Durham-Great Bay Rotary - Newsletter

Thanks to the Three Chimneys Inn. For pairs of mittens donated to their tree to benefit My Friend's Place, Three Chimneys will serve the donor free hot chocolate.

The club will meet at the Elliott Alumni Center on Dec 16 and 23. The meetings on Dec 30 and thereafter will be at Three Chimneys.

Sean We have collected almost $1200 for turkeys. They will be distributed Monday, Dec 21st at 9am. Meet at Durham Marketplace.

Chip On Sunday, Dec 13 at 3 pm, the Durham Community Church will host a free concert featuring the NH Youth Chorus and the NH Choral Society presenting holiday music from the Christmas Oratorio by Camille Saint-Saens.

Happy Bucks:

John R Newmarket HS Interact has raised money to help with our

turkey drive.

Jud 78th birthday

Jo-Anne Parents are celebrating 70th anniversary.

Dave VA UNH Football & Hockey; scooter buck (he's the speaker today) ;)

Ron Late buck; snow and Warren's snow angel

Pres. Rich 25 members showed despite the snow

Bob W Thanks for the ride

Chip Concert at DCC this Sunday

Dick B A Christmas Carol is being presented at Seacoast Repertory

Program:

Classification talk, Dave Van Allen

Born in New York City in 1934, Dave moved several times with his family before settling in Durham. Although attending Colby College at the time, he met his neighbor, Peg, and literally married the girl next door. They have 4 children and one grandchild.

While at Colby College, Dave was in Air Force ROTC for two years and then dropped it. But following college, he entered the Navy Officer Candidate School in Newport RI. He applied for the Navy Air program at Quonsett Naval Air Station, but was turned out due to his height. A great disappointment. Instead, he served as an officer in the weapons department on the destroyer USS McGowan (DD678) in the gunnery division. Based in Newport, Dave quickly came to realize that USS not only meant United States Ship, but also "Underway Saturdays and Sundays".

Following his discharge, he searched for a sales job with a US company which had a national presence. Corning hired Dave and he remained with them until his retirement. He and his family lived in Chcago, New Orleans, DC, and New York during those years and he often travelled to the Orient.

On one trip to Japan where he and others from Corning were studying Total Quality Management (TQM) and Just-In-Time Inventory Management, he was fascinated by workers on a bicycle assembly line who were putting these processes into successful practice. One worker told him that he thought that his country owed it to the US to share its successful practices...but that they were confident that the US wouldn't be able to do anything with the information.

On another occasion, he went to NYC to meet with Art Buchwald who was to speak at Corning. He was stood up by Art, who, to apologize, sent Dave a flower bouquet saying he'd never sent flowers to a man before.

Dave also related a few humorous stories involving Corning Board of

Directors member Robert MacNamara.

Following his retirement from Corning in 1991 at 57 years, he and Peg returned to Durham where they built a house and the next year purchased a cottage in Wolfeboro on Lake Winnipesaukee.

Dave was brought into the DGB Rotary Club by Roy Kent in 1993.

In closing, Dave passed along a few observations that have stood him and Peg well over the years:

Put the other person first

Put yourselves ahead of your children

Never talk disparagingly of your in-laws

Megabucks:

Brian had the ticket but couldn't find the card.

President's Quote:

"Smooth seas never made a skilled mariner"

Upcoming Programs:

Dec 16 Noreen Biehl: VP for Community Relations, W-D Hospital

Dec 23 Pres. Rich and Chip: Social Media

Your Scribe: John B.