Our 30th Reunion has come and gone, and it was lovely to see some of you there. I hope we can keep in touch! Speaking of keeping in touch, I have a few updates to share — mostly awards to recognize! What a great group of acknowledgements!
First up, a hearty congratulations to Tammy Meyer Randall, who received the 2025 Outstanding Classified Employee Award by the University of Maine Employees Advisory Council. Tammy is an administrative assistant in the Department of Molecular and Biomedical Sciences, where she administers all the financial accounts and research grants for the department and ensures the faculty members’ accounts are up to date. The award comes with a $1,000 prize and recognizes exceptional service and dedication to UMaine. All her letters of nomination mentioned her hard work and dedication since she joined the department in 2016. Congratulations, Tammy!
Tonya Thompson Brown, a registered nurse at Mount Desert Island Hospital, was recognized with the Ursula E.J. Lee & Dr. Leung Lee Memorial Award for Nursing Excellence. Tonya is an emergency room nurse and was noted as a leader and fierce patient advocate for treating her patients with high-quality care and compassion. The award honors the compassionate and loving care that Ursula received from her nurses at MDI Hospital and is given to four nurses each year who demonstrate clinical excellence and a commitment to compassionate care. Congratulations, Tonya!
The Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce awarded Frank’s Bake Shop, owned by Brett Soucy, the Large Business of Year award for 2025. Frank’s Bake Shop is located at 199 State Street in Bangor. The bake shop has been in business since 1945 and is family owned. Congratulations!
Another award to note is that of Medomak Valley High School’s Horace Mann Crystal Apple Award for distinguished teaching, which was given to Susan Jones‘95G. Susan has been a teacher of music, social studies, and American Sign Language for many years and recently retired from her position. What a way to go out, Susan! Congratulations on the award and your retirement!
Shout out to Larry Barker, who was appointed to the Maine Bankers Association in Westbrook. Larry is president and CE of Machias Savings Bank. Congrats, Larry!
Lastly, I received updates on the Class of 1995 Scholarship recipients. Two recent recipients were: Wesley Dunkle ’24, majoring in history from Rockland, and Katelyn DiPersio, majoring in biology pre-med from Tyngsboro, MA. Wesley’s father, Daniel Dunkle, and Katelyn’s mother, Kerry Mello DiPersio, are members of the Class of ’95. Both recipients sent along a lovely letter of thanks for the scholarship and outlined how it impacted them. So, thank you to each of you for your support of this scholarship!
That’s all I have for this time. I hope this finds you well!