I've been building stuff for a long time

[Tom King]

Cleaning out an old chest of drawers, filled with old pictures, and such today.  I ran across this newspaper clipping from 1959.  This was my first model car contest, when I was 9 years old (boy on the right).  The boy that finished second was helped by his Dad.  I had no help.  I was getting 25 cents a week allowance, and saved up for car kits, paint, and bits, and pieces.  Engines were wired with sewing thread.

I won every contest I ever entered after that, too.

[Ronn W]

Very cool.  And a belated "congratulations".

[Chestnut]

That's cool Tom.

[Tom King]

In that same dresser, I found this picture.  This is from 1964, the first Summer the lake was here.  I was 14, and the other guy is my best friend (still is).  He's the closest one in the picture.  We weren't the first to ski on the lake, but some of the first.  This was behind my Uncle's boat, who had raced boats since the 1930's.  That was probably one of the last times I skied on two regular skiis.  I was a skinny kid then.

There was not a single house on the lake yet.  My friend, and I, had been building telescopes for about a year then.  He's retired now from becoming one of the World's top Astronomers.  I decided, three months after I graduated from college, that I wanted to live here.

Sorry, I don't know how to rotate the picture.