SWORD & DRUM CELEBRATION
   Thanks to all who came to our celebration at the Wait House on Sept. 13, 2004. We celebrated the completion of the display case for the sword and drum. Thanks to Judy Dodds for designing the exhibit and getting the drum restored. Also thanks to John Reilly for building the case. Special thanks to those who contributed to the Sword & Drum Fund.

          

NEW FLAG AT WAIT HOUSE
   The WHS has purchased a flagpole and flag in memory of Jack Dillon, a longtime member of the WHS board and a good friend. The flag was purchased with money donated to WHS in Jack’s memory. It will be flown at the Wait House. We know Jack would love having the American flag flying in his memory. Our thanks to everyone who contributed.

On Remembering a Friend
and True Historian
by Chuck Allen
   “You see this?” he would rhetorically ask as he held a small piece of rusted metal between his thumb and forefinger. It resembled a child’s toy jack. “I found this on a WWI battlefield at Verdun” or at another time....He proudly handed me a chard of flint from a pile of chard and declared, “This came from a Comanche arrowhead factory I found on my brother’s ranch in Texas”.       
   These were exciting moments in John (Jack) Dillon’s journey. He loved history and history’s artifacts. They were his show and tell, the treasures he would study and seek. So his interest, support and service as a board member of the Waitsfield Historical Society was important to him. He was important to us as a hard worker and friend. We need to remember him.

   Remember him as a religious man whose love for family, flag and community were paramount to his lifestyle and personal creed.Remember him for his love of nature’s playground. That is why he and Sue came to live among us. Jack hiked skied, canoed and hunted. He was a wonderful artist and could make some mean beer

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Jack at the Tall Ships Event

    Remember him as a dedicated soldier who served his country as an infantry officer, a sea cadet and leader in far off Korea where he served. I had the privilege of serving with Jack over fifty years ago when we were both young American officers. Comrades in arms have special insights of one another. Jack loved the military and it served as a large window in his life. Through it he saw the spirit and soul of America. He especially focused on the time of the two world wars when he felt America experienced some of its greatest moments.
   Remember him as the person who remembered the crew of the U.S. Air Corps bomber that crashed on Camel’s Hump in 1942. It was Jack that rallied the Vermont community to honor the dead airmen and the only survivor. He organized a group that provided a plaque and reception commemorating the crew 50 years after the tragic event.
   Our community has lost the services of one of its most worthy members. Jack Dillon is one of the finest men I have ever known and, most of all, I miss his unwavering friendship and counsel.

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