Faith Wixson Varney
The Class of 1956 had a very successful mini-reunion on Wednesday, October 16th at the McKernan Center on the Southern Maine Community College campus. Twenty-eight classmates and guests gathered for a buffet lunch overlooking Casco Bay and a wonderful time was had by all! Thank you to everyone who joined us and for those who couldn’t make it — we missed you! Thank you to Grace Libby McKinlay for taking the lead on the planning of this mini-reunion! Tiffany Doescher Butler ’04, ’08G from the UMaine Financial Aid Office was our guest speaker and she told the class more about the Class of 1956 Scholarship and how it is awarded each year, along with how students apply and receive other financial assistance as well. A big thank you to Tiffany for joining the class for lunch!
It was reported at the business meeting that our Class Scholarship principal balance has reached $141,667.75! Also noteworthy, our class’s Vision For Tomorrow Pledge of $10,000 has been reached and paid in full! On December 31, 2019 the Class of 1956 Scholarship will receive $2,750 from the UMaine Foundation for the match on this pledge. Thank you to everyone who has donated over the years and helped the class provide a significant scholarship to a descendant of our class.
This year’s scholarship recipient is Nicholas Young, who is a zoology major. His grandfather, John Wesley, graduated in the Class of 1956. Nicholas is from Readfield, ME. While Doc and Betty Brockway Nevers were not able to join us, Betty did send along some beautiful gifts for the female members of the class in attendance. Thank you, Betty, for the handmade, UMaine purses! Everyone loved them!
The class also discussed the upcoming 65th Reunion in 2021. Ashley Twombly ’10, ’12G, ’60H from the Alumni Association let the class know they will be invited back to Orono in September of 2021 and that she will work with the class officers to make all of the final decisions.
Watch your mailbox for more info! In the meantime, the class is looking for additional help with this column, so if you are interested in helping to collect news from classmates and contribute to this column, please contact Abby at the Alumni Association at 207-581-1137 (abigail.zelz@maine.edu). Hope to hear from many of you soon! Take care!