At the time--April, 1977--the loss of Cary House to fire seemed devastating to a school that was struggling to gain positive momentum. In a metter of hours, gone was Proctor's kitchen, dining hall, dorm space for thirty-four boys, four faculty apartments, laundry and ski rooms. Immediately, however, things began to go right: people of the town opened their homes to students, Colby-Sawyer College catered meals to a new dining space in the fieldhouse, a fledgling development effort received unprecedented pledges of financial support. The campus decentralized, as three new dorms were built on the north perimeter. Johnson, Davis and Summerfield Houses reflected an emerging school identity: small, south-facing and energy efficient, heated with wood supplied by an expanding tract of woodlands. Up on Wilson's Wonder Trail, a blue blaze marks this red oak for harvesting....
Nobody seems to know why Summerfield went through the 18 cords supplied by the Woodsmen's team so fast, but JV hockey players moved several cords from Johnson House...
...and another stacked at Summerfield yesterday.
Dan tends fire in Summerfield's Passat boiler.
