Thursday, January 11, 2007 Older Editions

The Back Page: Paul Gallant: From artist to CEO and back again

By Bill Dalton

Paul Gallant grew up in Andover and graduated from Punchard High in 1955. He says, "My brother has passed on some of your great Andover stories, which I find very heart-warming. I have met people from all over the world and seldom hear anyone talk about their home town, but Andover is very special. I have lived most of my life in Westport, Conn. but only feel at home in Andover."

The brother Paul refers to is Bill Gallant who graduated from Andover High School in 1960. Bill and I played a lot of baseball together. He still lives in Andover, and I'll have more about him next week. The Gallant family lived at 41Elm St. beginning in 1940, then 96 Maple Ave. in the late '40s, and moved to 8 Upland Road in 1955. Their dad, Ray, owned a shoe store at 421 Essex St. in Lawrence for many years. Their mom, Rita (Gaudet) was born near Carter's Corner (where Boston and Old County Roads come together). Anyone who ever met Paul and Bill's parents know what wonderful people they were. Toward the end of his working life, their dad ran the Tyer Rubber retail store, and I enjoyed going in there to shoot the breeze with him. He passed away in 1988. His widow had her 92nd birthday on New Year's Eve.

I knew Paul Gallant a lot better than he knew me. About 1950, my dad put up a basketball backboard on our newly-built garage at 57 Chestnut St. The backboard became a magnet for local boys. I was still a little kid when older boys, many older than my big brother Bucky, would come around for pick-up games that would go on for hours. Our back porch overlooked the basketball area, and from there I'd watch older kids play basketball year-round. In the coldest months, the kids would keep that area totally clear of ice and snow. My dad's only rule was that the garage doors had to be open so the door windows didn't get smashed. I don't know how many times my Dad replaced those windows, but it was a lot. He was more good natured about it than I would have been.

When Paul got in touch with me, he introduced himself as follows: "I'm Bill Gallant's brother, I used to play basketball at your house on Chestnut Street."

It struck me as kind of funny that he thought I wouldn't remember him, but when I thought about it, I know why he said that. Younger kids always remember older kids a lot better than the other way around. Little kids watch older kids very carefully to pick up tips on how to behave.

I remember Paul as a very decent and likeable guy, a boy who loved sports and competition.

When he grew up, he had a successful career, which culminated when he became president of Eight O'Clock Coffee. He helped turn the company into a hundred-million-dollar corporation. However, being a successful businessman wasn't his intent when he left Punchard. Paul says, "Your Aunt Francis [Dalton] had an influence on me. As my high school art teacher she convinced me to go to art school, which I did for one year: the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts. Few people were making a living as artists back in the '50s so after one year I transferred to Boston University and ended up in the grocery business as a sales rep."

Paul's love of painting stayed with him. After many years, he returned to art and through a rather unique source: a legendary Boston sports figure. Paul says, "I got back into painting in 1989 when I met Tommy Heinsohn, the Celtic basketball player, at a grocery show, and he became my mentor. I started taking painting workshops with him in Rockport in 1990 and still paint with him two to three times a year. I have a few older pieces on www.westportartscenter.org (click gallery). Perhaps you can see your aunt's influence."

Paul retired from Eight O'Clock Coffee in 2000. Five years earlier, he'd had heart surgery. It didn't daunt him. His hobbies include kayaking, tennis and squash. Additionally, he is now a consultant in the coffee industry, and, of course, he's painting.

Many of Mr. Gallant's memories of Andover involve sports. He played hockey on Rabbits Pond. Most of the kids who played there were friends of Joe Wennick, who was a little older than Paul, and Paul mentioned the Daley brothers, Hayden and Danny, as well as Roger Barous. For those of you who don't know, Rabbits is a little pond behind the Andover Inn on the campus of Phillips Academy. (A fascinating fact about Joe Wennick is that, a few years after playing on the pond, Joe returned to PA and served, among other things, as athletic director.) Paul says the same group played touch football by the cannon in the Park when there was no ice. He adds, "The interesting thing back then is that we walked everywhere. There were few two-car families, so mom didn't drive us everywhere in an SUV. I owe my good health today to all the walking and sports I've played over the years."

Paul played football, basketball, and golf for all four years at Punchard and mentioned some details: "I started as a defensive back in my senior year in football. First play of the first game that season I intercepted a pass, then I missed a few tackles and was second string the rest of the season! I also warmed the bench on the basketball team; we had several very good players, Beaver Dwyer, Billy Fisher, Bill Stack. I could shoot from the outside and Coach McKinnery liked me." Paul mentioned that Judy Wright's father (Judy was in my class) was the golf coach, and the talk of the golf world in Andover one year was that Spike Boda, the golf pro at the Andover Country Club, "...scored a hole in one on the second hole at the Andover Country Club - on a par four!"

Paul mentioned several people in his class he thought I might remember: Barry Guertin, Bob Gillis, George Henrick, Roger Johnson, Billy Kneath (passed away), Bobby Leete, Bobby Lefebvre, Dick Luminello, Steve O'Connor, David Nowell (passed away), Cora Pettit, Allen and Arthur Schwartzenberg (the twins), Phil Spinney, Allan Wadman, Hal Whitworth, Joan Silva and Ernie Clegg. He says he hears from Audrey Smith and George Heseltine once in a while but has lost touch with everyone else in his class.

Paul is proud of his children and says, "My oldest son is a substance abuse therapist, who lives about a half hour away in Connecticut. My second son you may have seen on TV. He had a show on the Animal Planet for five years, Planet's Funniest Videos. Last year he was host of The Great American Inventor. He lives in Santa Monica, Calif. My daughter is married and lives in Duxbury, Mass." Paul first wife was Beverly Mitchell from Lawrence; she passed away 12 years ago. He remarried, and Paul says, his wife Molly is a fine athlete who keeps him active with tennis and golf.

Columnist Bill Dalton is a former resident, Andover selectman and moderator.