Bob Melby, 91, remembers playing Old Bucks hockey

[Jim H.]

     I recently came across the name of Bob Melby in the blog—the 2011 account of the year-end party hosted by Nick Gaudioso at the Pennington Fire House. One of the club’s founders, Bob sat with Angie and Bill MacDowell at the party and shared memories of Old Bucks “back in the day.” Reading that account triggered my own sense of nostalgia and I wondered if Bob was still alive. I looked him up on the internet and found an address in Bucks County and a landline. I called the number and his wife answered and put him on the phone. I introduced myself as Jim Heffern from Old Bucks hockey and we were instantly talking like old friends. He’s 91 years old. I told him I would like to sit down with him and talk about how the club got started and hear stories of what Old Bucks was like when he played. He welcomed the idea. I gave him a couple weeks to recover from a recent bout with food poisoning and then I visited him at his house. We talked for two hours about everything from his childhood in North Dakota to his service in Korea to his work as an engineer. Much of it I recorded. Then I edited the footage to feature information exclusively related to Old Bucks hockey.  The following is one man’s testament to how much Old Bucks hockey has meant to him.

youtu.be/qN-gGvsR8xY?si=qay0wYdn7-VvJV5i