Reunion 96--Class of 1951
Our 45th reunion June 6-9 proved to be a huge success. Sixty class members attended and we had more than 100 people at our Saturday evening reunion dinner, including former Colby faculty members Don Koons, Bob Pullen and Ronie Williams. Everyone who attended seemed to have a very enjoyable time meeting with old friends and generally "schmoozing" with each other.
Thirty class members attended the pre-reunion get-together in Portland that was organized by Bob and Jane Perry Lindquist. This event featured a wonderful harbor cruise on Casco Bay and included a delightful lunch at the Diamond Edge Restaurant on beautiful Diamond Island.
On Friday evening at the all-College dinner, classmate Warren Finegan was honored with the Ernest C. Marriner Award for his distinguished service to the College over the past 45 years.
The weather cooperated on Saturday for the Parade of Classes from the Student Union to the football stadium, after which it was announced that over the past two years the Class of 1951 has contributed to Colby in capital gifts and Alumni Fund donations the grand sum of $2.9 million. Our thanks to all classmates who contributed and to Ernie Fortin, our class agent fund-raising leader. We were all mighty proud of that accomplishment and feel fortunate to have so many classmates who care so much for our college.
Our class dinner on Saturday evening proved to be the highlight of the weekend with 20 "Just-for-Fun" awards presented to class members for extraordinary accomplishments during their alumni years. These awards, which drew many laughs, were based on individual responses to the questionnaires sent out to all members of the class prior to reunion. A summary of these responses was prepared by Bob Archibald and assembled into a class directory that was distributed at the reunion.
The big surprise of our class dinner evening was the after-dinner music provided by a jazz combo made up of four classmates: Bob Lee (piano), Fenton Mitchell (trumpet), John Lincott (sax and keyboard) and Bump Bean (bass violin). Class officers nominated and elected for the 1996-2001 period were Clifford Bean, president; Ernie Fortin, vice president, chief class agent and Alumni Council representative; and Barbara Jefferson Walker, class secretary.
Thanks to all who helped to make our reunion such a success. Now let's all look forward to the 50th, which should be even bigger and better.