For some reason I have almost no memories of the Christmas 1976 holiday...perhaps because I didn't take any pictures. I know we had a great dinner, and I did receive some great gifts in the mail from family...and we did NOT have one of those gift exchanges that have become popular/infamous in more recent years. Nor did we have a Race Around the World...that event would be invented three years later by Martha Kane Savage and Casey Jones. I didn't take any pictures, and I haven't found any from anyone else (hint). But I do know we had a football game on Christmas day...it was science vs support. I did participate of course, and it was great fun! I don't recognize anyone in the above picture...but I'm thinking that the science team is on defense (left) since they had some help from our Navy contingent. ![]() Here's another view from Rob Hamilton. Oh...the beakers won! ![]() The winning team photo, fully autographed, courtesy of Rob Hamilton. Back row from left: Stu Harris, Gary Rosenberger, John ?, Evan Noveroske, ?, Rusty Kapella, ? Front row: Rob Hamilton, Bruce Morley, Craig Whan, Tony Quayle, Jim Fletcher, Lloyd Anderson, ?. Rob said that most of the unidentified folks were short-term Kiwi service members, mainly weather guessers, who weren't around on Thanksgiving. [A historical note...the first Pole Bowl was held on Thanksgiving Day, 22 November 1962 between members of NMCB-8 and the USARP scientists (documented here by Navy photographer Ernie Mrozek in this November 2012 Tri-City Times (Imlay, MI) article (archived page). At some point after 1976 the Pole Bowl tradition died out, as there was no game when I next returned to Pole in time for Christmas in 1986.] I do remember some of the New Years festivities...on New Years Eve a bunch of us celebrated in comms...opening a bottle of champagne at some appropriate moment. The cork put a significant dent in the ceiling, which some of us autographed. When I returned in the late 80's the dent was still visible, and although the ceiling had been repainted, the signatures were faintly visible as well. After that a few of us went outside and played "crack the whip" using snowmobiles towing banana sleds... |