About these pages...

This photo of Richie Skane was behind the bar..it was taken in the ham shack around 1994; the
back of the frame is labeled "Bar Construction by Richie Skane." This is, of course, a reference to
the wooden bar which he constructed. It was moved to its present location after the GWR remodel.

First, a sad note of dedication...the Palmer web site is dedicated to friend and coworker Richie Skane, who as construction coordinator was personally responsible for many of the massive improvements at the station through the late 1980's and early 90's (right). We worked together on many of these projects, and others were his sole responsibility. Some (including the power plant upgrade, the building panel replacements,

Palmer, March 1990 (my last visit)

galley improvements and the carpenter shop) remain as part of the station infrastructure today...some of our other efforts including our lab and HVAC upgrades have been supplanted more recently by even better state-of-the-art facilities. He was a great guy to work with and be with; he was a highly skilled craftsman and excellent supervisor, and he always was ready with a smile, a bit of wit, and an offer of help. Richie died in Boston in February 2003.

This site is © 2004-2020 by Bill Spindler and is intended as a noncommercial educational resource. It is not officially affiliated with the National Science Foundation, the U. S. Antarctic Program, or any of its researchers, contractors or support organizations past or present. None of the content should be used for commercial purposes...as some of it has been shared with me with that provision. If in doubt, please ask. That said, please enjoy!

Special thanks to Glenn Grant for the photos and information he provided (including the pictures of Richie on this page), and to Dave Thelander for giving me the excuse to put this site together!

Below, Richie is surrounded by beautiful women (as he often was) in this detail from the 1994 group photo.
On his right is Laura Gittings-Carlson, and on his left is Sara (Pizer) Patterson (thanks Donna Patterson!)