University of Maine - Class of 1964

Welcome to the Class of 1964 official webpage on the University of Maine Alumni Association website. Here you will find any special announcements or reminders the Class of 1964 needs to know.

Below is the long version of the Class of 1964 Class Column. The shorter version appeared in the Summer 2010 issue of Maine Alumni Magazine.

1964

Ginny Bellinger Ollis
4022 Front Street
San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 295-3904
ginnyollis@aol.com

It is exciting to hear about Maine way out here on the left coast, and every time I do, I am proud to be a UMO grad!
Our classmate Peter G. Thompson was honored recently for 20 years of service to the Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce. He had been media spokesman for Central Maine Power Company and for eight years was mayor of Augusta. Under his aegis the Chamber more than doubled their membership and created People of the Kennebec, a collaborative economic development effort that opened the FirstPark business and tech center in Oakland in 2002. Norman Dineen of Calais, like so many Americans these days, takes pride in his family’s military service and places plaques in Calais’ Veterans Park so that people will remember the valiant service by our men and women, and to recognize that they are saving our freedoms.
V. Paul Reynolds, having tracked deer through the cedar swamps of the north woods for more than 50 years, has put his tales into a book. The long-time newspaperman’s first book, A Maine Deer Hunter’s Logbook: Tips, Tales and Tactics, has just been released by Maine Outdoor Publications in Hampden, ME. Some of us are retiring and Ken Woodbury, Jr. (G), the Piscataquis County community development specialist, has moved to the white sand, where he will apply his extraordinarily successful grant-writing skills and others as president of the College of the Marshall Islands. He will also help prepare the college for Marshallese leadership, and help the two-year institution expand to offer four-year degrees.
John Abbott wrote that he and his wife, Susanne, have moved full time to Florida. Starting as a teacher and coach at a Philadelphia private school, he attended graduate school at Penn State and switched to administration, becoming director of special education and instructional service for Philly and director of pupil services in Stamford, CT. Their initial retirement to a home they restored on the Carrabassett River proved too chilly after a few years, but they still have a summer camp in the central Maine woods. My adorable roommate Judy Joel Tardiff, who now lives in Raleigh, NC, where she keeps one of the state’s top politicos on his toes, has taken up horseback riding. Can you imagine all 85 pounds of her diminutive self on a 16-hand steed?
Stephen King ’70 isn’t the only writer to have come from our Dirigo state. Sanford “Sandy” Phippen is editor of the Puckerbrush Review, a literary magazine that continues to discover and publish new writers from Maine and around the world. Which reminds me, what happened to Amos Orcutt’s (president and CEO of the UMaine Foundation) request that the whoopie pie be named Maine’s official dessert? Franklin Van Antwerpen was awarded the University of Maine Alumni Association’s most prestigious award, the Alumni Career Award, at the banquet in May 2009. The judge is finishing his fine law career as justice of the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the second highest court in the nation, one step below the Supreme Court. He credited the University of Maine so much for his personal and professional success that he convinced his son to attend also—his son graduated in 1998.
Richard and Celia Kaplan wrote that they “had a great time at the 45th Reunion in May 2009, meeting classmates, attending various functions, and seeing new places such as the Lyle Littlefield Botanical Garden. After the Reunion, we visited the Penobscot Narrows Observatory and Fort Knox. The next day, we went to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay. In October, our son Felix completed the Bay State Marathon in Lowell, MA. The day was cold and windy, and his time was 4 hours, 32 minutes. As for our grandchildren, Eleanor turned two on March 24 and Anna turned five on May 29. They are the daughters of our son James and daughter-in-law Erica.”
There are a number of Class of ’64 lifetime members who were not included in a list in a previous magazine. They are: Philip H. Brown II, Dr. Gregory A. Campbell, Philip R. Campbell, Nancy Barnes Hill, Anne Clemons Jones, and John J. Peters, Jr. Thank you to everyone for your support of the alumni association. It is truly appreciated, especially in these tough economic times.
Here in SoCal I am into my newest “change the world” projects. The town council I patterned on our New England town halls for my community is four and thriving. We have a new artists’ group that is just too up and moving to hold back, and I am working with one of our NBC reporters to develop a weekly segment that talks about real people who could use help, so that we can have a face and sense of attachment to the monies we so generously pour our dollars into. A nice thing about not being young anymore is the learning we can so easily tap. Perhaps if I move fast enough, the wrinkles will blow off. I am wishing you all the very best of times and hoping you will write or email me! We want to hear from YOU!

 

Class of 1964 members at Reunion 2009.

Class of 1964 members (front row) left to right are: Ken Beal, Fran Fowler Handy, Faith Vautour, JacquelineTowle Anderson, Deborah Burr Richardson, Norm Dodge, and George Pinkey. Back row: Richard Kaplan, Don Quigley, Robert Anderson, Peter Bourque, Bill Brewer, Matt McNeary, and Amos Orcutt.

 

 

Classmates relaxing at Buchanan Alumni House.

 

Justice Franklin Van Antwerpen (center) receiving the Alumni Career Award at Reunion from Suzanne Hart, UMAA chair, and Todd Saucier, UMAA president.

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Class of 1964 Class Project To make a gift to our Class Reunion Fund, contact the Reunion giving department at 1-800-934-2586 or give using the online giving form.