of the Army Reserves when he was discharged in 1946, Mr. Atwood had been reluctant but was assured that everyone was joining and he would only be called up in case of an emergency.

“Then the Koreans crossed the 38th Parallel and I was among the first John & Esther called. Esther was pregnant with Nancy. I did not get assigned overseas this time but was assigned to an intelligence school. I spent my time prowling Birmingham, Alabama, doing security and looking for spies. When I returned home, my job at Sunapee had disappeared. Through UNH and a few other connections, I found a job opening at the Exeter Inn and worked there as Manager until 1954. One day I was at the Exeter Inn and met Harold Severance, the owner of Severance Lodge on Kezar Lake in Lovell, Maine. We visited for awhile and he asked me about myself. In the hotel industry, Harold Severance was very well-known. (Note: Harold Severance is the father of FA alums, Carol ‘60, Craig ‘62 & Doug ‘59 dec.). He asked me to come up and look at his resort and we loved it. We got all excited. He offered me the job as his manager. I took it and was there from 1954 to 1966. Those 12 years were a lot of hard work but great years.

We had all local people working for us. They were just great and easy to work with. We had a guest list that was unbelievable. Generations of people kept coming back every year. We were always full. Harold decided he wanted to sell Severance Lodge. He offered it to me, but I didn’t have enough courage to go that deep into debt. After trying to sell unsuccessfully, Harold divided the property into lots and sold them. When the Lodge closed, I didn’t want to stay on as a caretaker. And Esther and I didn’t want to leave the area. We had three kids in school. Esther had just started in real estate and was enjoying it. We had gotten a cottage on Kezar Lake and had a house in town and didn’t want to leave.”

The Atwoods had also invested some of their wintertime in establishing the Fryeburg Junior Ski Program. Realizing there were no skiing opportunities for younger students, the Atwoods and Dr. and Jean Davies established the program.

Mr. Atwood says, “We got volunteers. Phil Richards and Howard Ross set the program 1976 Maine Prep School Champions: Front row (l-r): Terry Khiel Felser ‘76 (dec.), Jenn Davey ‘77, Me- up with buses for no cost. I lissa Chace Trace ‘78, Marcia Briggs Hayford ‘78, Julie Sislane Atherton ‘79, Sabina Robiller Robbins ‘76, drove one of the buses to take Jodi Osgood Arnheiter ‘79 2nd row: Beth Fraser-Asst Coach, Ginny Sislane ‘77, Cindy Nagy kids over to Pleasant MounSchoonover ‘78, Caryn Robiller Braun ‘78, Ellen Hastings Zelman ‘76, Sally Wilson, Cindy Gushee ‘76, tain.” Still in existence today, Barbara Cooper Comunale ‘77- 3rd row: Patty Coombs Pond ‘78, Michele Mcquade 78, Mary Ellen Davey ‘78, Liz Harvey ‘76, Liz Orcutt ‘77, Diane Gushee ‘79, Debbie Murphy Brock ‘77, Lorinda MacDonald ‘79 the Fryeburg Junior Ski Program continues to teach skiing to 3rd and Coach John Atwood, Sr. -12Fryeburg Academy, 745 Main Street, Fryeburg, Maine 04037, (207) 935-2005, www.fryeburgacademy.org, e-mail-alumni@fryeburgacademy.org

thru 8th graders in the SAD72 school district.

Mr. Atwood tells of the beginning of his teaching career. “At a basketball game one night I started talking to Phil Richards, then Headmaster at Fryeburg Academy. He asked me if I was interested in teaching accounting. I was pretty apprehensive. It was a substantial cut in salary. But I thought it over and felt it was worth it to stay here (in Fryeburg). I had kept up with my business training and then went back to night school and took the job at the Academy.”

“My first year was a little rough. I had had some contact with kids through the ski program but mostly younger kids. Two years before I came to Fryeburg Academy, Buck Austin offered, and I accepted, the position of girls ski coach, so I had known some students that way also. I was still at Severance while coaching but had time in the winter so I had a relationship with local skiers and learned a little about life at Fryeburg Academy.”

