Hello, everyone! I hope your holidays were wonderful and you enjoyed them with family and friends.
Some exciting news from Pat Smith Ranzoni ’76G: On September 2nd and 3rd the Bucksport Paper Mill Museum opened its doors to the public for the first time. As a co-founder of the museum, this has been a dream of Pat’s since the mill closed its doors in 2014. The museum is housed in the gate house of the former mill and has many artifacts, books, artwork, and original papers that tell the story of Bucksport’s paper mill history. The town’s largest employer for over 80 years, the Bucksport Paper Mill was best known for making lightweight coated paper that was used for magazines and catalogs. If you are a proud owner of Pat’s beautiful book Still Mill, published in 2017, you will be happy to know that the proceeds from your purchase helped make this museum a reality.
Last May, the Boothbay Region Art Foundation celebrated the retirement of classmate June Webster Rose, who had been with the association for 25 years, acting as “jack of all trades” at their art gallery. June greeted visitors and welcomed new artists to the gallery. A Boothbay native, June’s own artistic talents range from poet and writer to folk artist and musician. BRAF board member Sarah Wilde remarked at the celebration, “June worked many more hours than expected of her. And, during the COVID shutdown in 2020, June didn’t miss a beat! She kept the gallery afloat with grace and humor.” Well done, June! Happy retirement!
Emails: Jayne Fitz Wilcox and husband, Oman, spent many Saturdays this past fall in Orono. True Black Bear supporters, they traveled the almost three hours to campus every football weekend to attend the games. Jayne and Oman have been season ticket holders for the past four years.
Betty Goulden Kimbrell and husband, Jim, write that they are the proud great-grandparents of Aurelia Joy, born in February 2024. Betty was thrilled to tell me that Aurelia lives only a mile away from her great-grandparents! In June, Betty and Jim took the Cat out of Bar Harbor and traveled to Nova Scotia to visit with family and friends. While the couple is ‘retired,’ Jim, a ceramic artist, sells much of his lovely pottery at local craft shows during the summer and fall months.
As for the Zitos, we spent another lovely summer on Mount Desert Island. But before we headed to Maine in May, we enjoyed most of April in Europe, which was wonderful. We started our trip in Madrid, where our granddaughter, Kathryn, was doing a semester abroad. Then it was off to San Sebastián, Paris, Normandy, Bruges, and Amsterdam. Our days in Normandy were especially memorable. One of Frank’s former students, retired Air Force Brigadier General Daniel Woodward, who was appointed by President Biden as vice chairman of the American Battle Monuments Commission, arranged a private tour for us at the American Cemetery. It was an amazing, emotional, powerful afternoon! A day that we will never forget.
Class president Millie Simpson Stewart writes that our scholarship is doing very well and has grown considerably since our 60th Reunion, thanks to all of you who continue to contribute. Our Valerie Beck Sterritt Scholarship recipient this year is freshman Phoebe Ackor, granddaughter of classmate Jefferson Ackor ’75G, who passed away in 2016. Phoebe, a graduate of Oceanside High School in Rockland, is majoring in computer science. Congratulations, Phoebe! We look forward to following your progress at UMaine.
Besides our class scholarship, classmates continue to support UMaine in so many ways. This fall the Alumni Office announced very large gifts from the estates of two of our classmates, Norman B. Stetson and Pierre “Pete” Labat. Norm, who passed away in May of ‘23, left more than 7 million dollars to significantly enhance the Stetson Scholarship which he and his wife, Dorothea, started many years ago. This scholarship is given to students pursuing electrical engineering degrees. Norm, a Freeport native, had a distinguished career in radio frequency technology. An inventor and entrepreneur, he and his partners founded Inframetrics, a company that produced thermal imaging systems.
Pete Labat and his wife, Catherine’s estate, established the Labat Athletic Leadership Fund with a donation of 16 million dollars. This fund will provide critical support for both student-athletes and UMaine athletic facilities. After graduating from UMaine, Pete had a distinguished military career receiving many honors including the Bronze Star, the Air Medal, and the Defense Meritorious Service Medal. In recognition of the Labats’ generosity the university’s softball facility will be named in their honor.
I wish all of you a very cozy winter. Stay well, stay safe, and as always, stay in touch!