Winter greetings to you all.
As I wrote the summer column in the blustery days of March, I am writing this one on a colorful fall day where the leaves are beginning to turn and the promise of winter is still far away. I will always give due respect to Mother Nature and what she chooses to bring us.
I truly thought I would be filling this column with news from our mini reunion, once scheduled for Portland in September of 2021. I know a number of you shared that wish as well. There is a committee planning our 60th Reunion scheduled for 2023. Information will be sent out as events, locations, menus, and all the other goodies become finalized. Updates will be posted to our class page on the UMaineAlumni.com website. Also on our alumni page you will find the interview with Dan Churchill and the article on Dave Sklar. I will continue to hope that as you read this column the insidious COVID has become a memory.
I will start by referencing a quote from Charles “Chubb” Michaud, CEO and technical director for Systematix, which he founded in 1982. He firmly believes the best teacher he ever had was his flight instructor. “If you picked up a book on how to fly an airplane and you read it and you took notes and you wrote between the lines” Chubb began, “and then you read it again with a highlighter and picked out the important parts; and then you listened to the book on tape,” he continued, “And then they put you in the front seat of an airplane and said, ‘Think you can do it?’” Michaud asked, answering, “No, because you can’t learn everything out of a book. You have to experience it.”
Do I have your interest? See tinyurl.com/naxecfjs to read the delightful article about Chubb and his accomplishments.
The alumni office sent me information on John Martin. Those living in Maine are generally aware that he is the longest-serving state lawmaker in Maine history. Currently he is in his 22nd term in the House, having been first elected as a 23-year-old in 1964. He also served four Senate terms. John represents Eagle Lake and is often called upon during floor sessions for his unparalleled knowledge of legislative rules and policy history.
Pat Crabtree Girr continues to be in the publishing business with the Southern Maine Senior Source Book, an annual glossy magazine. However, she considers herself to be at least semi-retired! Her passion is travel (except for this last pandemic year.) Over the last few years, she has visited Aruba, Panama, Jamaica, and Martinique; Scandinavian capitals; Estonia, lots of U.S. National Parks, and the biggest trip of all — a 30-day cruise from Los Angeles to Australia, with stops in Oahu, Maui, Tahiti, other Polynesian Islands, and New Zealand. It was a leg of a 100-day Princess Around the World trip. She loved every minute and hopes to get to the other 100 days sometime! She promises to keep us updated with her plans.
Virginia Clement Glazier, another retired teacher, lives in Worcester, MA, but makes frequent trips to Maine to visit with her daughter, Kimberly ’83, and her family. Ginny definitely plans to be part of our 60th Reunion.
I received a wonderful note from Virginia Barnes Grogean, who in July with husband, Tom, took a 280-mile rafting trip through the Grand Canyon to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Picture motoring through 200 rapids, occasionally quietly drifting, sleeping on the beach under the stars and full moon, fabulous meals prepared for you, and fascinating side trips with your children and grandchildren. She told me it took three years to plan but it went beyond their wildest dreams. Congratulations, Gina and Tom!
A nontraditional student, Brian Heintzelman, reached out to me from Texas. He started at UMaine in 1957 but took time off to work and get married. He does not believe that anyone in our class will remember him because he lived off campus and basically just went to class. So, here is the challenge. If you remember Brian, please let me know and I will pass the word on to him. He does not come to Maine often as he no longer has family here.
As always, I enjoy hearing from you. There would be no column without your news. Please stay in touch and plan on coming to our 60th Reunion in 2023.