By Cherri Sherman
When asked if he would be willing to be interviewed, Spencer Potter, Waitsfield, claimed not to have much to say. From limited encounters, the opposite was suspected. Each week I get his email indicating the homes I will be visiting on my Thursday Meals On Wheels delivery route. He can’t recall how many years he has been sending these emails, but he knows it was his neighbor, Nancy Emory, who asked if he would get involved and serve on the board of the Mad River Valley Senior Citizens. He accepted. He came to recognize that the Meals On Wheels program needed to be more efficient and thus began his ongoing commitment to it.
In addition to informing 20 drivers of their schedule, he graciously finds substitutes when drivers request. This may require his time and attention seven days a week, but he claims he can do this from anywhere — his home, visiting grandkids, on an airplane or at hunting camp as long as he has the internet. To assist the four drivers each day in delivering some 35-60 meals, he initially visits a new client’s home to access the delivery options and potential concerns. His photograph of the dwelling makes it as easy and clear as possible.
ON TOP OF THINGS
He said all he does is think of what he would like to know, and it is the staff who prepare the meals and the drivers that do the real work in frigid temps, in mud season and in the hot weather -- ensuring that the clients are fed a hot meal at lunchtime. Displaying an endearing humility, he claims what he does could be accomplished with an app. There is no shortage of drivers who disagree. According to Gretchen Hernandez, the M.O.W. coordinator, “Spencer is an integral and vital part of the M.O.W. machinery. He is on top of everything.”
Rising very early at the Potter home of 50 years, Spencer is often up at five and figuring out how his day will unfold. By 7:30 a.m. he may be in Duxbury when the town office opens as part of his work as tax assessor for that town as well as for six others. When he returns home, it’s often to do yard work. His backyard is not the typical grass and flowers but an 8-acre span encompassing a pond, sand, greens, a burn pile, woods and a meandering brook with a wooden bridge.
In 2004 while sitting on his patio overlooking the pond below, his friend Vince Gauthier observed how fun it would be to pitch a golf ball over the pond. Spencer had never played golf but recalled, “When a good friend tells you to build a golf course, you put your beer down and go to work.” With six cedar posts from Kenyon’s, the six-hole course was laid out and 20 years later Woodchuck Golf Course continues to provide a unique opportunity for a “non-country club” experience. The website informs guests they will need a sense of humor to make it all the way around and warns that no hole is easy.
WELCOME NEW PLAYERS
Spencer and his hunting dog Eva welcome first-timers and experienced players alike who will not feel rushed as he intentionally schedules generously spaced tee-times. He can’t say how many players come each day but says it is pretty steady. Occasionally he is not at home and players help themselves but never depart without leaving contributions to the local food shelf, the charity the Potters designated in lieu of course fees. It’s troublesome for them that a community with great resources has so many people dealing with food insecurity.
They are happy to host individual and group outings including an annual October fundraising event for Central Vermont Pioneers (a sled hockey team) — and sometimes even a bridal party. It is not uncommon for country club folk upon arriving at the Palmer Lane property to say, “What the hell is this?” When leaving, they will admit to having the most fun ever playing golf. Perhaps what brings the greatest joy to Spencer is witnessing a young person finally getting a ball over the intimidating pond on the first tee. The success is seen as a miracle to the youngster and absolutely magical to Spencer. He and his wife Mary Jane share beers with the last group of the day and feel they have the pleasure of meeting extraordinary people. The look of satisfaction and joy from what he gets to see and what Woodchuck enables radiates from Spencer’s face.
KINDNESS OF FRIENDS
The Potters also are enriched by the kindness of friends, old and new, who want to contribute something they think will enhance the course experience. Spencer received a large package in the mail from a visitor who thought the course should have a better wooden map. A neighbor once showed up with beautiful new flags for each hole and unique yardage markers were given by another guest. These actions earn much coveted Woodchuck merch than can only be obtained by people who do good things. Credit was also given to Sugarbush for sharing their professional golf course experience with Woodchuck except when the recommendation is to buy a $40,000 piece of machinery.
The Potters also love having their children and three grandkids visit in summer and for ice skating on the pond in the winter. Not that he rides horses, but Spencer enjoys going to local polo matches adding, that it is much easier and more convenient than going to West Palm Beach.
Just as I, regrettably, ended the interview having learned so much from a man who claimed he had little to say, Spencer stood to greet the three young men visiting Vermont from Kentucky who were coming off the course. He asked them how they liked their experience. “It was awesome!” “There is nothing like this in Kentucky!”
It could just be that the Mad River Valley has a one-of-a-kind course and luckily, a Spencer Potter in our midst.
