BILL SHANNON ’69

TrinityPawlingBillShannon

Bill Shannon’s phone rang last spring: his classmate Scott Menzies ’69. Of course he took the call. “Scott and I have been friends since we were freshmen at T-P, and we graduated from St. Lawrence together.”

Menzies had recently bought a 46 foot sailboat custom made for the commodore of the New York Yacht Club. Did Shannon want to sail with him along the Intracoastal Waterway in May?

Shannon packed his bag and met his former lacrosse teammate in Florida. Also joining the crew was Bill Shattuck ’69, and the trio set sail from Palm Beach headed for Charleston, South Carolina.

As they ventured north, Shannon realized their course would take them past the Sea Islands of Georgia. His sister had married into the family who owned St. Catherine’s Island. She contacted the manager who arranged a visit to the private island.

“The place is amazing! The foundation runs it as a nature preserve, allowing students from the University of Georgia and Sewanee to join scientists and educators doing fish and sea turtle research and archaeological work. We spent two days there exploring the tidal marshes and beaches, the plantation, and restored slave quarters.”

Later in the week-long trip, the men were having breakfast in Beaufort, and Shannon looked on the wall: a Trinity-Pawling banner. “No matter where I go, I always find a T-P connection!”

“These guys are my brothers,” Shannon continues, “the people I immediately call with good news or bad. We’ve had these deep bonds for nearly 50 years. That says something.”

Just as Shannon and Shattuck debarked from the boat in Charleston, Rick Jameson ’69 arrived and sailed back to Chesapeake Bay with Menzies. Shannon will make the trip again this May, sailing with Scott and his wife, Suzy.

In this world, friends don’t let friends sail alone.