Horses Over America

Horses Over America

By Rosalie Triolo

Photo courtesy of Lt. Col. Gerry Scott

A man, a horse, a dog, and a commitment. Lieutenant Colonel Gerry Scott Retired US Army Reserve, and Infantry Officer, is the founder of the “Horses Over America” program. While serving in the US Army he was assigned to command one of its three horse units of 20 horses, 10 of which were Lipizzaner. 

Lt. Col. Scott describes his horse, Hercules, a 17.3 hand Friesian, as “100% Dutch, stunningly calm, sweet and stable.” Hercules was 7 years old when Scot brought him from the state of Georgia to his home in Saco, Maine. Retired from the Army for 28 years, he has owned seven horses of different breeds. He has had the honor of riding in a military exchange program with the Queen’s Household Cavalry and has ridden in burial ceremonies for America’s Fallen Heroes at the National Cemetery.

Aware of the increasing daily effects of hopelessness and helplessness on many members of our society, both the young and the old, especially during the recent pandemic, the increase in senseless shootings, suicides, drug overdoses, and for some the total feeling of loneliness, Scott believes horses are a therapeutic animal who can be and are effective in making a difference in people’s lives. He calls it “horse therapy.” With his horse, Hercules, and Molly, his Yellow Lab, Scott has visited nursing homes, veterans’ homes, hospitals, cancer treatment centers, schools in towns from Maine to New Hampshire and Vermont and has seen the growing need for mental health services. He doesn’t want people to think of him as someone “just riding a horse down a Main Street in their town with his dog running alongside. He wants people to see a man, a horse and a dog riding in harmony.” 

Scott has the foresight, sagacity, and the determination to put forth a plan. His goal is to develop a national partnership with police departments and police chiefs in the more than 15,000 municipalities across America with the help of the 2.1 million horse owners and 10 million horses throughout America. He has adopted 10 towns, which he regularly visits – Wolfeboro being one of them. But he is one man with one horse and one dog. He cannot do this by himself. Horses Over America is a non-profit 501c3 organization. Scott said, “If supported, we can reach between 50% to 75% of towns in America. I am maxed out with 10 towns and work six days a week for no pay.” 

Scott visits Wolfeboro quite often. He related a story regarding his visit to Wolfeboro’s Kingwood Middle School, which took place several weeks before school closed for summer vacation. “When I arrived, teachers brought out one group of students at a time for 20 minutes.” I asked, “How many of you have never been on a horse? Several children raised their hands. Those were the children I chose to put up on Hercules. It made those children who had never experienced sitting atop a horse remarkably happy as well as parents who were there. A little gesture to delight a child and make both children and parents smile. I don’t believe in magic if such a thing exists, but when riding down the street in a parade and sitting in a wheelchair on the side is an old gentleman looking up at me and my horse, I’ll look down at him and say, “My horse is looking for a girlfriend. That elderly face turns into a child’s bright smile. Every time I go to Wolfeboro, I make it a point to visit one little girl. The happiness it brings her to see and touch Hercules is worth the time.” This year many of you may have seen Scott riding Hercules with Molly running alongside in both the Memorial Day and Fourth of July parades.

Scott praised Pat Waterman, Wolfeboro’s Town Clerk. “She has been so supportive of the Horses Over America program and helps me in any way she can. She embraces the program. Parents have sent her letters asking when Hercules will be coming back to town.” Scott has visited Huggins Hospital on Main Street in Wolfeboro and said, “Fifty-percent of the employees will spend their lunchtime to come outside to pet Molly, admire Hercules and chat with me. Also, I plan on spending more time at the Genesis Health Care Center and am going back at some point in the near future.

“Recently, I rode Hercules right into a restaurant in Portland, Maine and tied him to the door in an open area. Since I know the owner, I was welcomed.” Scott went on to say, “The patrons could not believe their eyes and came up to me to talk about, my horse, and Horses Over America program.” 

Lt. Col. Scott has a goal and encourages horse owners across America to participate in this program, strongly believing it will make a positive impact on peoples’ lives. Horses Over America can be more successful than it already is when police departments and the chiefs of police are and will be equal partners with horse owners in this worthwhile effort. As he said, “This program will not only help those individuals with mental and emotional health problems but will strengthen and aid in police department reform programs by giving them an asset.” 

