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The family farm on
Smith Street
My grandfather, Thomas, who
ran the town of Westboro along with Leigh's grandfather in the 20's and
30's, started the farm in the 1890's. We were three miles from town
which, at the time, seemed like an overnight journey. I often envied my
classmates (Ruth, Sue, Alan, Don, Peter, Tiny, Kathy, Francis, Sally,
Sookie, Ajax, etc.) who lived within walking distance of school. Can
you believe how lucky they were?
My brother Tom and me
As Tom and I were getting
older, Mom and Dad realized we would not want to be the third
generation on the farm. As a result, they sold it in the '50's so Mom
could go back to teaching in order to send us to college. As some of
you may recall, I went to Rensselaer. Actually, I can thank
Meri W's dad for suggesting that to me in the seventh grade. And,
of course, my interest was the excellent Architectural School there.
Once enrolled, I was eager to start my new education in architecture so
I could design that Hilton. However, my well kept secret had finally
caught up with me. I am color blind, and I do mean color blind. In
fact, I remember in first grade fearing that Miss Bagley would call on
me to color something in front of the class. I thought I would end up
like poor Beatrice. I even had to take three driver exams before I
could get my license. The reason was that I flunked the color test
twice until I discovered that the green is always at the bottom of the
light. Thank goodness that's a federal mandate today.
Since many freshman classes in architecture at RPI were all about
color, I knew I had to make a quick change in my major or end up in the
corner. So I immediately switched to mechanical engineering and said
goodbye to architecture for some time (but not forever as you will find
out soon).
I loved engineering and still do today. The best part of those four
years, however, was finding my wife Sue via a blind date at the end of
my junior year.
Our wedding, July
1967
We ended up marrying shortly
after graduation in July 1967. That also was the year of the movie The
Graduate starring Dustin Hoffman. And do any of you remember the
one liner from Mrs. Robinson's husband? He said "Plastics."
I kept that word in mind for a couple years as I was employed by United
Aircraft in Hartford, Connecticut. My first job at Hamilton Standard
was to design a valve system for temperature control on the Lunar
Excursion Module. I felt pretty good about that since the only colors
on the moon are shades of gray. I then moved on to the Pratt and
Whitney Division to help design the new turbo-fan jet for the Boeing
747. My job was to design the jet noise suppression equipment. Again, I
had no problem with the color of stainless steel.
But now it was 1969 and I was getting restless to move from engineering
work into more marketing and business types of assignments. So I
searched out a job at the DuPont Company in Delaware where the plastics
revolution was happening (thanks, Mr. Robinson, for the tip). That
started a very interesting and exciting 36-year career.
In 1971 Sue's and my life changed for the better when our son Doug
arrived. Even though he was a "preemie" and had to remain in the
hospital for some time, he recovered quickly and has been and still is
the joy of our life.
Our son Doug and Sue
If any of you have had careers
in a large corporation, you know about the corporate ladder. There
never is a misunderstanding as to where you start. The real issue is
when you fall off because everyone does eventually. So I thought the
best way to cover those 36 years, before you all fall asleep, is to
show you some people and experiences I enjoyed while trying to climb
(some of us call it clawing) up that ladder.
Drinking in Malaysia
One of my first trips overseas
was to Malaysia. All my experiences drinking at college (and others
with Chuck Melesky and friends at the drive-in off Route 9 in
Shrewsbury) could not prepare me for those late nights with the Asians
drinking things I can't even recall today. In fact, the next day (while
still hung over) was very memorable in that I was given a tour of a
snake temple owned by the family of our first customer. And if anyone
wants to see that picture including the boas let me know. [Ruth has
nightmares and would not let me send that photo!]
I was in Asia as part of a DuPont team to develop small plastic packets
for personal care products like shampoo, toothpaste, and medicines. We
helped develop the package concept in the U.S. at fast food outlets for
things like ketchup, mustard, etc. Since the average person in Asia
makes only enough money daily to buy goods for that day, the package
sizes have to be very small, not jumbo. It now is a successful
packaging business in Malaysia, thanks to that important first customer
(with a very strange hobby!).
Not far away in Japan I managed a JV to make plastics for the cover of
golf balls. Our breakthrough was the Titanium cover. The name turned
out to be more of a marketing gimmick by Titleist in the U.S. as the
only titanium present was in the catalyst used to make the specialty
plastic. I was glad that Sue often traveled with me as she helped
protect me from bad things like hangovers and occasional rain.
Sue and me in Japan
The one thing she couldn't
protect me from, however, was the traditional Karaoke bars, as these
were an important rung on the Asian corporate ladder. More business was
transacted there than in the board rooms in Tokyo. And, as you can see,
the Geishas are old and not that interested in amateur American singers
belting out "Michael Row the Boat Ashore." Maybe if I had had a wig and
beard they would have liked me more?
Singing in a karaoke
bar in Japan
Along the way, I have
practiced a little Boogie dancing in Egypt as well as Olympic sprinting
at the original stadium in Greece.
