Hi, everyone,
Thanks for the memories!
That is one of the themes of our 65th Reunion, which will take place in September. It’s hard to believe we’ve had 65 years of University of Maine memories. Since the deadline for this column was due before the event, I can’t report on it firsthand, but I know Don Cookson and his committee have worked very hard on the plans. The event will include a cookout with live band, a tailgate before the football game, and campus tours.
One of the new campus highlights is the New Balance Recreation Center as well as new playing fields and other facilities.
Another one is the new Hotel Ursa named after the two constellations and the North Star that connects them. This was done by a rehabilitation of two historic buildings, Coburn and Holmes halls. The rooms are comfortably furnished.
I answered the phone the other day and I heard “Hi, Nancy, it’s Alola.”
I hadn’t heard from her in 60 years. Do you remember “Alola Giffin the Great Magician“? She was a talented magician taught by her father and gave shows on campus. We discussed Reunion plans and caught up on family news. Alola was married to the late Joe Morrison. She then moved from Orrington to Windham to be near family. At the Alumni Association Awards Ceremony in late April the Morrison family was awarded the Fogler Legacy Award for the several generations who attended UMaine.
Joan Burgess Hodgdon emailed me that she is living in Meadowlakes, TX. Her son lives close by, and she has two daughters elsewhere in the Midwest. She has seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Every three years her extended family, which includes Leonard Berry, holds a family reunion. Joan remembers the UMaine trip to Hawaii when the Black Bears played the Rainbow Warriors in Aloha Stadium.
In other news, Eric Bolen of Wilmington, NC, wrote: “Rutgers University Press just (in May) published my book, Beaches, Bays, and Barrens, A Natural History of the Jersey Shore.”
Lastly, Barry Lovejoy wrote that he and his wife now have two great-grandchildren.