Horse owners who adopt a town, will only have to volunteer their time with a police department for eight hours a day between three to five days a year depending upon the size and needs of the town. It is an important way of bringing communities together to understand and address those in need of mental health services and to support and assist in police reform. Scott has adopted 10 towns and tries to visit each one of them, but he is only one person and cannot achieve the goals by himself. 

During 2021, Lt. Col. Scott visited Wolfeboro for the town’s annual Memorial Day Parade. Scott, his horse Hercules and his dog Molly were greeted by many of the townspeople and visitors. As Dean Rondeau, Police Chief of Wolfeboro, said, “Horses Over America has proved to be a great mental health program for the Town of Wolfeboro. Together we visited our schools, Huggins Hospital, our nursing homes, and the entire town were invited to meet them at the town docks where Scott’s beautiful horse Hercules swam in Lake Winnipesaukee and Molly did too. We will definitely want to continue this.” 

A few comments from several police chiefs throughout the State of Maine who are working with Horses Over America include: The police chief of Kennebunk, Maine said, “It would be a great asset to every police department if they could have a Horses Over America team to count on…” The police chief of Bath, Maine expressed his feelings, “The experience we had in Bath with ‘HOA’ was exactly what our community needed…” Brunswick, Maine’s police chief is pleased to have an officer who brought her horse, as did another community member. “We took three horses to visit several nursing homes, neighborhoods and most of the downtown merchants.” And in Saco, Maine a police officer has already been assigned to Horses Over America. She added, “It has a positive psychological effect on hundreds/thousands of people it can touch in one day.” 

For more information on “Horses Over America” visit www.horsesoveramerica.org. Photos in the media gallery of horses and trainers, or with police officers visiting the housebound elderly, economically disadvantaged neighborhoods (children and adults alike with smiles of joy). Horse trainers’ statements and the reaction of delight and happiness these magnificent horses bring to the young and those who are the young at heart. 

Part of Horses Over America’s mission statement is simple yet so appropriate. A quote from one of America’s most popular and beloved cowboys, Roy Rogers, “The best thing for the inside of a person is the outside of a horse.” 

And as Lt. Col. Scott added, “Outside of a horse means working with them every day which forces you to be outside.”

A Dream to Create

NH Wildlife exhibit at The Libby Museum; courtesy photo.

A Dream to Create

By Rosalie Triolo

Photo Courtesy The Libby Museum of Natural History

A “Renaissance Man,” is how Catriona Lennon, director of the Libby Museum of Natural History in Wolfeboro, describes Dr. Henry F. Libby. “He was a dentist, naturalist, painter, writer, and sculptor. In 1908, Dr. Libby designed and helped build the Libby Museum. Perplexing engineers, he used whiskey barrels filled with cement for the foundation. No beams were used in the construction of the ceiling, which is held up with tie rods. And to this day there is no central air conditioning, yet the inside of the museum is cool. The air is circulated through vents located on the lake side front of the building. The cooling winds from the lake are sucked into the vents and carried up through a false wall in the back of the building. The completion of the museum was four years later in 1912.” 

Dr. Libby led a fascinating life. His skeletal collection of Puma, Bear, Orang-outang, and humans is displayed in a glass case on the side wall to the right of the large moose. He details, “The anatomical structural comparison of these creatures is for the purpose of awakening the mind to further pursuit of the study of evolution and possibly to help strengthen the arguments of use and disuse of types of teeth.” His Treatise on the Neglected Phase of Dentistry promoted preventive dentistry and the removal of wisdom teeth. 

As you wander through the museum, Dr. Libby’s fondness, and passion for all aspects of nature is evident in the number of his collections of animals, birds, and artifacts. When you walk in the front door of the museum, a large Moose with an impressive rack upon its head is probably the first thing you will notice created by Steve Jandreau, Taxidermist. 

Not far from the Moose exhibit is a New Hampshire Wildlife exhibit by Steve Berry, Taxidermist. Showcases filled with various samples of minerals, for example, Dark, Light, Yellow, Red and Orange pieces of Granite which is composed of Quarts, Feldspar and Mica and quarried here in New Hampshire – thus the state’s name - “The Granite State.” 

Ms. Lennon noted, “Dr. Libby is credited with the invention of the original white gypsum plaster plaques which meet the essential needs of natural history mountings, since they do not shrink, crack, swell, warp or discolor. The handwriting on the plaques is that of Dr. and Mrs. Libby. Also take notice of the twin flowers on the lower corner on many of the plaques, which symbolizes their love for each other.”

