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1966). He also represented Bath in the House of
Representatives in the 99 th Legislature.
A recent issue of the Maine Turnpike News
included news about Roger Mallar, who
serves as a consultant. Roger served as the
commissioner of the Maine Department of
Transportation with three Maine governors
and also served on the Governor LePage ’75G
transition team. He came out of retirement
from his firm, Mallar Associates, to serve the
Turnpike.
Our class statistician, Jerry Hallee, has
compiled some data on our class. At graduation
day we had 953 individuals receiving diplomas.
Today we have 430 classmates whose addresses
are known, while the whereabouts of 131 are
currently unknown. Thirty-one classmates don’t
want contact with the University. Sadly, we
have 361 members of the Class of ’54 listed as
deceased. Thanks for the continued great work,
Jerry!
Sterling Pomeroy keeps active in church
activities and volunteer work. He wrote of a
project involving his grandfather’s diaries: “He
was a pharmacist in Gardiner, ME, and kept a
diary from 1892 when he was 12 until he died
in 1954. I transcribed and edited them into four
volumes which I had printed for family members
and some historians.” Copies of The Diaries of
Alfred P. Manson of Gardiner, Maine are housed
in libraries in Augusta and at UMaine, with the
originals at Fogler Library’s Special Collections.
We have been notified that Susan Priest,
of Orono, a senior majoring in ecology and
environmental science, received $2,492 in
scholarship aid this year from our ’54 Class
Fund. Please remember how important it is
to help future students by funding your class
fund.
1955
Janet Bishop Butler
116 Oakhurst Road
Cape Elizabeth, ME 04107
(207) 799-1550
JanetBume@aol.com
Hello, everyone. I received an email from our
president, “MAINEly, Marion,” that she took 24
of her framed photographs to the Arts Council
Gallery, which was her very first one-woman
photography show, and opened in June. She
was very excited, and I am anxious to hear how
things went. She was also excited about having
many members of her family visit with her and
Willie ’56 during the month of August.
News from the office of student financial
aid announced the recipients of the Class of
1955 Scholarship for the 2011–2012 academic
year. This year our class fund provided $7,459
in scholarship assistance to three students.
Matthew Mayberry, a junior who is majoring
in mechanical engineering from Mechanic
Falls, ME, is the grandson of Harry Wilson.
Cassandra Robinson, a senior majoring in
elementary education, is from Gray, ME, and is
the granddaughter of Lawrence Robinson (G).
34 MAINE Alumni Magazine
Megan Stevenson is a sophomore majoring in
accounting and is from Raymond, ME. She is
the granddaughter of Dana Stevenson.
I received a note from Megan and want to
share it with you so that you too can see how
grateful she was to receive a scholarship, and
this column is the only means by which you can
receive this information as to the importance of
the Class of 1955 Scholarship Fund.
Megan writes:
“I am writing to thank you for your scholarship
from the Class of 1955 for the 2011–2012 school
year. I was thrilled when I opened the letter
from the financial aid office and learned that a
generous scholarship from the Class of 1955
was awarded to me for the upcoming year.
“I am currently enrolled in the Honors
College and business school at the University
of Maine. I thoroughly enjoyed my freshman
year and continued to learn more about
business operations throughout the summer as
I managed a small retail shop for a local Maine
employer.
“The financial assistance provided to me
from the Class of 1955 will be a great help to me
in paying my educational expenses. It’s inspiring
to see how support from alumni can make a
significant difference in helping students. I hope
one day to be able to help others achieve goals,
just as you have helped me.
“Thank you again for your generosity and
support.”
Congratulations to you all. We wish you
good luck in your studies this year.
I Imagine that most of you have enjoyed your
60 th reunions from high school. Ken Woodsum,
Cynthia Hammond Grady, and I just had our
60 th from South Portland High School. The three
of us have been on our reunion committee for
35 years. I was hoping to see more of our SPHS
graduates who also went to Orono with us, but
for one reason or another, we were the only
three that attended. Pat Gill Chick had hoped
to attend, but she was unable to be there at the
last minute. However, Doc Harris and his wife,
Mary, joined us, and we enjoyed talking with
and seeing them.
We had a surprise visit from Donna and Mert
Robinson and had a great time talking with
them on their visit to Cape Elizabeth. Mert had
come to Maine for his 60 th reunion from Lisbon
High School. Mert and Donna were looking
forward to going on a Rhine River cruise in
October and we’re anxious to hear all about it.
(Hope the brownies were edible, Mert!) We sure
enjoyed your visit with us and hope that you, as
well as anyone who is in the area, will visit us
again really soon.
Do send me some news of your happenings,
as I would love to hear from you.
Express Your Black
Bear Pride: Support
the ALUMNI FUND
1956
Faith Wixson Varney
69 Falmouth Road
Falmouth, ME 04105
(207) 781-3038
fvarney@maine.rr.com
Greetings ’56ers.
It was a great 55 th Reunion! Some met in
Belfast for pre-Reunion festivities led by Ed
Plissey ’58G. Carolyn Bull Dahlgren visited
with Betty Kononen Berry, who was very
knowledgeable about the Hutchinson Center.
At Orono, Rhoda Wood Frederick and she
enjoyed their room at the University Inn, situated
where the Elms was. Others who were in Belfast
but couldn’t make it to Orono were Arthur
and Fritzie Page Thompson, Foster ’63G
and Mickie Mitchell Shibles ’58, and Barbara
Willey Keyes.
At our Reunion banquet Todd Saucier ’93,
’97G announced that the Reunion class with
the largest percentage of classmates who
annually support the University of Maine, with
21.44 percent of their 499 current addressable
classmates contributing goes to—the Class of
1956! That’s great, but I think the percentage
could be higher. I believe at least half of us
could write a check for at least $10. Yes, I
know, some could do a lot better, but I’d like
to see us win that support award every year!
Do you realize how much our scholarship
money is now helping our grandchildren? For
the year 2011-12 our fund provided $3,612 in
scholarship assistance to seven students, the
grandchildren of: Paul Holyoke, Paul Holyoke
and Ryan Urquhart; Clarence Hamilton,
Abraham Hamilton; Evelyn Whitney Foster,
Gabriel Vachon; Patricia Fortier Doten, Laura
Pirruccella; Robert Hawes, Ethan Hawes; and
Natalie Earley Desmond ’55, Matthew Desmond.
Enough said. You can do the math.
It was great to see Dana Devoe looking
better. Over 30 classmates attended the noon
banquet. If I missed naming you please forgive
me. Classmates in attendance but not named
in this article were: Jody Owen Bingham,
Gloria Trafton Early, Elsie Colby Mann, Max
McCormack, Jr., Fred Otto, Kay Fletcher
Mosher, Patricia Flynt Waldman ’60, Evelyn
Whitney Foster, Ed and Sally Gay Blodgett,
Jean Partridge Mason, Alice Kelson
Longmore, Carroll “Charlie” Brown Marino,
Al Belisle ’60G, Bob Foster, Joan Fuller
Russell, Grace Libby McKinlay, John and
Laura Krueger Schwartz, and George Field.
OK, whom did I miss?
Some classmates who couldn’t make it but
sent their warmest regards are: Jim Ervin, Ken
Henrikson, Pat Nelson Madach, Jim Victor,
Nancy Sinclair Wilson, Carol Loud, and Jerry
Pangakis.
Ann Keyo Lounsbury wrote about the
megaphone on the cover of the MAINE Alumni
Magazine. When they left Orono for Rangeley
she gave some of her college mementos to the
alumni office. “The biggest surprise to me was
the fact that Merle ’66G read the magazine first
and noticed it.” He recognized the crack made
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