Ramsey Superintendent Wins Award for Retirement 'Hobby'

When Ramsey needed an interim Superintendent this year, Bruce DeYoung was up for the job. Even though the former Ramsey Superintendent had been retired since 2006, he said he was happy to come back to the district in a temporary capacity after a Superintendent search last year proved unsuccessful.

Though he’s been at the helm all school year, DeYoung has not completely abandoned everything he learned during his six years of retirement. In fact, according to the educator, he was recently awarded for a pastime he picked up before coming back to the district.

“Model railroading was one of my retirement activities,” DeYoung said. And apparently, during his time off, he got pretty good at it.

Last month, the lifelong educator was awarded the 2012 Paul Mallery Award by the Garden State Division of the National Model Railroad Association.

The award, named for an early icon of model railroading, is awarded to one model railroad entered in the northern NJ region.

DeYoung explained his submission:

“In my case, I entered three models that I built from scratch in the model contest sponsored by the Southeastern Region at their Annual Convention that was held in Gatlinburg, TN last May. Scratch building means that I began by drawing scale plans, and then built the models board by board.  Each was a narrow gauge railroad car built in HOn3 scale. Each of these models earned a score in the contest that eared them what the NMRA calls a Merit Award. One car was a caboose, one was a wooden gondola with a load of split wood, and the last was a 'Provisions Car' that I based on a picture that I found in a book on logging in Pennsylvania. When thinking of the Provisions Car, think of a 'Company Store on wheels'.”

DeYoung received the award at the Winter Meet of the GSD held on Feb. 16 in Staten Island. The GSD is one of 15 regions that make up the National Model Railroad Association.

Submit your questions or news tips to jessica.mazzola@patch.com. And, remember to sign up for Ramsey Patch's daily newsletter, and get updates on Facebook and Twitter.