Dancing in Egypt
Sprinting in Greece
After a number of years with
DuPont in Delaware, I had a chance to help manage a manufacturing plant
in southern Texas near the Louisiana border, the heart of Cajun
country. This is the land of the Texas Two Step, Cotton Eye Joe,
Schottische, and Coon Ass Waltz all of which Sue and I learned and
occasionally taught. As you can see in this picture, climbing the
ladder down there meant dressing a little more like a Texan, not a
Yankee.
Dressed like Texans
The other important role for
me was being a soccer dad. Since I was never gifted as an athlete, I
had to work harder than most. My motto was that I did not have to be a
soccer star. I only had to be better than the next dad out there. By
the way, our son Doug at age 10 played in the Astrodome in Houston,
went on to be a Delaware state soccer star, a Bucknell College star,
and is now a soccer coach, among his many other responsibilities. And
his son Jay is following in his footsteps at age 9.
For the remainder of my career at DuPont, I worked in more than two
dozen jobs comprising just some (but not all) of those additional rungs
on the ladder. Most all of the assignments involved problem solving but
there were some fun jobs, too, dealing with things like Teflon, space
age metals, films to ensure popcorn pops in microwave packages, films
for flat screen TV's, plastics for the high-end athletic shoes and swim
suits, synthetic fibers for Stealth aircraft, smart packaging films
that absorb fat from potato chips, easy-open food packaging (still
working on that), and many more that are probably more boring than the
ones I already mentioned. Enough already! Enough!
So did I ever at least try to design that Hilton? The answer is closer
to yes than no and colors did not matter. With a lot of help from my
wife Sue who was employed for years at Winterthur Museum in Delaware, I
learned about the American Decorative Arts, i.e., antiques and historic
architecture, the latter being my passion over the last 20 years or so.
It provided me welcomed relief from the pressure of corporate work.
I focused my new knowledge on finding and working with Sue to restore
historic houses in Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. We
started with a 1790 house in 1977 and are presently working on our
fifth one, a 1730 home on Cape Cod.
Our present home in
New Castle, Delaware, circa 1825, purchased in 1997
Our former home in
Avondale, Pennsylvania, circa 1732, where we lived 1987-1997
I like the design, the
balance, and the handcrafted details of these old houses. I have
learned to do some of the trades myself as a way to appreciate the real
workmanship but, more importantly, to save some money. Together, Sue
and I do the social research on the families who have lived in these
properties, along with the title searches going back several hundred
years. An interesting fact about our present house in Delaware is that
a family who made grandfather clocks lived there in the 1700's. Sue and
I did the research and were very fortunate to find a 1782 clock made by
those owners back then. It is now back home where it belongs in New
Castle, Delaware. But more important than the clock is the fact that
Sue continues to handle all questions relating to color within these
properties.
But with old houses occasionally come BIG problems like the one we are
facing at the Cape. It seems that the inground oil tank had been
leaking for many years before we bought the property in 2006. As a
result, the Massachusetts EPA has labeled our property a hazardous site
(remember the Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska?) due to groundwater
contamination from the oil. At present, the house has been raised onto
I-beams, the foundation removed, and several hundred thousand pounds of
oil-soaked sand are being removed down to a depth of 23 feet. The goods
news is that my insurance company is covering most of the cost, but I
expect a sizable premium increase soon. I still enjoy the historic
architecture of the property even though it tilts a little more now.
Our other passion has been to travel internationally, both on DuPont
business as well as on our own. While Sue loves the food and flowers, I
focus on the historic architecture of the Mayans, Romans, Egyptians,
and Greeks.
Sue and me in Egypt
Sue and me in Peru
In fact, I wish I had known
more about ancient cultures and architecture back in the '60's. If I
had, my career would have been similar to Martha Oleson's husband. You
are a lucky lady, Martha, to have been part of your hubby's fabulous
career all these years!
So now I will close, first with a picture of my dad whom many of you
knew. He passed away a couple years ago at the age of 98. For close to
20 years he wrote an article each week in the Chronotype titled
"As It Was Back Then." He loved Westboro and was passionate about its
history. He was, I recall, the oldest elected town official at 92 when
he became a trustee of the library. You would often see him driving his
old Chevy (previously owned by Leslie W's grandparents) at the
front of each Memorial and Independence Day Parade.
My dad, Frank W.
Poskitt
And the last picture is of our
two grandchildren, Jay and Colby. Sue and I are so fortunate to have
them and our son Doug in our lives, as they live in New England close
to our Cape Cod home.
Our grandchildren,
Jay and Colby
For those of you who have
grandkids, you know how special those relationships can be. In fact, I
have come a long way since Miss Bagley's class in that I now let my
six-year-old granddaughter help me with my colors as opposed to my
helping her.
I also am thankful for my brother Tom whom many of you know. He has
been and continues to be an important part of my life. As an
oncologist, Tom has often written for The New England Journal of
Medicine, practiced medicine in several areas throughout the
country, but more importantly has been and continues to provide family
and friends with invaluable medical help and insight. In fact, much of
my success is attributed to his being so outstanding in everything he
did. Of course, as a younger brother, you always want to outshine the
older brother or at least try like hell to catch up to him. Maybe
someday I will.
I am eager to see all of you next summer in Westboro at our Class
Party. Until then let's stay in touch through this website that Ruth
has developed for us. It's a wonderful gift of renewed friendship.
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