William and Nancy Keup, who now live six months in Bedford, MA and six months in Margate, FL, are enjoying life! Bill retired from teaching science after 32 years, and they have taken 38 cruises and visited 29 different countries — wow! They celebrated their 60th anniversary last year and have six grandchildren from ages 23 to 38. Sounds perfect.
Wonderful Donald Quigley applauds that of the ACI high school graduating class of 1960 in Mars Hill, six became University of Maine grads. They had a mini-reunion lunch in July with attendees: Bob Anderson (lives in NY), Ray Mersereau (ME), Craig Turner (ME), and himself from CA, plus Bill Thomas ’63 from IL, Dave Hitchcock ’65, ’66G (ME), and Trudy Blanchard Hodgdon ’65, ’66G (ME). Fortunately, Trudy didn’t have to be the only female, since spouses, children, and other ACI grads joined, and they are planning to do it again next year!
Dorcas Nutting Barlow happily reports that she and husband John have retired, are enjoying it, AND that she is proud to have enrolled a new “Black Bear” in a master’s program in the School of Forest Resources! Good job, Dorcas.
Steve Chase smiles and reports that he is living in Shangri-La on Lake Keowee in South Carolina, where there is the mildest four-season climate in the U.S. He’s still flying the plane he built cross country, swimming three hours each week at the YMCA they helped to build, volunteering as an EAA Young Eagle Pilot, as the car guy for Ride to Work Ministry, and for his daughter’s not-for-profit Ripple of One. After losing his first wife of 43 years to small cell lung cancer, he happily reports that he has married a fantastic lady who, as a psychologist, keeps him sane! He has recently established a small scholarship at the University of Maine for those who, like me, have less than a 3.0 GPA, are natives, and live in rural Maine. The scholarship will provide fifty percent of the student’s unmet direct cost of education.
Ginny Bellanger Ollis (yes is me) has been very involved with the ninth-largest Rotary Club in the world and of all the 60 active committees, my favorites are those that deal with youth. We support the only emergency youth (14-17 years old) shelter in the city and the courage these kids have is so enormous and inspiring. Love it! Besides clothing and food, we provide free passes to some of our city’s best sites, presentations on job, finance, personal skills, and all kinds of subjects, holiday events, and a great deal of site rehab this past couple of years. Being a big club gives us a lot of resources, and all the members do something that makes a difference! It’s so uplifting to belong.
What I notice from the people who submit their stories is that we are in an excellent time to contribute to our world!
Editor’s note: Congratulations to Ginny Ollis, who received the 2023 class correspondent award. Although Ginny wasn’t on campus in 2023 to be recognized, we are pleased to honor her for her consistent good work.