Bob (Robin) Macaulay

After graduation, I attended the University of North Carolina for a year. With a less than stellar first year, I realized I wasn’t ready to devote to college that which was required for success. I entered an apprenticeship in drafting and design in Baltimore, and have worked ever since in mechanical and electrical computer-aided drafting and design. Over the years I’ve managed to cobble together enough credits here and there to complete my education.

I became one of the first CAD operators in Delaware County in the mid 60s, working at Westinghouse Electric in Lester for 8 years. Though I survived several rounds of layoffs at Westinghouse, my luck finally ran out, and I relocated to warmer climes in Savannah, GA, where I worked for Gulfstream Aerospace for several years. Better job opportunities brought me to Grand Rapids, MI, where I worked for Rapistan till retirement in 2003.

After a few false starts, I finally found my soul mate, Carol, in 1996, and we’ve been married for 13 years. Between us we have 6 daughters, 6 grandsons and 5 granddaughters. After retiring, we moved to the Lake Michigan shore in Muskegon, where all of Carol’s family live, but for her wonderful hippie sister in Santa Barbara. We’ve traveled a bit, not as extensively as some, but we’ve enjoyed it. In 1999 we took a trip south on the Intracoastal Waterway to help brother Rich move his 53 foot Pacemaker yacht from Norfolk to Savannah. Aside from a couple of breakdowns of this old wooden boat, it was a magnificent trip!

I was able to introduce Carol to the wonderful family I lived with in Mexico City so many years ago. Many of you will remember Pedro and Jorge who lived with my family in the 50s and went to Penncrest with us. Except for their late father, the family remains intact, and we’ve been privileged to visit them a number of times. Jorge’s son, Jorge, has spent several summers at our house, breaking the hearts of many women of Muskegon.

For the past 4 years,  I’ve been involved with the planning and staging of a new motorcycle event in Muskegon. Aiming to out-do the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota, we close off our downtown to automobile traffic for 8 blocks or so, set up vendor booths, both national and local, and watch the motorcycles roll in from all over the country. Last year saw an estimated 90,000 bikes in town, effectively quadrupling our population. If you’re interested, check out www.muskegonbiketime.com.

In our leisure, we enjoy reading, bicycling, motorcycling, music, travel.  We’ve discovered a wonderful program at our local Community College which allows folks of a certain age to take any courses tuition-free. Carol, the pharmacist, has taken organic chemistry (a course that’s Greek to me!) along with several basic computer courses. I’ve concentrated on computer courses, taking Website Authoring (the result of which is our class website, www.penncrest1960.com) among others. To stave off Alzheimer’s, we do online trivia quizzes and crossword puzzles, and Sudoku.