STELLARTON, N.S. — Retirement is calling Dave Freckelton but the leaving is anything but easy.
After 41 years in teaching and administration, most of them in Pictou County, including the last 16 years as principal of Pictou campus of NSCC, Freckelton will be packing up his Habs memorabilia and his frog collection as he leaves his second floor office to an-as-yet unknown successor.
The public is invited to a farewell reception Friday, Dec. 13, from 1 to 3 p.m. at NSCC. In lieu of gifts, donations to the campus food bank will be accepted.
Freckelton is leaving his mark on the campus which has gone through a number of expansions under his direction, although he is quick to point out the various levels of government and the community have made those possible.
“I am proud of what our campus is today. As I leave, I definitely take satisfaction in that but I appreciate everyone who had a hand in it.”
He is particularly appreciative of the community support for the college’s most recent expansion.
“Pictou County had a few hard hits leading up to that construction and I wondered if the community had the capacity to step up again but it certainly did. Through my years I’ve seen tremendous support for the college and community projects.”
While a strong relationship with the community is always important to NSCC, it has been Freckelton’s personal trademark. Many a local group or organization has had a problem remedied or alleviated by a single call to Freckelton who has also worked directly as part of local groups such as the chamber of commerce, the children’s aid society, Summer Street, the Victorian Order of Nurses and PiCCoLA. He has also been quick to make college facilities available to sports and hobby organizations as well as to a middle school when its building was forced to close.
“I’ve tried never to forget its the taxpayers who keep us going. We’re part of the community and there are responsibilities that come with that, but really I just look at it is as being neighbourly. If you can help, you help.”
Retirement has been beckoning for a few years but Freckelton was not ready to embrace it.
“I thought about it, I talked about it. I love the job I have and I didn’t think I was done, not just yet.”
A heart attack last April made him reconsider.
“I had a head cold and I was out walking in the early morning when I felt something in my chest, a little difficulty catching my breath but it didn’t seem major. I just thought the cold was working its way into my chest.”
He put in a full day at work but by the end of the day he went to Aberdeen Hospital just to be sure.
“I found out I’d had a heart attack. It wasn’t what I thought a heart attack would feel like but it was a heart attack.”
He was sent to Halifax for stents and was back home by the end of the week, appreciative of the care he received.
“Since then I’ve lost 53 pounds, mostly through diet, through giving up the beloved potato chip, in particular. I’m on a Mediterranean type diet and I still have pounds to lose but I’m doing okay.”
Freckelton’s wife Nancy urged him to retire following the heart attack.
“Nancy moved all over with me in the early years and she has been a good mom to our three grown kids. Throughout my years with the college, she was always ready to listen at the end of the day and that always allowed me a fresh start so I really listened to her arguments.”
While some would see the end of the school year as the perfect time to retire, it was the last thing Freckelton wanted.
“Graduation time is for the students. I would never have wanted my going tied up with graduation so I settled on sometime around Christmas.”
He is not going anywhere as Pictou County has been home for 35 years now.
“We live a quiet life in Thorburn and our three children are all living in the county. They are busy but I’m hoping I’ll see more of them in retirement.”
He will be available to help a new principal through the transition but he emphasizes that will be up to the new principal.
On the eve of retirement Freckelton finds himself alternating between looking backward and forward.
“I’ve worked with so many amazing people who inspired me through the years and I’ve met so many interesting students. I’m so grateful for the people I work with today, people I really admire for their professionalism and their caring. I’ve never taken it for granted but I’ve been blessed with the line of work I’ve been in for 40 years.”
Growing up in Dartmouth and Lawrencetown, he entered university with plans to study law. He took a summer job teaching adult education with a former Canada Manpower program because it paid well but it became a pivotal move.
“I really liked it and decided to get my bachelor of education – it was just a year then – just to have it in case I ever wanted to teach. That degree led me to a few term jobs at vocational schools and they led me to a fulltime job in Pictou County.”
There is little comparison between the vocational school he arrived at and the campus he is leaving and that pleases him.
“People sometimes ask why we don’t still have vocational schools. There are a lot of answers but one of them is directly related to today’s technology. A student coming out of Grade 9 today could not handle the level of computer literacy that is required by our trades.”
It particularly pleases Freckelton that today’s college has a far greater interest in meeting the varied needs of students.
“If the brakes go on a student’s car, for example, we have a fund that may be able to help with that. Years ago he or she might have had to drop out of school, and where is the gain in that?”
Similarly, a school-based food bank is a vital service while a new prayer and meditation room accommodates students.
“There are things that are beyond us but it has been our job, my job, to do everything we can.”
In retirement, Freckelton expects to find other ways to serve the community.
“The college led me to many community organizations but there are lots of services I’ve never been involved with. Retirement life is going to be very different but I’ll have to find my way to help the community because I believe that is what we are here for.”
Rosalie MacEachern is a Stellarton resident and freelance writer. She seeks out people who work behind the scenes on hobbies or jobs that they love the most. If you know someone you think she should profile in an upcoming article, she can be reached at [email protected]
