Hello, all. I hope that your autumn was lovely and your holidays joyful!
I am writing at the end of another summer on Mount Desert Island, thankful to be able to spend five months each year at “home.”
Classmate news over the past few months mostly involves travels and get-togethers. For Don Ouellette the summer season started early in May with a nine-day sailing adventure in the British Virgin Islands with his son and three friends whom they had sailed with previously. They were on a 53’ air conditioned Dufour with four state rooms, each with its own bathroom. Two of the adventure highlights were stops at the Baths on Virgin Gorda and the Caves of Normand Island. Don’s wife, Betty, had her own adventure in September traveling through England for more than a week with her daughter and 29-year-old grandson.
On May 1st Ron and Trudy Chambers PriceThopped in their ‘94 Caddy, and with Trudy navigating the old-fashioned way with maps, they started their round trip “adventure a day” through 20 states and two Canadian provinces. The motivation for this vacation was a visit to Trudy’s 100-year-old Uncle Bud in Carson City, Nevada. They had a wonderful time with Bud! They sat and told stories, and Bud even gave Ron a tour of his garage and treasures. Trudy reunited with cousins she had not seen in 25 years. Along the way, Ron and Trudy took advantage of every single day of their trip. They visited Niagara Falls, the Crazy Horse monument, stayed one night on a Native American Reservation, became friends with three cowboys, and navigated the horizontal traffic lights in Quebec. The couple arrived home in Maine on Memorial Day after what Trudy describes as a “life-changing” adventure.
Ingrid Bain LaRochelle introduced her grandkids to Maine. The family attended an August wedding in New Hampshire and Ingrid decided it was a great time to visit Maine with the whole family. They spent several days in Kennebunk after the wedding. The grandkids especially loved Portland Head Light, L.L. Bean, “bought out the Kittery Trading Post,” and enjoyed lots of lobster. Ingrid assures me there will be more trips to Maine and hopes to show her family Bar Harbor and Acadia.
In May, on their way from Pennsylvania to their summer home in Harpswell, Fred ‘63 and Carol Lovejoy Gay stopped in Connecticut to pick up Fred’s sister and our classmate Mary Gay Baldyga. Carol and Mary were college roommates and Delta Zeta sisters. While Mary was visiting in Maine, they had lunch with DZ sister Ann Adjutant ’66G at the Gays’ home on Gun Point. Carol and Fred stay very busy with boating, skiing, and dancing. They belong to several dance clubs. Ballroom and polka are their specialties. I do remember seeing the couple “cut the rug” at our 50th Reunion! Quite impressive!!
Class President Millie Simpson Stewart attended a few events this summer with classmates. In June she spent an evening with Ginny Cushman Ferrara at the midcoast alumni event. Ginny was visiting Maine with a longtime neighbor of hers from Albuquerque, NM. In July, Millie, also the alumni president of Brunswick High School class of ’58, organized a bonanza 65th reunion weekend. Fifty-five members of the class, their spouses, and friends attended a lobster bake on Bailey Island, a breakfast at Wild Oats Bakery, a bean supper at Mere Point, a beer and pizza supper at the Flight Deck Brewery, and a tour of the Brunswick Air Station Museum! UMaine classmates attending were Sally Kennett Juenemann and Walter Higgins and his wife, Peggy Deraps Higgins ‘64.
In early September Millie and I organized a small luncheon at the Waterfront Restaurant in Camden. Sally Juenemann, who recently became a grandmother, showed us wonderful photos of five-week-old grandson, Boden. Jean Britton O’Brien joined us from Pemaquid, where she spends much of the summer at the family home she has enjoyed since childhood. Sue Merrill Blaisdell ’64G and her husband took time out of packing to come to Camden the day before they were to head back to Florida for the winter. Since returning to Maine in the 1970s, Barbara Powers Fang has served the town of Union, volunteering on many town boards and committees. Her main passion is her work at the town’s library. This year Barbara received the Maine Spirit of America Foundation Award in recognition of her many years of service to her community. Elizabeth Ames Moran and I recently found out that we have a common interest. Liz is currently writing a history of her church, St. Thomas Episcopal, in Camden. I have been busy organizing items from the Episcopal churches on MDI. This summer we actually opened a museum of church history at St. Saviour’s in Bar Harbor, containing papers and artifacts that go back to the 1860s. Liz and I became aware of how closely our two churches were connected while helping a lovely man from Oregon as he searched for information on his grandfather, who turned out to have been a priest in both Camden and Bar Harbor at different times during the 1920s-1960s.
Congratulations to the 1960 basketball team and the 1961 football team that were inducted into the University Sports Hall of Fame in September. I first learned of this when Don Harnum emailed me in August to say he was planning to attend. Don was a member of both teams and especially influential in the success of the 1961 football team’s undefeated season. Later that same month I ran into Skip Chappelle at the MDI region UMaine Leaders Club event and we talked about the amazing year that 1960 was for the basketball team and Skip. Although he didn’t mention it, I checked in my yearbook and, not surprisingly saw that “The Skipper” broke many school scoring records that year. Both Don and Skip mentioned they were looking forward to a time to catch up with each other.
There are many new photos on our Facebook page to go with this column. Check them out. As always, I wish you well! Please write, call, or email with your news.