A big Maine Hello to my classmates, significant others, spouses, and guest readers. The mini-Reunion at DiMillo’s on the Portland waterfront was a resounding success. We have a large Reunion fund and the only cost to classmates was happy hour beverages. For those who did not go to Portland, the menu was clam chowder, boiled Maine lobsters, or chicken. The blueberry cobbler topped with vanilla ice cream was delicious.
Class president Ace Conro was honored with a Block M Award by UMaine Alumni Association President Tom Peaco ’88. Ace has served multiple years as class president and was lauded for his annual letter to the entire class to keep us up on class information and to support the university. Throughout the past 11 years or more his partner, Tina Varzeas, has also supported Ace.
Nancy Morse Dysart, our mistress of ceremonies, presented a beautifully matted certificate in Maine blue colors to Tina making her an honorary class member. In 1998 at a National Masters Track and Field Championship at UMaine. Tina ran a 10,000-meter race on our campus track. She won the race with participants coming from across the country! Nancy deserves a big thank you for organizing this year’s Reunion and we’re grateful to all who stayed at the Holiday Inn by the Bay.
We had well over 42 people sign up for an evening on Casco Bay. Ralph and Sue Pilsbury stayed near the entrance to meet and greet classmates, have them sign a guest book, and distribute dinner tickets. Ralph also helped handle luggage at the inn and was Mr. Wonderful as elevator operator.
My dinner partner Charlotte Webster Walkup, from Schenectady, NY, was across the table, with her chauffeur son John. She recently was in Albany to hear the Empire State University Orchestra and youth chorus and said it was “extraordinary.” Emile Gauthier from Falmouth was entertaining classmates at a table across the way.
Cliff and Jane Petherbridge Ives ’61 have been making upgrades to their home in Portland. Cliff is doing fine after knee surgery in Boston and is still running to keep in shape. Senior year he was captain of the track team and an excellent pole vaulter. His daughter was honored as an outstanding surgeon recently by Boston Magazine.
His two granddaughters are in college. The oldest one, Dorothy, is a senior at Orono, majoring in engineering and received one of our scholarships this year. The other, Bethany, is at Maine Maritime Academy.
Sharon Fuehrer from Vermont came with her daughter and daughter-in-law as guests.
Joan Gregoire’s book The Lydessy: Lydia Keene’s 1900 Voyage Around the World has sold multiple copies this year. Lydia was in a shipwreck near the Falkland Islands, survived with all the others, and subsequently took another sea voyage as a tutor and companion on the ship John R Kelley, built in Bath, ME. The voyage took her around the world and overland back home to Maine, where she fell in love, married, and became a teacher. I bought a copy of the book from Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shop in Damariscotta. Joan is taking another 100 copies to the store. I highly recommend it.
Joan came with my freshman roomie Kay Sawyer Hannah. Kay is still painting watercolors and had an exhibit at the Pemaquid Art Gallery at Lighthouse Park. Her subjects are landscapes, maritime studies, and she sold several paintings this past summer.
Richard Jack and David Selleck, both fraternity brothers at Phi Kappa Sigma, came together with David’s wife, Dorothy. Richard took photographs and later emailed them to classmates. When Richard’s daughter, Diane, visited later in the summer he took her back to DiMillos’s to see the old ferry and the view of Casco Bay from the upper deck. Richard majored in engineering.
David Morton ’62G has moved with his partner, Peg Willard, from Bryant Pond to a condo in Scarborough. He lauded the gathering and praised his years at UMaine.
Berneice Hamilton Peakes and Marie Ifill Jordan went to Cape May, NJ, to study seabirds. They were there for a week. The Cape is a prime birding destination as it is along the Atlantic Flyway, which has a high diversity of migrating birds. Marie, a biology major, has traveled to many countries since retirement 28 years ago. Berneice is descended from the Hamiltons who helped settle Chebeague Island, ME, five centuries ago. There are many Hamiltons on the island now.
In closing, during our business session we held a Time of Remembrance for those classmates no longer with us. We have long been friends, companions of them, and we cherish all our memories. For now, all the best to you. Gail