By George Decker
Neither the South Cove Activity Center nor The Center at Eastman, where the Eastman Council holds its meetings, bears much resemblance to the British House of Commons Chamber, with its green leather benches and intricate wood paneled walls. Yet it is in these settings with views of the lake and golf course where one has heard Board President Maynard Goldman quote Winston Churchill at least once during his Board of Directors’ Reports at each Council Meeting. But he is not alone in his penchant for quoting. Prior to the main business of a recent Council meeting, to help make a point, I paraphrased Churchill and a young lady from the Peppermint Patty’s team quoted Margaret Thatcher, to which Maynard replied, “Winston’s been taking quite a beating this morning.”
Maynard and I are both big admirers of Churchill. In fact, I once asked Maynard which quotation of the eminently quotable British prime minister was his favorite. He replied, “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” Very apropos of Eastman with its strong tradition of volunteerism. I replied by saying that, while I am fond of Churchill’s inspirational quotations, I actually prefer his amusing ones, of which there are many. One of my favorites is “Diplomacy is the art of telling people to go to hell in such a way that they ask for directions.”
So, why quote Churchill in our small community of Eastman here in the middle of New Hampshire, USA?
Well, as some readers may already know, Churchill’s mother was American. As Churchill said in his December 26, 1941 address to Congress, “If my father had been American and my mother British, instead of the other way around, I might have gotten here on my own. In that case, this would not have been the first time you would have heard my voice.”
For a stronger local connection, however, it might actually make more sense to be quoting Margaret Thatcher. Oddly enough, Thatcher was born Margaret Hilda Roberts in Grantham, England, where her father was a grocer. Had he immigrated to our Grantham, we may be shopping in Roberts Market, not Rum Brook.
What about talent of a more local nature, though? Unfortunately, New Hampshire can lay claim to only one U.S. president, Franklin Pierce, who isn’t quoted often. Still, one of his quotations could certainly apply to some meetings of Eastman’s governing bodies and their committees: “Frequently the more trifling the subject, the more animated and protracted the discussion.”
I then turned to Wikipedia’s list of people from New Hampshire to find others from our state to quote. Sarah Silverman, perhaps? I checked out her quotations and, while they were all very funny, none were really suitable for this family-oriented publication. Although I do not share his political philosophy, political satirist P.J. O’Rourke, who now lives in New Hampshire, has some memorable and amusing quotations. This one might easily apply to Eastman during its black-fly season: “One thing that’s certain about going outdoors: When you come back inside, you’ll be scratching.”
In researching this essay, I did, however, manage to find one Churchill quotation the politically-savvy Mr. Goldman would probably never use in a place such as Eastman: “Golf is a game whose aim is to hit a very small ball into an ever smaller hole, with weapons singularly ill-designed for this purpose.”
Parting shot on the 18th green by Cathy Lacombe
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