David Crandall
David spent many years in Connecticut, until he moved to New Hampshire in 2019. He has been married 29 years and he has two, twenty-something children who live in Boston. Dave’s father-n-law had a condo at Eastman where they used to visit. Dave preferred the tax environment of NH so they found a place in New London and love it – they hike and ski, but prefer the pizza in Connecticut.
Dave came here 7 months before his wife finished nearly 40 years of her teaching career. In Connecticut. In Connecticut he was a member of the Exchange Club. Once he moved here, he visited the Odd Fellows club which seemed like a sinking ship. At the Elks, he played some cribbage and drank cheap beer, but finally connected with Rob Taylor who brought him to a couple of meetings where, “I got to know a couple of you and joined anyway.”
Dave was an English major at Gettysburg College, editor of the newspaper, and wanted to do something with writing until he stumbled into fundraising. He did some grant writing with an organization in NYC serving folks who had no homes. He finds fundraising an easy thing to do!
Dave got to work with the American Museum of Natural History doing solicitation of corporate sponsorships – Exxon or IBM would sponsor an expedition or a field project. He got to go behind the scenes of this enormous museum, 2/3 of whose enormous buildings are not open to the public. It sounds like behind-the-scenes at the museum is a fascinating place to explore.
Phase 2 of Dave’s career was fundraising at independent schools. He did this for 25 years working for three private schools. At each he was director of development. He ran capital campaigns, created publications, etc. Also coached 7th grade hockey, did some substitute teaching, chaperoned field trips -- every day was something new, and his two kids got to attend the Canaan Country School!
Phase 3: Dave interviewed at 3 places in the UV but settled at APD because of how supportive the community is of APD. No capital campaign is running now, but he’s raisin money for community health, medical equipment, nursing scholarships. Dave raises a bit under $1 million a year from grateful patients and people in the community. He said that Sue Mooney is a great leader and runs a terrific organization.
On the side, Dave did some sports writing in CT once a week about high school sports and he loved it. The students loved to be profiled. Families loved to read about students in the local paper.
Other unknowns about Dave:
- He plays trombone; has been in 2 community bands.
- He loves fly fishing, bass fishing, saltwater fishing, though less here in NH
- Loves going to sports – NY Giants, NY Mets, NY Rangers; when kids were young, he took the kids to one game of each year
- Enjoys film noir – has watched over 250 of them; attends the film noir festival in Boston, and is a member of the film noir foundation. Usually watches 1 per week.
- Bermuda – Dave and his wife went there for their honeymoon and they’ve been there 4 times since, especially last year after his wife’s retirement. They sit on the beach and read books. Jimmy said, “Feel free to give me a call next time you’re here.”
Q&A
Willie Koppenheffer – I grew up in central PA, north of Harrisburg. We took a road trip to Gettysburg and Shippensburg State. Of the 25 kids who went to college, 13 of them went to Shippensburg where we had a great tour. Why Gettysburg?
Dave – I was into history at the time and I just loved everything about it. I did see a ghost there once: junior year in newspaper office with 2 exams the next day for which he wasn’t ready; walking back to his dorm, looked up at main building, PA Hall with a cupola and a US flag. Next to the flag, he saw a soldier keeping guard in the April mist. Then I learned that there was a myth of the Sentinel of PA Hall.
Jane Mason: What years were you doing sports?
2010-2016 – Jane’s Mason cousins grew up in Darien where one cousin was the only girl on her baseball team and was the homerun champion.
JoAnn – There’s a super-secret NH conservation trust with at least 4 ponds that are stocked for fly-fishing. JoAnn is willing to send Dave a newsletter. Tim says, they have something like 5,000 or 8000 acres.
Marilyn said she’d introduce Dave to the son-in-law of a former Lebanon Rotarian who knows about NH fishing.