Jack Middleton and Guy Gosselin Each Receive Founders Award at Annual Meeting

Mount Washington Observatory Trustee Gary MacDonald, left, congratulates Life Trustee and Founders Award recipient Jack Middleton in front of the Observatory “Shaky Shack” at McAuliffe Shepard Discovery Center.

When Mount Washington Observatory (MWOBS) members, trustees, and staff gathered in Concord, NH recently at the McAuliffe Shepard Discovery Center for MWOBS’ Annual Meeting, two longtime members and life trustees were recognized for their decades of service. The recipients of the organization’s first-ever Founders Award are Jack Middleton of Freedom, NH and Guy Gosselin of Gorham, NH.

The Founders Award, given by the MWOBS Board of Trustees, recognizes individuals who have rendered exemplary service to the organization over a period of many years. It is the highest form of recognition and honor that MWOBS gives to any individual. It is awarded at the Annual Meeting, when the trustees determine there is a clear and deserving recipient.

“Both Jack and Guy have given of themselves tirelessly, for many, many decades,” Rob Kirsch, MWOBS Immediate Past President, said. “Their efforts have meant the world to MWOBS. Without them, we would quite literally not exist. I can think of no better way to recognize Jack and Guy for all they have done to create and develop the organization we know and love today.”

As tokens memorializing their recognition, both recipients received customized glass tumblers bearing the MWOBS logo along with their preferred drink of choice for celebration after the meeting. Middleton and Gosselin both have long histories with MWOBS, and each has been integral to Observatory operations throughout their lives.

Middleton worked at MWOBS from 1952 to 1953, served as Secretary from 1956 until 2019, then as a trustee from 1957 to 2022, and now as a life trustee. While working for Observatory co-founder Joe Dodge, Middleton met and later married Ann Dodge, making Mount Washington and MWOBS a part of his family. He has played a myriad of roles in service to MWOBS, including 60 years on the Executive Committee, 40+ years as the Observatory representative on the Mount Washington Commission, decades on the Governance Committee, leadership roles in major fundraising programs, and service on too many committees and projects to list here.

Middleton received his A.B. from Lafayette College in 1950 and his J.D. from Boston University School of Law in 1956. He is president of the law firm of McLane, Graf, Raulerson & Middleton, and has been active in numerous civic, professional, and bar association activities for many years. He has three grown children.

Guy Gosselin is shown in an earlier photo during one of his many trips to the summit weather station.

Gosselin is one of the North Country’s most respected modern pioneers and regional historians, but he says the “high point” of his career began February 15, 1961, when he became a MWOBS weather observer. Indeed, that proved an important date for the organization and for Gosselin.

He came to Mount Washington to fill a short-term, several-month position and stayed with the mountain for 35 years. Gosselin became chief observer in 1963 and was appointed to the director’s post in 1971. He joined the Board of Trustees in 1978. During lean times in the 1960s, his family and that of another observer shared a single, meager observer’s salary so the organization could continue with an adequate minimal staff.

Gosselin conceived of and built the Observatory’s Summit Museum, the predecessor to our current Extreme Mount Washington museum. Under his leadership, the Observatory’s research program extended into solar and wind energy. He was instrumental in the transition from the organization’s 1937-1980 wooden summit structure to its current home in the Mount Washington State Park Sherman Adams Building.

For many years, Guy and Betty, who served as our membership secretary, allowed MWOBS to run its back office from their home. Since retiring as executive director in 1996, Gosselin went on to serve his community as a substance abuse counsellor, reduced recidivism in the state prison system by introducing therapies based on meditation, and wrote and published novels. During that period, he continued to serve MWOBS in a variety of important roles, including by advising the organization as a consultant and serving as managing editor of Windswept.

Gosselin became a life trustee in 2002. He lives in Gorham, NH and has three grown children.
Both Middleton and Gosselin have made MWOBS what it is today. We hope you will join us in celebrating their accomplishments.

Drew Bush, Executive Director