"Fixing a Hole"

This year, the Middlebury Magazine started to be printed again and I started to receive my copy. Although I am not an alumni of Middlebury College, I told them that my father Harold was and my Uncle Ken was also. I have been reading the magazine most of my life and felt privileged that they agreed to send me issues. Because of the pandemic, they had stopped the hard copies and only were creating the electronic version of the magazine online. I stopped reading it.

In the most recent issue, they had a small story about foxes. Apparently, they had warned the summer Language students not to feed the wild foxes that are around the town. I am not even sure if they knew if they were Gray or Red foxes. I know how similar they are because the Brevard Zoo use to have both Gray and Red in a single enclosure. I liked taking pictures of them.

They had a pair of Gray foxes at Brevard Zoo. They were sisters and were named Thelma and Louise. They seemed to spend most of the daytime sleeping, but when the keeper came with breakfast, they were much more active. I took this shot of them in the corner; I think they had just been fed.

The Red Fox at Brevard Zoo was even more shy (not sly), and spent most of his time in his cage behind the enclosure. But once in a while Stanley would come out. Sadly, he was having a skin problem that was getting worse. They euthanized him in December of 2022. 

So one connection I had to the fox story was that I was taking pictures of foxes at the local Zoo. But another connection was related to foxes in Middlebury, wild ones. Back in the very early 1970s, I was playing some golf at the Middlebury College Golf Course. It was only a nine hole course when I started playing but they add nine more holes while I was still in High School. Back then, the manager of the course was Ralph Myhre. Today the name of the course is the Ralph Myhre golf course

Back then, over 50 years ago, there was this one hole, I think #3, that was a long par 4. There were deep woods along the right side, where my slice liked to go, and normally the second shot for me was using a wood to approach the green. But this green was known for foxes, who would like to come out and collect any balls that were on the green. They would take them into the woods. I do not remember if they were Gray or Red, but I remember hearing that one of the workers went into the woods and found a pile of balls. I wonder if the foxes in the magazine story are descendants of the ball stealing foxes from 50 years ago.

 In 2017, I played a round of golf at the Ralph Myhre course with my brother Tom and our friend Ted Landon. It was Ted's first time playing there. Of course, I had my camera and took some pictures. A surprise to me was that I took a shot of the fox-stealing hole from the tee box.

And even more amazing, I had Tom take a photo of me on the same green where the foxes use to take the balls. At least they were not trying to fix the holes. It also would have been nice if they had dropped the ball in the hole. None did on this beautiful day in Vermont.

Some more interesting connections... Ralph Myhre also was the manager at the Snow Bowl. His son John worked with me as a Hobart Engineer in Proctor Hall, which served the summer Language Schools at Middlebury College, the same students warned to not feed the foxes. 

My immediate boss all three summers I worked at the college was Rodney DeGray, I had found out he died in 2021. His daughter Kim was a classmate at MUHS, and also skied with us at the Snow Bowl. I have mentioned that my dad worked weekends at the snack bar at the Bowl, which got me free skiing and discounts on food. Well Rodney's wife, Kim's mom, Beverly also worked at Proctor Hall in the Crest Room and was the cashier, yep, at the snack bar at the Snow Bowl. Sadly, I just found out that Beverly died Sept 10 in Vermont at age 86.

Beverly was the best at running the cash register at the Snow Bowl. Back then the registers were bulky with lots of buttons to push. She knew the prices of everything and each item was punched in with a price, no scanners back then. The cool thing was that at the end of the day, if the line for food was small, Beverly use to let me run the register. You know how I love numbers and math, and I was probably only 10 or 11. I will always remember that; it's a nice feeling. May both Rodney and Beverly Rest In Peace.

But there is another couple who had connections to my family that have recently passed away, Cleon and Helen Bigelow. I have included a picture of them with my dad and also one with my mom. This was in front of my parent's trailer here in Florida

Helen worked with my dad at the National Bank of Middlebury. Her and Cleon had three kids, Cherie, Cindy and Jon. I was slightly older than them but not by much. Both families spent a lot of time together, traveling and camping between Vermont and Florida. Helen died on September 8 and Cleon quickly followed on September 27, yesterday. They will have a Celebration of Life at the American Legion in Middlebury tomorrow. I wish I could be there.

Luckily, I did get to see them a few times on my trips to Vermont. Usually it was at Cindy and Jerry's home in Weybridge. My condolences to everyone in that beautiful family, including the kids, the Grandkids, and the Great Grandkids.

I'm sad but I have so many great memories of these people. Just don't feed the wild foxes.

About Title

"Fixing a Hole" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney.

In a 1968 interview, McCartney said that the song was "about the hole in the road where the rain gets in, a good old analogy – the hole in your make-up which lets the rain in and stops your mind from going where it will." He went on to say that the following lines were about fans who hung around outside his home day and night, and whose actions he found off-putting: "See the people standing there / Who disagree, and never win / And wonder why they don't get in my door."