HISTORY
The Cooks of the Tabor Boy Unheralded heroes of the galley have provided nourishment through clear seas and squalls
> Captain Glaeser
> 1926 Tabor Girls' School Cruise
By Eliott Grover ’06 In his first life, Henry “Barney” Barnes worked as a brakeman
“The preparation of meals aboard the Tabor Boy has always
on the New York railroad. He came to Tabor in 1929 when the
seemed to us to come under the heading of one of the world’s
school hired him to oversee its growing motor fleet. It was a
minor miracles,” a student wrote in a 1944 Log article that ran
shrewd hire for the school as Barney knew his way around an
as Barney started his fifteenth year at Tabor. “Toward meal time
engine. He also knew his way around a kitchen. Before long,
Barney descends into a galley about the size of a good-sized
these diverse skills made him a valuable member of the Tabor
broom closet—two-thirds filled up with engine at that—there
Boy’s crew.
is a great clattering, the sound of muttered imprecations, and
Accounts of voyages throughout the 1930s and ’40s document Barney’s culinary contributions. He loved cooking stews and
behold! A feast to which even twenty-odd Tabor appetites can scarcely do justice.”
often enlisted students to peel spuds on the ship’s deck. The
Cooking responsibilities rotated over the years between faculty,
aromas from these dishes would waft up the galley’s vent,
staff, and students. In 1951, John Woodman ’53 distinguished
giving everyone above a preview of the meal to come.
himself as a master of simple yet classic New England comfort
During the “Council Cruise” of 1935, an annual May event for the student council to celebrate the past school year, Barney
food. Franks and beans were his specialty, and he served them every Saturday night the ship was at sea.
opted for a surf-and-turf menu. After a fun-filled afternoon
A second Barney, Barnabus “Barney” Nye, had the fraught plea-
on Fairhaven’s West Island, students returned to the ship and
sure of cooking on one of Tabor Boy’s most perilous voyages.
found steaks and heaping plates of steamed clams waiting for
In March of 1957, she sailed from Marion to Bermuda. The trip
them. Dessert was vanilla ice cream bathed in strawberry sauce.
had an idyllic start. A pod of whales followed the schooner as she passed New Bedford, riding a steady easterly breeze.
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TABOR TODAY | Spring 2022
