Bill Nolte

Waltham High School

Class of 1968

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Bill Nolte - Class of 1968 - Waltham High School

First Name	Bill
Last Name	Nolte
Graduation Year	Class of 1968
Gender	Male
Hometown	New Hartford, Connecticut
Relationship Status	Married
About Me	This is my story, and I'm sticking with it: I pretty much took my 20's off. I'd always heard that youth was wasted on the young, and I didn't want to be one of those. However, at 25 the money ran out, the landlord threw me out, my girlfriend dumped me and even the food stamps stopped. Needing some recovery time, I decided to move to an old family cottage on a lake in Connecticut for the summer of '75. Somehow I never left, got over some issues, finished my masters and eventually became marginally acceptable. Before I could alter my course back downward, a woman got hold of me, shook me up and put me on the path to becoming a productive member of society. Soon, I found myself married, in on the ground floor of Big Corporate America and a father. Then things really went south fast. I got up on time, and "went to work", I made friends, and inexplicably, people came to trust me, professionally and socially. Advancement followed, and for my wife, too. We moved to a country starter mansion; I was respectable! Town Fathers sought my opinions. Governors wanted lunch. Senators wanted "arrangements" with people I knew. Life was good, if a little strange. Fast forward some years: my corporate glass office was on the top floor of a Fortune 125 company - just down from the CEO and SVP. I'd built a small but mission-critical empire and was literally untouchable. Then, ennui set in. "Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven", said I; and began searching for a little hell to reign over. As it turned out, it found me. I was in the middle of the road, looking the wrong way at just the wrong time: the party was over. Once again, no job. Only one thing to do - quit, take the parachute, sell the big house and downsize my ego. The future seemed bleak, but there were still wheels in motion. If you marry right, and if the gestalt is powerful, you just might make something of any situation. I had married a very good woman, and had also made wise choices in friends. "Quit Connecticut; quit New England and the harsh winters" they all said. "Sell the house and move to Florida where your son is going to college. Work at Disney World! YOU become a bit of the dream for all of us who aren't in a position to change our lives". So I reasoned; OK, someone has to sacrifice. So we gave away or threw out four generations of accumulated stuff and sold the starter mansion we had built. I arranged for (very) early retirement, renovated our summer cottage, and found ourselves a great Florida house with a pool (!) in Lake County, west of Orlando, not too far from our son's college and commutable to Disney. No more winters; no snow or snow tires. Now we leave our 'winter' clothes at our 'summer' cottage on a lake in the Litchfield Hills in northwestern Connecticut. "Early Retirement" they call it; I collect my monthly checks, fiddle with our investments and in the seven winter months work for Disney at the Magic Kingdom. I was Bwana Bill, 'Skipper to the Stars' and 'Baron of the Jungle' on the Jungle Boat ride. At the Haunted Mansion I was 'Butler Bill'. Now I work at the Tusker House restaurant in the Animal Kingdom. I have a pretty good time, make very little money, but must say that life has certainly been good to me so far (sounds like a song). A nice cruise here and there; go away to a resort when we want to; throw in an annual boat trip with some old friends. I probably wasn't a particularly interesting friend back-when, but there's still time to get acquainted. And, I make very good drinks! So, if you coming down to Disney World, let me know and maybe I can save you some ...(read more)