Rich Ackerson

Hanover: grades 6-12
HHS graduate

[after a series of emails, Sara Koury wrote to me:]

After many years going by “Richard,” he prefers to be called "Rich" nowadays.

Rich retired from his Hitchcock counseling job last December, and they removed his email account.

He planned to restart on a per diem basis but had to go through the orientation process again, even after all his years of experience.

Finished orientation on 4/18 and was already scheduled for 54 hours in his first week back.

May 7, 2011 --

For me after HS there was more school which led to certification in Recreation Therapy and 40ish years working at Dartmouth Hitchcock in the In-Pt. psych department as a therapist. I enjoy the work very much and have GREAT coworkers. I married a southern girl...Peggy Fernald...who grew up in Exeter NH. Yes Trish, she still has the blue hat you stole! She is now retired after working at CREARE most of her life and is busy volunteering, gardening, fitness pursuits and especially birding.

We have 2 kids, Eric and Kate (aka Kater). They are both married. Eric is working for Boeing and lives in DC. He has his masters in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He is a great guy who loves all sports and life in general. Kater is a piece of work...she skied competitively through HS at ski academies and earned 6 Junior Olympic medals. She retired from skiing when a freshman in college after blowing out her ACL. She has always had a passion for animals and is now in Veterinary school. Shortly before starting Vet school she was diagnosed with MS and is handling that better than me.

Not much remarkable to say about my life since HS. Mostly flying under the radar and living a quiet live in an old farmhouse near the Skiway. Work, picking away at remodelling and additions to the house, cutting firewood, fishing, cooking on the wood cook stove (which is going continuously through the cold season), gardening, watching way to much news, and hanging with close friends in the Lyme community. I have skied very little since 1970. I did ski for a few years when the kids were little but hung them up again when they were close to beating me on the "NASTAR" courses. My knees now are close to replacement time so maybe after they're replaced I'll pick it up again.

So Alan, pass this on and warm regards to you and all of my extraordinary and interesting classmates.

May 7, 2011 --

We had so much class pride in high school and were, as I recall, determined to be the best HHS class ever. A favorite memory along that line was winning the HS winter carnival competition when we were sophomores, Thanks PNutt for asking me to be your partner for the 3 legged slalom. PNutt, your skill carried me/us to a win as I recall. I also remember the fundraising efforts (split birch candle holders compliments of John Rand and his Dad etc.) that made us the richest class ever. Do you remember blowing it all on the steak and lobster picnic at Lake Newfound? Extravagant! Speaking of lobster, who was in the Biology class with me when Kevin Cunningham's father donated a lobster for each student in the class and we cooked them in the autoclave? The lobster was substituted for what was supposed to be crayfish dissection. Delicious!

Ancient history: I moved to Hanover in the 6th grade and it was a difficult adjustment. Adjusting was made even more difficult because my first teacher was Otis B. Howe. He had his favorites and I wasn't one of them. Pretty much a year long humiliation of getting 0's on tests because of penmanship issues even thouth the answers were correct. I now publicly thank classmates who were kind and friendly to me during that year and through the later years...you know who you are! It is no coincidence that in my professional life I have a particular interest in the area of PTSD and how trauma effects people. Mostly now it is the good stuff that leaps to my memory...stuff big and small like when Kathy Staples brought her sea shell collection in and gave me a beautiful shell...Thanks again Kathy!