I apologize for not sending the information related to the Class of 1956 Zoom meeting held on October 3, 2021. The purpose of the meeting was to reconnect and conduct class business. Usually, the business meeting is held during the annual Alumni Reunion meeting, which was not held in 2021 because of COVID.
Twelve members of the class joined Zoom. They were: class president, Bill Johnson; vice president, Richard “Doc” Nevers; secretary, Joan Fuller Russell; class correspondent, John Schwartz. Also attending were members of the executive committee: Elizabeth Brockway Nevers, Arthur Thompson, Marilyn Page Thompson, Geraldine Wallace Williams, Robert J. Williams, and Carroll Brown Marino. Barbara Willey Keyes and Fred Otto also joined the Zoom.
Dee Gardner ’89 from the UMaine Foundation and Ashley Nemer Twombly ’10, ’12G, ’60H from the UMaine Alumni Association were in attendance as well.
Dee reported on the 1956 class scholarship fund, stating that as of August 31, 2021, the fund had a principal balance of $193,210 and a market value of $259,064. The scholarship fund awarded $5,364 to Kent Raymond, a junior from Hermon, ME, who is studying wildlife ecology. He is the nephew of the late William Warner. The other scholarship recipients were Laura Peterson, a junior studying the human dimensions of climate change; Angelina White, a first-year biology student; and Elizabeth Cooper, a first-year student studying physics.
The 1956 scholarship fund has provided support for 101 students since the year 2000 and has paid out over $86,000!
Ashley indicated that the 1956 class fund held at the Alumni Association had a balance of $16,996. Those in attendance voted to create a reserve fund to be held at the Foundation and to remove $12,000 from the class fund into the reserve fund. It was voted that the $2,000 will be added annually to the scholarship award for the student recipient. This means that the Class of 1956 will be supporting UMaine students even more in the coming years.
It was also decided that in the year 2031, any funds remaining in the class fund and the reserve fund should be donated to the 1956 scholarship fund.
The updated balance of our class funds is as follows: As of February 28, 2023, the Class of 1956 scholarship fund had a principal of $200,697 and a market value of $230,712.
For the academic year 2022-2023, four scholarships were awarded. The recipients were:
Kent Raymond, a senior studying wildlife ecology, the nephew of William Warner;
The Senior Alumni Reunion on campus is September 28-30, 2023. Let’s have a good showing of the Class of 1956!
Remembering Kay Dawna Fletcher Mosher
Kay was born in 1934 in Portland, ME. She was a majorette at Deering High School, and played double bass in the high school orchestra and the Portland Junior Symphony Orchestra. In her senior year in high school, she was selected as Sweetheart of the University of Maine Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. When she arrived at the University of Maine, she was featured in a Portland Press Herald front page article.
At college, she was a majorette in the University of Maine Band, played in the orchestra, and sang in the Glee Club. She was a member of Chi Omega sorority and majored in home economics. In 1955, she was voted ROTC Honorary Lieutenant Colonel in a campus-wide election.
In 1959, Kay and Abbott Mosher bought the Cloudman farm in Gorham, ME, where they raised three daughters and a son. Kay was active in the community, in her church, with music organizations, and other initiatives. When Alzheimer’s disease gradually took its toll, she wanted to remain at home, and Abbott made it happen. She passed away in mid-February, with her husband, daughters, and sister by her side.