One of Harvard University’s most valued and irreplaceable treasures in the world today is a one-of-a-kind exhibit - the Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of plants, specifically the “Glass Flowers” Exhibit. Dr. Libby’s creation of the white gypsum plaques upon which to mount the glass flowers continues to be used at The Agassiz Museum’s Glass Flower exhibit at Harvard University.

The events at the museum this summer include “Wildlife Encounters” Live Animal Shows, Wednesdays at 2 through August 11. The event is free. “Wildlife Encounters” Live Animal Shows are taking place outside this year. The variety of wildlife includes, reptiles, mammals, birds and more.

A remarkable collection exhibit of oils and watercolors by Rebecca M. Fullerton of Scenes of New England and White Mountains began in June and can be viewed through the end of July. Fullerton resides in the hillside town of Bethlehem, New Hampshire, where parts of the town are within the White Mountain National Forest. She concentrates on landscape painting in the realist and impressionist traditions of the New England mountains and the White Mountains in particular.

Photographs by wildlife photographer, Joseph Callanan, will run from August through September to Columbus Day. Joseph (Joe) Callanan is an avid wildlife photographer and naturalist. He spends much of his time working healthy habitats in New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts where he photographs wild animals going through their daily routine. His wildlife presentations are fascinating and educational as he relates stories of his encounters with Bald Eagles Owls, Loons and Hummingbirds and on the wilder side Black Bears and Moose.

Regrettably, Children’s Programs will not be available this summer.

Dr. Libby was born in 1850 on Tuftonboro Neck. He married Hattie E. Horne in 1875. They had one child, a son, Arthur Allen Libby. Dr. Libby passed away in 1933, at which time the Museum and surrounding land was bequeathed to his family with the stipulation that the Museum be opened each summer to visitors. When the family could no longer manage the costs and care of the Museum, the Town of Wolfeboro became the stewards of its care. In 1998 the Museum’s building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The restoration of the Libby Museum continues, and so too does the need for fundraising via an online “Go-To Fund,” and the Friends of the Libby Museum, Inc. which was established by the descendants of Dr. and Mrs. Libby. 

Individual contributions by local residents of the area that are interested in continuing the restoration of the Museum’s building are most welcomed. Other projects are the replacement and repair of glass cases and casters, the continued support of the “Live Animal” shows, and the restoration of the Carder Antique Fan Collection. What is involved in restoring antique fans? It takes hours of tedious diligent work. First the fan is removed from the frame, then cleaned and damages repaired, and lastly backdrops replaced.

The Libby Museum of Natural History is located at 755 North Main St., Wolfeboro, NH. Contact 603- 569-1035, visit thelibbymuseum.org., or thelibbymuseum.com. For contributions, The Friends of Libby Museum can be reached at www.friendsofthelibbymuseum.org. 

Dr. Henry F. Libby’s dream was to create a place to “flash before the eye, the mystery and drama of life…and appeal to the imagination.”

Richie Clyne’s Bungalow Bar Ice Cream Truck

Richie Clyne’s Bungalow Bar Ice Cream Truck

By Rosalie Triolo

Photos courtesy Richie Clyne

Remember back to those summer days in the 1950s and 1960s, when as a child, you eagerly waited for the clanking bells which would herald the approach of the ice cream truck? 

Bungalow Bar Ice Cream Truck

Richie Clyne has fond memories of growing up on Long Island, New York, and the Bungalow Bar Ice Cream Truck. The “Ice Cream Man” used to come through the streets of New York City and its boroughs once - and sometimes twice - a day. 

Clyne recalls, “I loved Bungalow Bar Ice Cream but most of all the truck with its picket fence door, and the brown shingled roof with a chimney that actually had smoke coming out.” 

Clyne recounts a story, “Years ago I had been looking for a Bungalow Bar Truck to restore, and I found one still in use belonging to an ice cream man out on Northport, Long Island, NY. Wanting to buy the truck, I spoke with him several times. Each time he told me he was leaving it to his son.” 

Twenty years ago, Clyne received a call from the ice cream man’s son, asking if he was still interested in the truck. Clyne acquired the 1957 Chevrolet three-quarter ton truck with Bungalow Bar Ice Cream body; self-contained with compressor on board which had been used until 2000. 

For many years now, when residents celebrate Tuftonboro Old Home Days, Clyne dresses in his Ice Cream Man attire, then arrives at Davis Field on Rt. 109A next to the Tuftonboro Elementary School in his white Bungalow Bar Ice Cream Truck and distributes complimentary ice cream bars to kids of all ages. 

