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The
Exeter community has long lacked a geographic
center, a place where students, faculty and staff
can converge and connect throughout the day. Thanks
to three very generous alumni, that is about to
change. Recent gifts provided by Earl F. Slick
'39, Andy McLane '65 and Allan Gilmour '52 bring
the Academy significantly closer to creating a
campus crossroads where lifelong connections will
be forged and nourished.
 
A little more than fifty years after Earl F. Slick
'39 generously donated the funds necessary to
renovate the Academy's popular "Grill", he's decided
to do it again. Through the Slick Family Foundation,
Earl recently made a significant commitment to
support the construction of a new Grill facility
in the former Thompson Science Building, future
home of the Academy Campus Center.
Originally
from Oklahoma, Earl spent four years at Exeter,
and despite the fact that a brother, Tom '34,
had gone before him, can still recall that the
culture shock was initially "tremendous." Eventually,
however, through involvement in the Academy's
Southern Club and participation in athletics (Slick
was a varsity boxer and wrestler), he began to
feel more at home. The support and friendship
of a handful of teachers also helped, in particular
that of Wells Kerr. Kerr, then dean of students,
could be "terrifying and tough as hell,"
Slick recalls, "but he was very kind to people
from the South and ended up being a sensitive,
wonderful man."
So
why the Grill, why again? Slick, a soft-spoken
but direct man who now resides in Winston-Salem,
North Carolina, says simply, "It's a special place
that I loved as a student, and when I read about
how it would fit with the new student center,
I wanted to help."
 
The idea of giving the naming gift for a post
office might seem unusual to some, but for Andy
McLane '65, it's in the genes: Andy's great-grandfather
founded a company that was at one time the largest
manufacturer of post office furniture and equipment
in the United States.
Born
in Lennoxtown, Scotland in 1852, John McLane immigrated
to America at age 2 with his parents and a 4-year-old
brother. His father, Alexander, was a wood engraver
and had been recruited to work at the Amoskeag
Manufacturing Company in Manchester, NH. Tragically,
just a few weeks after their arrival, Alexander
drowned in a swimming accident. His widow, Mary,
feeling unable to financially support the young
boys, put them in the care of a foster family
in nearby Dunbarton. John attended high school
sporadically in Manchester and worked part time
as an apprentice cabinetmaker. At age 21 he became
an "expert" journeyman and part owner in a furniture
factory in Milford, NH. Three years later, in
1876, he founded McLane Manufacturing Company,
also in Milford. In 1880 the business began manufacturing
post office boxes, furniture and fixtures built
to U.S. government specifications. By the turn
of the century, McLane Manufacturing had grown
to be the largest supplier of letterboxes and
equipment for U.S. Post Offices across the country.
After John McLane died in 1911, the business,
as well as the family fortune, went into a sharp
decline. In 1919 the company was sold and by 1935,
following the Depression, was bankrupt.
At
the same time that his company was burgeoning,
John's influence in town, county and state business
and politics was also on the rise. He became president
of the Souheagan National Bank, as well as a director
of the Milford Granite Company, the New Hampshire
Fire Insurance Company and the Milford Building
and Loan Association. John was likewise a strong
supporter of the Republican Party, and his blend
of business acumen and civic zeal soon got him
noticed by party officials. By 1895 he had served
two consecutive terms in the New Hampshire State
Senate, both as president. Nominated for governor
by his party in 1904, McLane was elected and served
from 1905-07 as chief magistrate of the state,
during which time he welcomed delegates to the
Russo-Japanese War Peace Conference in Portsmouth,
New Hampshire, where a treaty was signed that
ended the war.
Andy
McLane is proud of his great-grandfather's contributions
to the state of New Hampshire, the same state
from which Andy himself hails. In fact, for Andy,
it's this series of connections—to family,
to New Hampshire, to Exeter—that inspired
him to make his gift. "When it comes to my philanthropy,"
says McLane, "there has to be some connection;
it's what motivates me. Normally, I wouldn't say
a post office would be the thing to do it, but
that strong family connection was there, and it
makes me happy that this new space will now be
a part of the McLane family's legacy in New Hampshire
and at PEA."
 
Allan Gilmour '52 knows how important it is to
make people feel good about their work environment—as
vice chairman of Ford Motor Company, he oversees
not only the chief financial officer, Ford Credit,
and Hertz (a division of Ford), but also the human
resources and corporate relations departments.
So, when Allan sat down with Jim Theisen, the
Academy's director of alumni/ae affairs and development,
to discuss options for his 50th reunion gift,
Gilmour was immediately drawn to the Academy Center
project and its potential for Exeter's students
and teachers. "We spent a lot of time talking
about the project," recalls Allan, "and the more
we talked the more it became clear that Exeter
needs a living room, so to speak, a place that
is centrally located, warm, friendly and relaxing."
In
determining how to earmark his gift, Gilmour,
who will endow the future operation and maintenance
of the center through a generous life insurance
policy, also drew from his own Exeter experience
during the post World War II era. "When I was
at Exeter," he says, "the modus operandi was 'hard
work for the sake of hard work.' I wouldn't have
characterized it as warm; that's one of the reasons
this project appealed to me."
Despite
the stern environment of his student days, Gilmour
says that throughout his life and career he has
consistently fallen back on lessons learned at
Exeter. "It's where I learned to discipline myself,
to organize and get things done. It also very
much broadened my awareness, in part because I
attended with kids from all over the country,
in part because of the breadth of the curriculum,
and in part because smart people encourage you
to think about lots of things." 
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A primary goal is to transfor m the
former Thompson Science Building
into
an Academy Center on the main academic
quad. The center will serve
as a community
crossroads where students, faculty
and staff can meet formally
and informally
throughout the day. The center will
house a new post office and
Grill,
a new day student center, as well
as new office space for student
clubs
and organizations such as the Exonian,
the PEAN and the WPEA
radio station. (See article this
page.)