Last modified: Sunday, April 29, 2007 11:25 PM EDT Bill Domineau is chairman of the Norfolk Historical Commission. (Staff photo by Martin Gavin) Oh, Domineau! Norfolk's Renaissance man BY JAMES A. MEROLLA SUN CHRONICLE STAFF NORFOLK - Trivia question: Who would you want on your Trivial Pursuit team to cover the subjects of archaeology, the pre-Columbian peoples populating the Americas, guitar and other music, the 1960s, coin collecting, metal detecting, photography, historic Norfolk homes, genealogy, astronomy, antiques, insects, trees and plants with field guides and fly fishing - among others? Answer: Bill Domineau of Norfolk. Domineau, who says he is, "old enough to have been at Woodstock, young enough to still remember it very well," is chairman of the Norfolk Historical Commission. The Dover native, who graduated from Boston College with a bachelor of science degree in chemistry, proudly recalls he was once the trivia champ of Gasson Hall at B.C. A master of many things, a purveyor of several, and a knower of much more, he has a Web site called www.Bdomineau.com, which can help you master everything from cleaning coins properly to knowing their value. The site also displays a deeply detailed, devoted love (and several related links) to the history of his beloved Norfolk. Of his own copious knowledge, Domineau says, "The more you know, the more you realize how little you know." SC: What's your very favorite thing to study or explore? BILL DOMINEAU: The next solid beep of a deep hit in the ground with a metal detector or getting an additional note to The Allman Brothers' 'Blue Sky' solo correct. SC: What's the biggest kick you ever got out of metal detecting? Did you find a '66 Mustang under some sandy beach? BILL DOMINEAU: Close! I found a gold doubloon buried deep in the sands at Poponeset on the Cape. I thought I was on to another Whydah discovery. It ended up fooling most coin dealers in Boston until we discovered a telltale side seam under a microscope. I couldn't understand why someone would have made such a copy or how it ended up three feet under the sand on a deserted beach, until a few years later, I took my kids to Pirate's Cove miniature golf course in Hyannis and in the gift shop there they were - all you could want for about $3.49 a bag. Arhhhhhhhhh! SC: What's the best thing you ever discovered, either in theory or actuality? BILL DOMINEAU: My wife Susanne. SC: What's the most fascinating aspect of Norfolk's own history? BILL DOMINEAU: That so many unique things could have occurred in such a small, little known, rural town. Washington slept here, Paul Revere founded a chapter of the Masons here, Wallace Nutting owned property here, Rutherford B. Hayes had breakfast here, John L. Sullivan boxed here, Malcolm X read the entire dictionary here (at Norfolk MCI). So many well known personages crossing paths in this remote crossroads, just separated in time. Just shows you how much more you can find out about a person, place or thing, just by taking the time to scratch the surface a little bit. SC: Norfolk seems to be a lovely, if forgotten, little town. How do you think the rest of Massachusetts residents perceive it? BILL DOMINEAU: A few years ago, most people probably didn't even realize it existed. They probably thought Norfolk was only a county. When, as a kid, I lived in Dover. I didn't realize it was just across the Charles. We headed east into Boston, not west into Indian territory. SC: What would you like the world to know about it? BILL DOMINEAU: It's a small, quiet, quaint, charming, semi-rural New England town nestled into the arm of the Charles River. I'd like the world to take a peek in, appreciate that, blink, forget about it and then have it stay that way. SC: What's the rarest coin you ever bought or found? BILL DOMINEAU: A silver Spanish Real from the mid-1700s - found while searching for a well-known treasure in Foxboro. Close, but no treasure chest. SC: You love the '60s and trivia. What's your favorite fact from that wild era? BILL DOMINEAU: That Gov. Jerry Brown of California's girlfriend Linda Ronstadt's producer of her multi-platinum albums in the '70s was the Peter of the '60s group Peter and Gordon, and that Peter's last name was Asher, as he was the brother of Jane Asher who, in turn, was dating Paul McCartney of the Beatles in the '60s, who also wrote the No. 1 hit, "World Without Love," for P&G. All this, long before the 'Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.' SC: Your Web site is replete with helpful information about dozens of subjects. Where do you ever find the time to post it? BILL DOMINEAU: As I'm still at work, writing this at 10:45 p.m., I don't know. It's hard, but no matter how well organized you are - and I'm not - or diligent, you can't add one single second to those 24 hours in a day. So, you just have to find ways to squeeze it all in. SUN CHRONICLE: What was the best trivia question you were ever asked? BILL DOMINEAU: In college, I and several friends were trying, at the last minute, to get into a club in Falmouth Heights for a huge Labor Day celebration, but it was full. I asked how long a wait and the bouncers said, 'How about next year! We're already over the fire limit and nobody else will be getting in here tonight, it's too crowded.' We were devastated. Last day of the summer, and we were shut out. The bouncers turned around and started asking trivia questions of each other. When I heard that, I said 'How about I play you? I win, you let us in.' 'Oh yeah, sure thing,' they said. 'Any question, anytime.' 'What was the Lone Ranger's nephew's name?' they asked smugly. Took a minute - reviewed the bet with them - 'Dan Reid,' I shot back. 'But you didn't ask me the hard question.' 'What was that?' they asked angrily. 'What was the Lone Ranger's nephew's horse's name?' 'What?' they said. 'Victor, the son of Silver,' I told them. Their jaws dropped a bit. 'But there's still another one that's harder,' I said. 'What's that?' they asked. 'What was unusual about Victor?' No response. 'He had stars embossed on his horseshoes, so if Dan got into trouble, the Lone Ranger could track him easily.' 'Get in there!,' they said, stunned. "After all, I was the trivia champ of Gasson Hall, wasn't I?"