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February 25, 2009 E-MAIL PRINT

Round 2 for these two

by Marty Basch/

They're not exactly grumpy old men, but Jack Daly and Bud Scheller are definitely pieces of work. After full careers, the two sixty-somethings wanted work, and they found some at Loon in Lincoln, N.H.

When Daly retired, he wanted to become a snowmaker. And at 64, he's been doing it for eight years.

Daly's varied career began in 1966 as a New Hampshire history teacher before moving from "bucolic” New Hampshire to Cambridge, Mass., in 1969 to become a probation officer during a period of student unrest and heavy drug use. That lasted 10 years. Then he shifted gears for a five-year stint as assistant Middlesex Country administrator, followed by 18 years as executive director of the Malden Housing Authority.

His wife and two sons began skiing at Loon in the 1980s. The couple bought a place there in the '90s and then became full-time Lincoln residents in 2001. Daly estimates he skis 100 days a season.

Daly became more involved at Loon after a friend introduced him to the mountain's adaptive program. He volunteered and now is a volunteer instructor at Loon's New England Disabled Sports program, the largest in New England.

"I got to know the people and liked the mountain," he said. "I watched them make snow and thought I would really like to become a snowmaker when I retired. I asked around and learned more about it. You just don't turn on the valves and snow falls. It is more involved."

So before Christmas, Daly works 48 hours a week as a snowmaker. Then, after the Christmas week, he works two 12-hour shifts making snow and volunteers five days a week as an adaptive program instructor.

"My wife says it keeps me out of trouble at my age, but at my age I don't know what kind of trouble I can get in," he said.

He works from noon to midnight, with much of the shift in the dark and cold.

"The scenery changes," he said. "There is no one on the hill when the lifts shut at 4 p.m., and that makes it easier to move the suns and hoses around the mountain."

For Daly, its something he plans to continue.

"I do it because I want to do it, because I like to do it," he said.

After more than 30 years in the Air Force, Scheller needed something to do in retirement. A New Hampshire native, he enlisted in 1965 and had a 32-year career that included being a photo interpreter for aerial reconnaissance over North Vietnam, full colonel and the vice wing commander of the 104th Fighter Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard in Westfield.

"I can't sit around reading a book and smoking a pipe all day," said Scheller, 63.

So, he went to a job fair at Butternut in Great Barrington, Mass., and was hired as a snow reporter. He did that for nearly three years.

When he and his wife returned to Lisbon, N.H., Scheller looked for a similar position and found one at Loon.

Five days a week, he gets there two hours before the lifts open to gather the daily snow report, update websites, record the snow phone and take pictures and video for the web.

"I've always enjoyed the ski area environment," he said from his office above the gondola base area. "Skiers and snowboarders are fun people to be around."

With three sons ("One lives in Jackson Hole and jumps off things", he said), Scheller has been a skier for about 25 years.

"Retirement is the worst thing that can happen," he said. "I enjoy people. I love to hunt, fish and walk in the woods. I can't let a little cold weather and snow stop me from experiencing living here in God's country."

The seasonal position lasts until April, and Scheller plans to hold on to the position as long as he can.

“I absolutely hate retirement,” he said. “I would still wear a uniform if they would take me. I need to stay busy.”