JULY 2014

I stopped by Dave's during our drive through Maine this summer. He lives on the dead end of a road that was once a thoroughfare, in a house that is about 250 years old. I loved the house and the setting. I would swap.

The picture below is Dave's son Sam, Dave, me, Dave's wife Rebecca, and Rebecca's father Geoff Tilden. Rebecca's family is related to my family at some yet uncalculated distance.

...A summertime picture of Dave's house, to compliment the winter pictures below...

January 2010
Finally something from Dave... All the promises have been worth the wait!

This is the first of three pictures taken in January of 1999. What a cheery and wholesome scene; Kate (11) and Sam (9), each with rosy- red cheeks, out in the Maine winter making a snowman. Note the brickwork to the right, because it and the snow- man appear in the next two pictures...

I know Dave would have done this if we had enough snow on Long Island. I'm delighted to see that he still "thinks young".

As you can see, the apples haven't slid far from the tree!

On a more traditional note, this is a picture of Dave's house, a historic building, its presence noted on the 1760 census that was taken on the orders of the King of England. A little more detail directly from Dave:

"...Took these photos this AM (Jan 2010) just as the sun was coming up. The house is 1758 but I just did the entire front...designed and built the vestibule, all new trim, new window casings, window sills and hand-made quarter sawn clapboards out of white pine which a friend of mine made along with the front door. The new sashes have not been put in yet. Maybe when it warms up again..."

"...This picture is looking north to the fields and the water. Chicken coop/shed off to the right..."

More, January 2010:

Bob,
I thought you would enjoy a picture of my daughter Kate who is 11 sitting on my Laverda Formula 2 bike which I have given to her. It spent it's life racing up until a few years ago when I decided to take it apart and restore it for street use(not quite done). They only made 75 of them so it is sort of special. My son Sammy, was given another Laverda(1 of 35 made) but it is 1200 cc. instead of 500 cc.. So Kate says, "Papa, how come Sam's bike is 1200 cc. and my bike is only 500 cc.? And I said, "but Kate, your bike is a racing bike". And Kate said, "so there Sam".

Yes, I will send a picture of Sam on his bike and a picture of the family,

David

February 2003:

Dave has made a business of antique car restorations since the early 1970s, in Wiscasset Maine. He moved to Miane after spending a few vacations there, and enjoying the scenery and the general "freedom". He worked his way into automotive restoration almost as casually, just because it was something he enjoyed. "Life is great" he reports.

His shop is right in town, and he says he is flattered by the work that people and museums bring to him; it is a one man show that reaches accross the country and around the world. Besides the other stuff, he is also working a niche market in Italian motorcycles

He lives with his wife and two young children (2 and 4) in a farm house that dates back to 1758. We had a short discussion of the warmth and economy of wood heat one cold February evening.

Through the years Dave has also raced motorcycles and several categories of cars. He has written several articles about his work and has also been involved in competition shooting.

He is not "on line", although he said that the time will come soon. Too many of his traditional sources for parts and materials have abandoned printed cataloging and communication. He complained that he is being dragged into the present century.