Alumni Profiles

The road to Gary O'Neal's homecrosses the one-lane covered bridge in the village of Ashuelot, N.H., then climbs past homes and cellar holes. A few miles later, you come to brick columns flanking the entrance to Crestwood. Beyond the estate's pond, guesthouse (listed in posh B&B guides for $250-$500 a night) and historic chapel, O'Neal's rambling manse sits atop Scofield Mountain. The land falls away dramatically to the Connecticut River. On a clear day you can see for more than 100 miles. Even on not-so-clear days, you can see a puff of smoke down at the bottom of the valley. That's Paper Service Limited in Hinsdale, N.H., the O'Neal family paper mill.

When O'Neal left Hinsdale High bound for college in 1969, his classmates wrote a farewell ode: "Off to UNH Gary will caper. See the world, then come home and learn how to make toilet paper." And it was true: O'Neal got a bachelor's degree in 1973 from UNH, yet he always knew he would return to the mill (although it stopped producing toilet paper in the mid-1990s). But no one could have predicted how he would mesh his passion for art and theater with the family's local legacy.

Gary O'Neal, who graduated from UNH in 1973, was named a New Hampshire Volunteer of the Year for his work supporting art and drama in his community. Photo by Mark Corliss.

O'Neal carries at least four different business cards at a time. "Doesn't everyone have more than one job, really?" he asks with a smile that makes you think he's up to something fun and slightly secretive. If you're O'Neal, you do: paper mill owner, wedding planner, adjunct theater teacher, school board budget committee member, tireless promoter of Hinsdale, patron of the arts. "I love theater," O'Neal says. "And to me, life is about assuming lots of different roles."

Not content to be a mere paper magnate, O'Neal has poured his energy into supporting local arts through business sponsorships, creating several arts organizations. The paper mill itself is covered with murals and art installations, the handiwork of high school students. O'Neal has always looked for ways to expose kids to culture, be it organizing trips to Boston so they could taste their first raw oysters on the half shell or venturing to New York City to see Broadway plays. As his vision expanded to make up for the lack of arts at Hinsdale High School, he created the Pacer Production Team. For 10 years under his guidance, students produced and performed plays around the region. This role won him mention in Who's Who in American Educators, and he shared the Governor's Award for New Hampshire Volunteer of the Year with his students.

These days O'Neal is preparing a grander stage for education in Hinsdale and surrounding towns. He is helping to plan a new, regional school, Ashuelot Valley Academy, and is campaigning for an integrated curriculum that combines hands-on training with longer school days in an effort to engage the whole community in the learning process.

O'Neal's quiet mountaintop retreat is yet another theater, another production with several agendas. He hosts weddings, conferences and overnight guests at Crestwood throughout the year. He is developing internships and certificate programs for both local and foreign students to learn service skills and gain exposure to fine culture and cuisine. This, like the rest of his endeavors, circles back to broadening the horizons for local kids, to making Hinsdale a better place to grow up. "The bottom line is that I try to develop kids' self-discipline," O'Neal says. "If they learn that, they can do anything, go anywhere." ~

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