Diane Ingalls Zito
24 South Hills Drive
Bedford, NH 03110
bluewatersailors@comcast.net
www.facebook.com/groups/UMaineClass1962/
Hello to all of you. As I write this we are in the last stages of preparation for our 55th Reunion. It promises to be a great event. I will fill you in with all the details in the spring issue.
A bit of pre-Reunion news: Earl Smith has just published his third novel. Head of the Falls is a work of historical fiction set in the mid 1950s in the Waterville area. The story is about a young Lebanese girl who flees her troubled home in the midst of a hurricane and finds refuge in the tiny house of an old man she calls Mr. M. She is delighted and surprised to see that the house also contains a piano. With Mr. M’s help she discovers her gift for music. Senator George Mitchell, who grew up in the same falls neighborhood, calls Earl’s latest book “an evocative, poignant, and often amusing tale that reflects the generosity of the human spirit and optimistic nature of America’s immigrants.” I recommend this as a must read for all classmates.
Carol Lovejoy Gay and college roommate and sister-in law, Mary Gay Baldyga, have made their plans to attend reunion and sent me nice, newsy emails. Carol writes that a few years ago, she and husband, Freddie ‘63, fulfilled a lifelong dream and bought a sailboat. Their 16-foot Com-Pac is beautifully designed and handles well. They sail that boat mostly on the lakes of Central PA. As the couple spends many months each summer in Harpswell, this past June they purchased a Seaward Slipper 17 to enjoy beautiful breezy days on the Maine coast. Winters for Carol and Freddie are spent skiing all over the northeast and in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and British Columbia. Of course, those of you who remember the couple tearing up the dance floor at our 50th will not be surprised that their year-round hobby is finding a great place for weekend dancing. Mary added to Carol’s email with a recount of a recent family gathering at Cundys Harbor. Mary, Carol, and Freddie were joined by his brother, Amos ’64, and his wife for a wonderful seaside dinner, followed by an enjoyable evening at the Maine State Music Theatre at Bowdoin College, where they attended a performance of Always . . . Patsy Cline.
Larry ’62 and Lois Murdock Libby ’63 spent much of the summer entertaining family and friends at their lovely home in Lamoine and newly renovated “camp” in Winter Harbor. One of their favorite guests was 12-year-old-grandson, Lewis, who flew from Chicago with his best friend to spend a few weeks with his grandparents. Larry and Lois did take some time for themselves in June and enjoyed several days exploring New Brunswick.
Don and Betty Ouellette had a similar summer being hosts to family and friends at their home on Cape Cod. Two of their granddaughters and another young friend spent the entire summer working on the Cape and living with Don and Betty. The girls are all of college age, two go to Dartmouth and one granddaughter attends a SUNY school in New York. Nothing like grandkids to keep us all busy and young!
Frank and I spent a month away from MDI this summer touring the Baltic countries with our son, Mark. Part of the trip was an 11-day cruise to Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Tallinn, Estonia, and Warnemünde, Germany. After the cruise we spent a week driving through the countryside of Denmark, ending our vacation with a few extra days in Copenhagen before flying home.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this column the winter issue will be filled with Reunion news. In the meantime check out our Facebook page on the UMaine Alumni site and enjoy many pictures taken at the 55th. I hope you all had a wonderful, healthy summer. Be sure to keep in touch.