THE RACERS
THE BEEBE RIVER TOYS: BOBBINS AND IMAGINATION
“Grandkids, you live in a world of iPhones and digital noise. My world was built out of granite, river water, and bobbins.
Great-grandmother Pansy Nowe lived right across from the Draper Bobbin Plant. We didn’t have plastic toys; we had the ‘imperfect’ hardwood bobbins from the scrap pile. We built cities out of them. We raced them across the floor while the real race cars were being tuned in the garage. Those bobbins taught us how to build, how to create, and how to value the work that came out of the mills. We didn’t need an app to have an adventure—we just needed a pocket full of Beebe River wood and a mountain to climb.”
The “Garage Door” Legend
You remember the most important part: that garage door opening to show the race car. For a kid, that wasn’t just a car; it was a spaceship built right there by the Beebe River.
- The Driver: Your uncle John Nowe was a prominent name in the family’s racing legacy. Whether it was on the dirt or the asphalt, the Nowe boys were known for being the ones who built their own speed.
- The Machine: Those cars were often “Modifieds” or “Late Models”—raw, high-horsepower engines that required a man with steady hands and a “Class 4” sense of timing to handle.
- The Family Connection: This racing fire was passed down. Just like Brenda’s boys and granddaughter (Chloe) are the stars of the White Mountain track today, the Nowe boys were the kings of their own garage in that era.
THE RACERS: NOWE POWER AND GOODBOUT SPEED
“Grandkids, you want to know where your fire comes from? It comes from the garages of the White Mountains.
I remember being a kid at Great-grandmother Pansy Nowe’s house, watching the garage door slide up to reveal my uncle’s race car. While other kids were playing with toys, we were watching the men tune engines that were built for one thing: speed.
It wasn’t just the Nowes. On the other side of the family, Dick and Brenda Goodbout were the scions of the White Mountain Motorsports Park. Whether it was the Nowe boys in the Beebe River garage or the Goodbouts at the racetrack in North Woodstock, this family has always been in the driver’s seat. We don’t just ‘live’ in New Hampshire; we race through it. Integrity, grit, and the balls to open that throttle—that is your heritage.”