County retired educators meet

    The Aroostook Retired Educators’ Association met on June 29 in Littleton at the Southern Aroostook Agricultural Museum for a four-part luncheon series.
Photo by Karen Donato
RETIRED EDUCATORS MEET — The Aroostook Retired Educators Association met recently at the Southern Aroostook Agricultural Museum in Littleton for the first of four summer luncheons. Members of the Executive Board in attendance were from left in front, Diane Parent, Caribou; President Carol McElwee, Caribou; Patricia Pelletier, Allagash; Paul Bouchard, Ft. Kent and Donna Hurley, Caribou. Standing from left are, Nancy Hutchinson, Monticello; Leola Bouchard, Ft. Kent; Rena Kearney, