Squirrel Island Historical Society: Truck Guys
Dan Hoffman: 1985-7
Dan Hoffman remembers mainly sharing the Truck Guy with Chris Schoen. As you can imagine, memories get a little fuzzy with the passing of time. Dan remembers staying in the farm house one year when John Tuttle was superintendent and then the next year with Beury Simons. Those summers might have been 1985 and 1986. Dan and Chris probably also worked 1987.

When working the trucks for the summer, it is always a challenge finding a place to stay if your family does not have the cottage all the time. Dan's family had July covered but he needed to sleep somewhere else for August. One year Chris lived with him in July and then they both went to the Schoen cottage for August. His memory is that during the course of that summer, they moved on to the Chase cottage.

The advantages of the job are pretty obvious. Lots of money. You get to drive, which is something no one else gets to do. And, some of the younger boys had not done a lot of driving on the main land. Also, everyone mentions getting to see who has come on the boat and who is leaving. That might be especially valuable information if you were interested in young women.

One of the hardest things about the job was the disorganization. You never knew exactly what was happening next or what you were expected to do. This was before the island used cell phones or even walkie talkies. Messages came by phone or note into the post office or farm house. You had to retrieve them from there. In fact, part of your job was delivering messages to cottages. In between boats, you were not a contractor on your own but an island employee. You had to get involved in delivering wood, cutting lawns, etc. And then of course there was the garbage. A lot of it was still burned in those days.

Ah, but did I mention the driving! Up the Hotel hill and onto the farmhouse flat! Getting up a head of steam to make it up to David Nivisons from what is now Rob's barn or even the race across the field to get a running start on the hill up to Wyman. Dan reported that he remembers it was a strange experience in the fall when you returned to driving at the break neck speeds that paved roads allowed. And the radio! Always on. Though Dan reports that he preferred alternate Rock while Chris was partial to Classic rock so it was always a race to set the station.

There was even island work after Truckdum! Dan and Chris worked for Dick Paul. Dick was doing a lot of masonry on chimneys. The pay was good but one did not learn a lot. Bobby Kerr offered the opposite, less pay but a lot more chance to pick up skills.