Farewell to the Oddens Farewell to the Oddens - The Taft School

S P O T L I G H T
were flying. Everything was flying over
the new glass and everywhere. I had
scouted out a viewing spot earlier. It
was right beside the check-in table
overlooking the left corner of the rink.
But the crowd came on a little quicker
than I thought. I was obliged to “weasel”
my way in between a very tolerant
man and an unrelated woman on his
left. First I put a hand on the railing
and then my shoulder was in. Hell, fi-
The oldest alumnus on the ice, Day
Brigham ’44 smiles for the crowd in the
Odden Arena.
nally the Full Monty, as it were. It was
an ugly piece of work, except my desire
was of the purest sort, there really
was plenty of room and everyone else
was doing it. I just couldn’t resist.
To my great surprise, this very nice
man to my right looked up and smiled.
I liked him instantly. I glanced at his
name tag. It read “Dave something” and
there was a son, “Chris ’01” I asked him
if he had a son playing. He answered,
Christian Jensen ’01 presents Lance Odden
with a team jersey
“Yes, he’s the goalie—no. 1.” I had just
been watching him. He moved like a
leopard. I was dumbfounded to learn
Chris Reis had started as a lowermid.
With the game underway, the boys
wasted no time expressing their intentions.
Choate was perfectly able, but
Taft was dominant. The first period
ended with Taft ahead 2-0 and it could
easily have been more, but the second
period was not so fine. A few of our
Taft lads succumbed to temptations
unmentionable, and, BANG, in go two
well-deserved goals on two Choate
power plays. I can imagine what Mike
Maher had to say about discipline and
focus and what it would take to win.
And while those curative measures were
undoubtedly in progress, I took leave
of Dave Reis to say hi to Lily Stroud
’03, the daughter of Moose and Boo
Stroud and a former classmate of my
son, Zack. Then back to the railing.
Taft was “born again” great in the
third period and virtually unstoppable.
It was simply a matter of time before
the pucks started dropping into the
Choate net. And then it was all over,
5-2 or 6-2, I can’t remember, but it was
soothing. Just before the end, Jerry
Romano was kind enough to slip an
Odden Arena puck in my pocket which
I had requested earlier. What a guy!
And what a game! What games! What
a day! What a trip!
I was a young trustee when the board
asked Lance to serve as Taft’s new headmaster.
So I was more than happy to have
been there for the real closing ceremony
marking the end of The Odden Years—
both Oddens. What a fine passage Taft
has undergone. And what a fine bit of
stewarding—the sort of leadership one
always hopes for but seldom gets. And
so the seasons come and go, and passages
are made and the really good stuff in life
lives on to move on.
Patsy readies her alumnae team as they’re about to take on the varsity squad that beat
Choate the night before.
—Richard S. duPont ’60
36 Spring 2001