Ruth Holland Walsh
186 Jerry Browne Road
Apartment 1112
Mystic, CT 06355
(860) 536-6265
rhwdvb@aol.com
The winter of 2017 – 2018 was a dilly: we experienced days with lovely warmish temperatures, days with not a drop of snow in sight, and days with freezing cold temperatures intermingled with “wicked” wind and bone-chilling icy snow. At one point in early January, I harkened back to a Winter Carnival when we were undergraduates when cartoon characters were the snow sculpture theme for Winter Carnival — and our task was to produce great and realistic replicas of some of our favorite comic strip characters. The North Estabrooke gals had just finished a superb likeness of “The Little King” sitting regally on his throne on that late Friday afternoon before the judging began — and we were looking at and marveling at the superb masterpiece we had created. Suddenly the temperature went soaring upward — the rains came, and in no time at all, what had been anticipated to be sheer magnificence in the campus campaign became melted, ruined sets of “unsculptures” and it has become a “remember when!” Actually, Winter Carnival was unofficially cancelled and we comforted one another that maybe the next year the weather conditions would be kinder to one and all!
It is anticipated that the Class of ’50 will have a mini-Reunion during Homecoming on campus this coming autumn. We will advise you well in advance of the date and we shall hope for good representation of the Class of 1950. We have had great fun during recent Reunions — and it is always so good to see one and all as we explore Orono — visit our campus which is still there — and so much more!
Holiday cards brought news of a few of our classmates. Our class president, Henry Saunders will celebrate his 90th birthday come the end of June. He continues to summer at his lovely home on Sebago Lake, and manages the winter months in Osprey, FL — all with his good friend and companion Karen Marie Reilly. Betty Friedler Wexler and her husband, Immanuel, live in Storrs, CT, near the University of Connecticut campus and make yearly jaunts to Maine to visit friends, “camp” on a lovely lake where they canoe and swim, and visit classmates nearby. The Wexlers and I visit one another several times during the course of the year — and bring each other up to date on news of classmates. Betty reported that Ginny Kennedy Nickless has moved to a lovely assisted living facility in Scarborough (Scarborough Terrace, 600 Commerce Drive, Scarborough 04074), where she is happily settled in — made even better as she is close to family. Marilyn Seavey Reilly is most comfortable in her assisted living facility called Monticello Manner in Lewiston — and they all send one and all their very best regards. Betty said that they were also able to visit with Martha Fogler Hobbs, who continues to live in Bar Harbor at 2 Reef Point.
Marilyn Noyes Mollicone ’93G recently received the Augusta (Maine) Mayor’s Recognition of Excellence Award for her fine work with the Augusta Nature Park. After she had worked for some 19 years with the park, she returned to college to complete requirements for a master’s degree in botany. That being accomplished, she returned to the park not only to plant and tend its many shrubs and perennial flowers — but also she provided interpretive services to many visitors who visit the Nature Park. Her work has been an inspiration to all, and we are mighty proud of her accomplishments.
We hope to see you in the fall at our 68th mini-reunion on campus. You-all come!