As a young boy, Clyne was (and still is) a passionate antique and classic car enthusiast. He said, “My father always wanted an old car to restore. When I was 12, I found a ‘For Sale’ ad for a 1930 Model A Ford. Borrowing money from my parents, we drove to Maryland with a trailer to pick up the car. What seemed like a million pieces covered the floor of my parent’s one-car garage. I slowly began putting the pieces together, restoring my first car. If I needed help with a door hinge, I’d run inside and ask my father what parts I would need. He’d tell me and I’d run back out to the garage and hunt for the pin or other pieces to complete the assembly.”

Clyne has been extremely successful with many noteworthy accomplishments. There is one which deserves particular attention and acknowledgement. With his knowledge and expertise for restoring antique and classic cars, Clyne, in the early 1990s, was instrumental in initiating a program for inmates at the Nevada State Prison in Indian Springs, Nevada. Inmates, who didn’t necessarily have prior mechanical experience, were trained in the art of antique and classic car restoration. He interviewed them finding the “right fit” for those men who were interested in and willing to learn the many aspects of the restoration process. Clyne paid them the Federal Minimum Wage, a segment of which was repaid to the Federal Government towards their housing and board while in prison. A portion of those wages were deposited into a savings account for each inmate for when they returned to their lives on the outside. He also set up a Victims Crime Fund where a percentage of the wages were distributed. Those inmates fortunate enough, reliable, and trustworthy were given an opportunity to become employable at a trade they could use when released.

Also, the inmates at the Nevada State Prison meticulously and effectively helped with the restoration of a 1934 Diamond T Fire Truck. (The Diamond T Company which produced cars and trucks was founded in 1905 by C. A Tilt in Chicago.) During its years in service, from 1934 until 1963, the Diamond T Fire Truck responded to small fires around the Federal penitentiary on Alcatraz Island, also known as “The Rock.” Today Alcatraz is a museum, and part of the National Park Services Golden Gate National Recreation Area. On museum tours, visitors are given a look at how the restored 1934 Diamond T Fire Truck pumps water. 

Driving approximately 184 miles north on US-95 from Las Vegas to Goldfield, in Esmeralda County, Nevada is the Goldfield Firehouse Museum owned by Richie Clyne and Buck Kamphousen. On display are antique fire equipment and memorabilia and a restored 1926 Ford Model T Calliope, and an original Goldfield Fire Truck #3 and several other noteworthy historic fire engines and ambulances. In the early 1900s, gold was discovered in Goldfield. The era of the “Mining Boom” took hold. Population increased. Goldfield became the largest city in Nevada and the Goldfield Firehouse was built. Between1923 and 1924, two devastating fires rampaged through Goldfield, leaving it in ruins. Fortunately, the firehouse was built of locally quarried ashlar stone and is still standing over these 100 plus years. The Goldfield Historic Fire Department is now classified as part of the Goldfield Historic District and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Las Vegas, 1996, was the opening of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway 15 miles northeast of the Las Vegas Strip. Imaginative and resourceful, Clyne founded and helped create a race car track designed in the shape of a Colosseum with the façade resembling a casino. Seating configuration is defined by the names of the various Las Vegas hotels with seats for over 100,000 fans and parking areas with the capacity to accommodate approximately 65,000 cars. If fans are staying at one of the hotels on the Strip, there are transfers from the hotel to the complex. And in keeping with one of the notable reasons couples visit Last Vegas, a Wedding Chapel was added to the facility. Two years later, Clyne sold Las Vegas Motor Speedway to Speedway Motorsports. 

The marvelous Ice Cream Truck

In the year 1981, The Imperial Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada added a new attraction, “The Auto Collection,” an Antique and Classic Auto Collection. Eighteen years later, Clyne and his partner, Don Williams, were given the opportunity to direct operations and management of the museum offering vehicles for sale or trade.  

For many years Clyne has maintained a repair shop in Melvin Village, NH, a Mecca for antique/classic car aficionados. He returns in early summer after having spent months of traveling from city to city attending car shows and auctions, and in some instances internationally to buy, restore, sell and at times to rebuy and resell antique or classic cars. During the winter months Clyne resides in Las Vegas where he stores and shows his cars, as he likes to call them, his “Stable of Cars.” He affectionately remarked, “Every car has a different story. I love them all.”