Bob Twomey ’73 misses his share of phone calls working out in DuPont State Recreational Forest, a 12,500-acre piece of wilderness that attracts 1.1 million visitors per year.
At least Bob is honest when he says on his voicemail that he’s “probably out in the woods.”
The woods may be the only place that Bob loves as much as Christ School.
“Every time I come onto that campus, even though the school has changed with the times to stay current, when I come there, I come home,” Bob said.
“That’s just the honest feeling about it.”
While every homecoming stirs up emotions, Bob is reminding his classmates from the Class of 1973 that they will only get one chance to celebrate their 50-year reunion. Classes ending in 3 and 8 will be the focus of Alumni Weekend, which is Sept. 29-Oct. 1 this year.
The move to the fall allows Alumni Weekend to coincide with the Christ School-Asheville School football game, which will be played for the 97th time on Sept. 30.
Greenies may register or get more information at this link.
Christ School boys of all ages will remember the sound of whirring helicopter blades approaching campus. Bob is an FAA certified pilot, and in the past, would often bring some of the aircraft to campus.
Bob is currently involved with helping maintain DuPont’s vast network of trails and roads. He retired after 37 years of federal service as a District Conservationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Bob has Christ School’s original pipe organ at his home in Cedar Mountain, N.C. (near DuPont). Director of Music and Organist/Choirmaster James Cassarino played the organ for a special concert that was recorded for the holiday season of 2020-21.
“This is kind of crazy to say, but St. Patrick’s Breastplate (the Christ School hymn) was played on that organ at graduation,” Bob said.
“I got married in 1977 to music played on that organ, and my daughter got married to music played on that organ.”
Bob received the Headmaster’s Cup in 1973, shortly after he and three other Greenies helped rescue two women from raging flood waters near campus.
Bob remembers every detail.
He, David Nunnally ’73, Vance Butts ’73, and Jarrell Young ‘73 sprang into action to execute the rescue in darkness down by Lower Christ School Road. They fished the women out of Robertson Creek with a rope attached to a tractor.
Four other people died in the flood.
It was final exam week, but the boys had their tests rescheduled when the faculty learned of their heroics. And other Greenies joined the search for more survivors when they could.
