Slice of Rye
The Ever-Sharp Douglas Dunaway

– By Cassie Robbins –

A weekend jaunt to Playland’s Ice Casino is in order at least once a winter for most Rye residents. If your outing requires skate rentals, then you’re likely to meet Douglas Dunaway. Chances are, he’ll select just the right skates for you, do it quickly and offer his signature effortless smile to boot.

Dunaway is the able and affable man behind the skate counter, and he’s been a fixture at Playland since 1992. His posts there have included parking attendant, coat check, museum guide and skate sharpener. Indeed, it’s known in the skating community that Dunaway is one of the best skate sharpeners in the region. Further, he’s been named Employee of the Week multiple times.

However, Dunaway’s life before Playland best illustrates who he is and how he came to be the vibrant and versatile man he is today.
Born in Carnegie, Oklahoma in 1917, Douglas Dunaway celebrates his 92nd birthday in November. His nine-and-counting decades pack a broad assortment of history, travel and work, and a conversation with him may weave through covered wagon travel, Texas farming, California forest fire fighting, the beaches of Normandy, work as a machinist, marriage, family or his daily fitness regimen. When asked what makes him tick, and tick so well, his answer is three things: work, people and exercise.

“Work, work, work and no pay,” he says without a trace of bitterness as he describes the experiences that shaped him. In 1919 his family moved south to Texas, traveling in a covered wagon and settled on a farm in Flore, a depot town he says no longer exists. His father ran the local store while the rest of the family worked the farm.

As the sixth of twelve children, Dunaway developed a solid work ethic by age 6, when he, atop a quarter horse he could only mount with a boost from a nearby fence, was put in charge of herding the family’s cattle. Falling off the horse posed a challenge when a fence wasn’t nearby; but he managed, and eventually mastered the task with persistence, ingenuity, and, typical of Dunaway, without complaint.

In 1933 President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal Congress created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to create jobs for unemployed young Americans during the Great Depression. As an enrollee, Dunaway was trained and sent to California as a forest fire fighter and road builder. The average CCC participant was paid $30 a month, requiring that $25 of it was sent home to the enrollee’s family. Thus, Dunaway has no memory of monetary payment; for him, compensation came in the form of food, shelter, useful skills and pride in a job well done.

During World War II, Dunaway was a GI in the European campaign, where he served with the same commitment, resilience and aplomb that guides him through everything. His military roles ranged from First Class Rifleman to radio and equipment expert. As a member of the 115th Infantry, 29th Division, he landed at Normandy Beach in the second wave. His division fought all the way to the Rhine River, and for his service, sacrifice and bravery, he was awarded a Purple Heart, and a Silver Star, the third highest military decoration. True to form, Dunaway only revealed that he had received these prestigious honors as an afterthought when finishing his sharing of his wartime experiences.

After the war, Dunaway moved to Port Chester, married, started a family and found work. Quickly proving himself an adept employee at the RB&W nut and bolt factory, he rose from shipping to highly valued machinist, largely teaching himself skills by tinkering and listening.

Being around Doug Dunaway is a pleasure. Interaction with people brings him the most joy, and he says things like, “First, you gotta love everybody, then, learn about them.” And, “Trust people, and they trust you.” These are his guiding principles, and they obviously have worked well for him.

At Playland, Dunaway enjoys meeting people from all over the world and helping them in any way he can, from skate fitting to life advice. When asked what advice he has for future nonagenarians, he replies, “Exercise.” Dunaway, who is remarkably spry, spends a half-hour each day walking, stretching and strengthening his limbs and, at 91, he lives independently, cooks, plays cards and holds down a part-time job. As for advice for young people today, he responds quickly. “Work,” he says.

“Learning is the most interesting thing there is. You’ve got to conquer things, and you’ll grow up with a different mind.” And you will attain the kind of mind that will glide you through your nineties in good health — mind, body and spirit.

Douglas Lafayette Dunaway, your local skate-sharpener extraordinaire, is a man with a rich history, a curious mind, and a kind heart. Next time you’re out for a skate, go say hello. He’d like to meet you.