By Sam Maeder
Sam: First of all I’d just like to ask how you’re doing.
Doug: I’m doing good. I like the fact that my life isn’t so pressured. I don’t have to worry about deadlines, if I don’t get something done today I can put it off without much of a problem.
Sam: How is retirement so far?
Doug: Retirement’s good. My wife is still working so I have some quiet days at home. She may work till Christmas or she may finish out the rest of the year. After that we can make more plans like trips we’re gonna take and that sort of thing.
Sam: What are the differences between work and retirement? What do you like about each?
Doug: With retirement one thing you have to fight against is it’s easy for time to get away from you when you’re not locked into a schedule. You might say it’s easy to get lazy, but I like to say it’s easy for your days to be formless. I try to set goals to get done everyday. And then I have some long term goals to get done: I’d like to get on top of the house, get the basement remodeled. There’s also the possibility that I might write a book in the future, but I’d like to get the things in my life situated first.
Sam: What about things you’ve done or things you plan to do during retirement?
Doug: My fitness is really important to me. It’s hard to find the time to do fitness when you put in a full day’s work then you have to do chores around the house, and by then it gets to be evening and you’re worn out. As soon as my wife retires we’ll do some traveling both in this country and possibly in Europe too.
Sam: What do you think of the new Mini-School teachers?
Doug: I think the Mini-School staff is in real good shape. Certainly Paul and Merlin have some things to learn, but the only cure is time. I think the two new guys bring something different to the program. Paul in a lot of ways reminds me of Randy. He’s quiet but he’s solid and you can count on him. And Merlin, I think, is a nice contrast to Paul, not that he’s not dependable. He seems to be dynamic and exciting and he’s got a lot of ideas. I think I was the same way when I was younger.
Sam: What do you think has changed in Mini-School with the new structure?
Doug: It’s hard to answer that because I haven’t been there, but Ramona has felt it important that not much change, and if it does, it changes gradually. One of Ramona’s big concerns was hiring people that would be active in the trips program and I think she’s done that. It looks to me like the trips program will go on, the work program will go on. As for the near future I don’t see the structure or the format or the things of importance changing all that much.
Sam: What are some of the differences between when you first started and now that you’ve retired?
Doug: When Randy and I started Mini-School we really didn’t know what we were doing. I mean, we knew what we wanted, we wanted to provide an alternative for the kids for whom mainstream wasn’t working. We were trying new things all the time. We didn’t know if the trips program would work, I mean, we didn’t have a van or even canoes, so we were begging and borrowing all the time. We did fund raisings to make that happen. We did a lot in the classroom too, like team-teaching and field trips, a lot of which worked and even more we had to abandon.
Sam: If you had to pick one thing about Paul and Merlin that you liked, what would it be?
Doug: I think their enthusiasm. They’ve only been here a few months, and already I sense they’re committed to the program. A great commitment to help make the program successful.