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  Cover photo by Doug Prince  
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 How Sweet It Is See also:
On March 9, Sweet returned to Durham to break ground for a new outdoor track and to celebrate his 100th birthday with many of the athletes he coached over the years, including Olympian Richmond "Boo" Morcom '47. It was coach Sweet's last visit to Durham: on May 4, Sweet died after a short illness. (See Spring 2001's In Memoriam.) The ceremony was held in Lundholm Gymnasium, and material from the old track was brought inside for the occasion so Sweet could turn the first shovelful of dirt. "It's time to go to work," he joked as he donned a hard hat and stepped slowly across the stage to the dirt pile. "This is one of the greatest days of my life," Sweet continued. "It's good to see so many of my boys here. We loved each other; we were a family." It's been 17 years since athletes last laced up their spikes and left the starting blocks on the University of New Hampshire's outdoor track. The track was in such disrepair that runners could not even train on it. All that will change this fall, when UNH inaugurates its new 400-meter, synthetic-surface track. The facility also includes runways for the pole vault and jump pits for the long and the triple jump, a 3,000-meter steeplechase, space for throwing events and new timing and public address systems. Athletic director Marty Scarano expects the track to be ready by Sept. 1, in time for the start of the fall sports season. The $2.16-million facility is made possible by donations, many of which came from Sweet's former runners. The late Reggie "Racetrack" Atkins '28, the top quarter-miler on the 1924 track team, provided the impetus for the project when he willed $6 million to the university, including $750,000 to build a track. Les Hubbard '27 and Norris Browne '55 soon added to that, and since then Wildcats from every decade have contributed. "I don't know where the years have gone," Sweet noted, "but when I look back, I realize how fortunate I was to spend half of them at UNH with the wonderful students and all the colleagues and great friends." E-gad! E-xclusive E-services When Dave Kantner '62G of Sinking Spring, Pa., was updating his résumé and needed some information, he turned to fellow alumni on the UNH Alumni Association E-mail Directory.
Lacking phone numbers for three former jobs--at a high school in New Hampshire, a college in Vermont and a military base in Washington, D.C.--he e-mailed six UNH alumni living in those cities and asked if they would look up the number for him. "Would you believe I got six responses back, all in less than 28 hours?" Kantner says. "Once a UNH graduate, always a UNH grad!" The E-mail Directory dates back to 1998 when the online database was first launched by the Alumni Association with the assistance of the UNH Research and Computing Center (RCC). Since then, a number of additional e-services have been added (see box). The portal service UNHalums.com has been consolidated with the alumni page, providing more services in one location. Additional e-services are planned. The goal of online services is to build a virtual community of online UNH alumni, says Ernie Gale, executive director of the Alumni Association, providing a vehicle for UNH alumni to reconnect with classmates and friends and assist each other with advice and networking. Interested in giving the alumni association feedback on what new e-services you'd like offered? Visit http://www.alumni.unh.edu/ survey.html. We'd like to hear from you. Annual Meeting Alumni will be asked to vote on changes to the UNH Alumni Association's bylaws at the annual meeting on June 9. The bylaw changes formalize the Association's relationship with the university by making the Association a subsidiary of the university, while preserving the operational independence of the Association and its board of directors. The changes are required to bring the Association into compliance with state and federal law. The change was approved by the board of directors on Jan. 18. Great Shots
Nashua's Sky Meadow Country Club, rated by Golf Digest magazine as one of New Hampshire's finest golf courses, will be the location for the 25th annual UNH Alumni Open Golf Tournament on Monday, July 30. The tournament, featuring a shotgun start and scramble format, will start at 11 a.m. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. The day will wind up with a social hour, dinner buffet and awards presentation. Special events include two hole-in-one prizes: a four-day trip to Bermuda and a set of Taylor Made golf irons. The cost is $150, or $25 for dinner only. To make reservations, call the Alumni Office at (603) 862-2040 or e-mail alumni@unh.edu.
Honk if you love Homecoming Mark your calendar: Homecoming 2001 will be Oct. 5-7. UNH will play Delaware on Oct. 6, and the 'Cats will look to repeat their upset of last season, when they were one of only two teams to defeat the Blue Hens. Begin the weekend with fireworks and a band concert at the Pep Rally on Friday, and tailgate in Boulder Field on Saturday before the big game. For more information, e-mail alumni@unh.edu. blog comments powered by DisqusCurrent issue | Past issues | Class notes Department archives | Send a letter/news | Address updates Advertise | About UNH Magazine | Alumni home | UNH home University of New Hampshire Alumni Association 9 Edgewood Road Durham NH 03824 (603) 862-2040 alumni@unh.edu |
aul Sweet
arrived at UNH by Model T Ford in 1924 to coach cross country and track
and field. He stayed for 46 years, guiding his teams to four New England
titles and two Yankee Conference championships. 
