Last modified: Sunday, March 4, 2007 11:34 PM EST Highland Country Club GM Paul Pouliot in his office. (Staff photo by Mike George) From Maine to Germany to Vietnam to Highland Country Club BY JAMES A. MEROLLA SUN CHRONICLE STAFF ATTLEBORO - Paul J. Pouliot has come home to Highland Country Club. It's remarkable in and of itself, as the private club manager once survived a terrorist bombing in Germany at one club, and a direct hit from a tornado, which destroyed another of his clubs in Iowa. Pouliot, 61, a native of Sanford, Maine, has had two "tours of duty" with Highland, first from 1987 to 1992 as clubhouse manager, then, returning in November 2005, as general manager. Pouliot served in the Army for 23 years, receiving two Bronze Stars, one for heroism in ground combat, and another for "Meritorious Achievement in Ground Operations Against Hostile Forces," both in Vietnam with the 18th Engineer Brigade. He married Ingrid (Bruns) Pouliot, a native of Permasens, Germany, where he was once stationed. The Pouliots have a daughter, Monja LaCasse of North Attleboro, and a son, Patrick, living in Des Moines, Iowa, and five grandchildren. His children were confirmed by Pope John Paul II. SUN CHRONICLE: What are your duties at Highland Country Club? PAUL POULIOT: I'm responsible for the enjoyment and satisfaction of my membership. I oversee the catering of all functions, grill room dining, beverage outlets and administrative office. Being a private country club, I also must be innovative by mixing in some "fun" evenings for the club. It can't be the same old, same old, i.e., outside steak by the ounce evening, a pig roast, Mongolian BBQ, dinner theater, comedy night and many other theme nights. SUN CHRONICLE: What's your trickiest job there? POULIOT: Satisfying all my members and keeping within the approved budget. SUN CHRONICLE: Any tales you can tell out of school? Bad golfers? Cheaters? Heroes? Slugs? POULIOT: In any private club, you have some members that have some poor traits, i.e., not following the rules on the course. An eraser on a scorecard pencil definitely helped a couple of members I knew. Then, you get the diner who eats 90 percent of their meal and complains it wasn't good and wants us to "comp" the meal. The vast majority are of championship caliber. SUN CHRONICLE: You've managed at various clubs throughout the world. What was the most challenging or fascinating moments? POULIOT: Hoechst, Germany. I managed the Officers Club. It was during this tour that I was in the first-ever terrorist bombing of an American installation. In 1973, the Bader-Meinhoff Gang, which was associated with the Red Brigade, bombed the officers club in Frankfurt, Germany. The bomb also did damage to the building opposite the Club. I was attending a meeting at that time. I actually saw and walked by the attache case the bomb was in. I went upstairs to the meeting and about 5 minutes passed, and the bomb blew. (It) removed the complete entrance to the officers club. I crawled down what used to be the spiral staircase, helped some people out of the club and returned home in complete shock. A colonel who just returned from Vietnam was killed. I had a small cut from the flying glass, but nothing that needed medical attention. SUN CHRONICLE: Wow. Any more? POULIOT: Allied Officers Club, Naples, Italy: What better place to end my military career than Naples, Italy? The Allied Officers Club is the officers club for NATO'S Southern Region Headquarters. Renaldo Mussolini, Mussolini's son, played the piano for me at the club. He would tell me stories of when he was a young man, what the German officers did in this same club I managed. It was truly interesting. The greatest part of my tour in Naples was when our children commenced lessons for confirmation. Our priest said that maybe he could get Pope John Paul II to confirm the 22 U.S. confirmation students. I said, 'And I've got a bridge in New York I'll sell you.' A little while later, however, it was confirmed that the Pope agreed to confirm the 22 students, of which two were our son and daughter. So, my wife and I stood 3 feet from the Pope in St. Peter's Basilica as he confirmed our children. My son picked "Paul" for his confirmation name and when it was read to the pope, he looked at my son, and said "I like that name." My knees were shaking, but what a great memory. SUN CHRONICLE: Is the pope the most famous person you ever met? The best? POULIOT: The Pope is the best, most famous person I have ever been in contact with. If I only had one ten thousandth of a percent of his holiness I would be super pleased. SUN CHRONICLE: Tell me about bringing lobsters to Iowa. POULIOT: When I was commander of the American Legion in Polk City, Iowa, the Legion was in need of funds. I came up with the suggestion of having a Lobster Festival. Being from Maine, I remembered as a kid, working lobster festivals to raise funds for the all-volunteer fire department. Well, the farmers in the midwest thought I was crazy and only thought beef or pork could sell. I informed them that we would sell tickets and if the sales were poor, then they were right. Our first year, we sold 112 tickets, which wasn't bad. I continued this yearly tradition, and in four years, we sold over 800 tickets. with a waiting list. The mayor said that Polk City was the Lobster Capital of the Midwest. Those farmers couldn't believe their eyes or bottom line. SUN CHRONICLE: No bombs in Iowa, right? POULIOT: No, but when I managed the Country Club in Iowa, on a hot fall day, my club was hit by a tornado. Some people say it was straight line winds, but whatever it was, it took out over 600 trees, removed the roof of my new $2.2 million addition and slammed that roof into my kitchen and banquet area. We had over 200 people at the club at that time and no one was injured. It's surprising what transpires when your adrenalin kicks in with your military training. I was truly blessed. SUN CHRONICLE: Unbelievable, really. Why did you come back to Highland after years away? Safer? POULIOT: The Attleboro community is really fantastic. It rates right on top for quality of life and friendliness of people we had contact with around the world. This is truly home. JAMES A. MEROLLA can be reached at 508-236-0431 or at jmerolla@thesunchronicle.com.