John Atwood Sr.’s Grandchildren “Upon arriving as a high school teacher, I learned that even Sam ‘06, Tim ‘06, Liz ‘07, Joe ‘08 & Emily ‘09 though I thought all students would sit and listen intently, some weren’t going to do so. It took me awhile to adjust to this part. But with help from people like Dave ‘The Enforcer’ Woodsome, I learned how to get the kids under control by getting them on your side, hearing your point of view and understanding how things should be. Then it got easier. I enjoyed it very much. When I think back to some of the great kids... And we had a great bunch of teachers. The kids got better every year. Some kids I rode pretty hard. Some have come around and told me it helped them. It was nice to be at Fryeburg Academy while my kids were there. I always enjoyed my contact with the parents of my students. Thinking back on it now there isn’t anything I would have done differently. The best thing is the aftermath of teaching at the Academy. I go downtown to the bank and see someone there, and, lo and behold, it’s so and so. I ask how they’ve been and ask if they’ve got any children and they say....actually, I’ve got two grandchildren!”

As for looking back on his ski coaching career, Mr. Atwood says, “Julie Grace McCarthy ‘70 (dec.) was the most outstanding skier that I worked with. Barb Mason Murphy ‘68 was also a great skier. My daughter, Nancy ‘69, was very good. Then, of course, came the Sislane girls. We had some boarding students that contributed a lot to our teams.” Mr. Atwood is very proud of his 1976 Maine Prep School Championship Ski Team and still has their framed team photo in his home. “We had a very solid team.”

The Atwoods have three children, Nancy ’69, John ’71 and Peter ’74. Nancy just retired from teaching. She lives in Orrington, Maine, and has two sons, Chris and Jeff. John Atwood ‘71 is a history teacher at Fryeburg Academy. He and wife, Debbie Merrill Atwood ‘80, have been married for 21 years and have three chldren, Tim ‘06, Liz ‘07 and Emily ‘09. Peter ‘74 is married to Jenn Atwood and they have two children, Sam ‘06 & Joe ‘08. Peter works in the ski business and real estate. With seven grandchildren, Mr. Atwood is very proud that five of them were on the Fryeburg Academy ski team at the same time. His grandchildren have been instrumental in bringing Fryeburg Academy many skiing titles, including the 2006 & 2008 Boys State Alpine Championships.

Mr. Atwood says of Fryeburg Academy from his perspective as teacher, Athletic Director, parent and grandparent, “The Academy has been in our life since we first moved here in 1954. I was impressed with the Academy from the start – the combination of dorm and town students works well. We felt it was kind of one of the bonuses and privileges of coming to this area. In the last 16 years, since Dan Lee (FA’s Headmaster) has been there, it’s just been unbelievable what he and his team have done. The whole attitude of the school, everybody - teachers, workers, kids, parents. Hey, I know there are problems, there always will be. But the whole attitude seems very remarkable. The thing that has really impressed me is that everyone has risen to the occasion (since the fire). It’s too bad it had to be that way, but it was. When you look at the buildings that have been created. The Science Building, the Library.... buildings, of course, aren’t the true answer to education, but they’re good for people to work in. I think it’s wonderful to have the element of foreign students. I saw that when I was there. Dorm kids get along with town kids. The relationships were mostly very good. And the way Brent LaCasce ‘78 (FA Faculty-Music) has melded them together in his years there – well, he has given the school a tremendous boost. When you think of what the music program used to be – it was pretty sad compared to today.

The people at FA are great. Guys like David Sturdevant (FA’s Asst. Headmaster), Scott Cote-Crosskill (FA’s Science Dept. Chair), Dan Turner, and, of course, Scott Kelly ‘53 (FA’s Alumni Coordinator). Hey, did you know Scott Kelly used to be a waiter at Severance Lodge?! ” Reflecting on his life, Mr. Atwood adds, “I have had a happy life and a wonderful marriage. You couldn’t beat it.” Mr. Atwood points to Esther and says, “She’s been good to me. Our life has been very good. When you look at other people and some of what they’ve been handed, well, we thank our lucky stars every day. I am grateful every day.” Written by: Rachel Andrews Damon ‘76 with thanks and gratitude from all FA Mr. & Mrs. Atwood at their home in alumni.

Fryeburg - January 2008 -13Fryeburg Academy, 745 Main Street, Fryeburg, Maine 04037, (207) 935-2005, www.fryeburgacademy.org, e-mail-alumni@fryeburgacademy.org