Definition of the William W. Biddle Outdoor Leadership Fund

Following in the strong tradition set forth by Bill Biddle, a former member of the Nobles faculty and founder of the Nobles Outing Club, the William W. Biddle Outdoor Leadership Fund assists Nobles students in developing outdoor leadership skills through initiating and implementing Nobles Outing Club activities principally by helping to fund such activities as the following:

1. Hiking trips over weekends, long weekends, vacations, or parts of summer in New England or anywhere in the world.
2. Day hikes or other events to welcome and help integrate new students into the Nobles Community.
3. Day hikes or other events to encourage peers outside the Nobles Community, such as from local public schools or from the inner city, to develop an appreciation for Nature and the out of doors.
4. Partial assistance for students with financial needs to participate in Club activities.
5. Partial assistance for students and faculty to participate in outdoor leadership programs led by the Appalachian Mountain Club or similar organizations.
6. Partial assistance in developing at Nobles short courses in First Aid, wilderness survival, winter mountaineering, rock climbing, canoeing or other critical skills or for participating in such courses given by others.
7. Equipment purchases to enable Outing Club activities.

The William W. Biddle Outdoor Leadership Fund shall be managed by Nobles in a manner that permits sustained growth over time. The best use of available funds should be decided each school year by the student leadership of the Nobles Outing Club in consultation with their faculty advisor. Funds available in a given year may be earmarked for use during a major expedition or event planned for a later year.

Bill Biddle arrived at Nobles in 1956 full of enthusiasm for teaching English and for climbing mountains in New Hampshire that he knew well as former President of the Dartmouth Outing Club in 1951-52. Bill’s enthusiasm was contagious. He had a knack for involving students and for encouraging them to develop leadership skills. Together they formed the Wood Choppers of 1958, fourteen students who cleared up some of the woods on Nobles property every afternoon for weeks after the football season. Soon many began climbing mountains with Bill throughout the school year. By 1960, they decided to form the Nobles Outing Club, one of the larger clubs at the time. On New Year’s Day of 1963, Bill and six of his students achieved a rarely attempted winter ascent of Mt Katahdin, battling through a 5 day blizzard to do so. By the time Bill left Nobles in 1965, he had changed the lives substantially of many dozens of students. Several still relished time with him until he died in 2012.

The Value of Dreams

Perhaps the greatest skills of human beings are the ability to dream, to imagine what could be, what should be, the ability to set priorities over what dreams can realistically be pursued, and the ability to focus time, energy, and other resources on making important dreams a reality. Dreams could be as simple as deciding what to do on Saturday or as complex as setting a national goal to put a man on the moon, or for equality among races. Leaders have dreams for a group and the ability to engage others in seeking those goals. Pursuit of dreams provides the motivation for living; pursuit of dreams that stretch our abilities often provides the greatest richness in life and the most valued memories.

Teenage years are the primary time when we transition from a world of goals set primarily by our parents and others, to a world of goals set more by ourselves. These are years when we develop our skills for following our own drummer, our own dreams. Some naturally think outside the box; others work at it. But it is the dreams, the hopes, the aspirations of young adults that provide the primary forward thrust of life for everyone.

Many find the challenge of Nature an invigorating and ultimately rewarding pursuit of dreams. I want to climb that mountain this winter. I want to scale that cliff. I want to paddle that river. These are mouth-sized dreams that are often most memorable when we have to try harder at the moment than we imagined before engaging. The Outing Club provides a practice field for life, a chance to dream, to motivate ourselves and others, to share pursuits, to endure the realities of pursuing, and to enjoy the moments and memories of success.

The goal of the William Biddle Outdoor Leadership Fund is to provide some resources to encourage students to dream, to set priorities, and then to go for the gusto. These might be dreams for individual achievement, dreams for group activities, dreams for helping others who may not be so fortunate. There are no limits to dreams only to the practical realities of pursuing them.