The big news is that our 65th Reunion will be held Thursday, September 8 –
Saturday, September 10. Our interim class president, Jiggs Cecchini, has been
working with Ashley Twombly at the Alumni Association on plans. By now you
should have received an email and a letter regarding our schedule. If you haven’t
already made hotel reservations, perhaps at the Black Bear Inn, and checked off
the various events that you can attend, please do that now. We’re not getting any
younger! As I write this, tentative plans are a Senior Alumni Banquet Thursday
evening; our class meeting Friday morning with a Senior Alumni Luncheon at
noon; possibly a class dinner Friday evening. We’ll wind up the Reunion with a
tailgate party on Saturday prior to a football game. If Jiggs or I can help you,
please call or email: Jiggs, 860-658-4362 or loonmagic2@cox.net; Pat, (207) 633-0321 or rpfraker@roadrunner.com
If you didn’t read the obituary of our classmate Keith Colby Mahaney, you can
find it by logging on to the Bangor Daily News website. Keith passed away on
Nov. 1, 2021. He was inducted into the University of Maine Sports Hall of Fame
in 1993 and the State of Maine Sports Hall of Fame in 1994. On December 21,
1997, his basketball jersey #24 was retired by the University of Maine. In 2004 he
was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame, the first University
of Maine player to receive that honor as a Division 1 basketball athlete. He was
inducted into the Maine Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015. Do read the obituary to
learn more about Keith’s achievements besides basketball.
Recently I’ve had the pleasure of communicating with Jim Varner, a civil rights
advocate, who was one of the 2022 Alumni Achievement Award winners. Jim
received the Humanitarian Award. If you missed the May 12, 2022, online
presentation telling of Jim’s remarkable contributions, you should be able to find
it on our class page: https://www.umainealumni.com/classpage/class-of-1957
Jim, we’re looking forward to seeing you at Reunion and congratulating you in
person.
I had a delightful conversation with Marilyn Pennell Johnson. Because of family
obligations, Marilyn hadn’t been able to make the last several “gals get-together”
luncheons held annually (before Covid) at the Muddy Rudder in Falmouth, so it
was good to catch up. Marilyn and husband Bill ’58 and ’62) live in Hiram, ME, where for many years they ran their Apple Acres Farm, including store and restaurant. Besides helping with the apple farm, Marilyn had a long career teaching both elementary and high school. Son Bill, Jr. has taken over the farm and has converted it into an organic farm, adding peaches, pears, and blueberries to the apples. Besides expanding the operation while continuing to run the store and restaurant, Bill, Jr. holds an annual music festival at the farm during the same time as the annual Cornish Apple Festival. I visited the website for Apple Acres Farm, and it sounds like a wonderful place to visit. Marilyn and Bill have three other children as well as 10 grandchildren. Daughter Lucinda and
son Thomas both work in the local school district SAD 55. Lucinda is an
occupational therapist and Thomas a social worker in the high school. Daughter
Joanna and her husband own Vena’s Fizz House in Portland. The store was
named after Great-grandmother Vena who was active in the Woman’s Christian
Temperance Union. At first, they offered a variety of non-alcoholic drinks and
later added alcoholic beverages in addition to many other products. It was fun to
browse their website. The first picture that appeared was an array of delicious
looking drinks that made me want to reach out and have one.
Along with all the family items, Marilyn shared some sad news. I had not heard
that Ann Dingwell Knowles’ husband John ’55 had passed away or that
Angela Nichols Hill had lost her husband. Our sincerest condolences to both
Ann and Angela.
I received an email from Virginia Irwin reporting that her husband, Richard
“Dick” Duckworth Irwin, passed away on March 15, 2022, in Wilton, CT. Ginny
said that Dick was a forestry then mathematics major and that his memories of
his four years in Maine were very special. We send our sympathy to Ginny.
As you may recall, our classmate Jane Barker was featured in the winter 2022
MAINE Alumni Magazine. Sadly, Jane passed away in February 2022.
One of our sons decided he wanted to have a family get-together in October
2021 at Yosemite National Park in celebration of his 60th year. He invited us to
attend, all expenses paid. How could we refuse such a generous offer! Two of
the days we spent flying (total of six airplanes) and another two driving from
Santa Barbara to the park and back, six hours each way. The time spent at
Yosemite was special indeed and made all the hours traveling worthwhile. There
were 20 of us from six states. Of our seven grandchildren, four were there (two
with spouses), their parents, along with five grandparents. Younger family
members enjoyed hiking (bears sighted) while the older folks took leisurely walks
(only one fox viewed). Travel hint: Avoid Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, if
at all possible!
I won’t end this article as I usually do by asking you to call or email news. This
time I’ll sign off by saying, “Please give me your news at Reunion in September!”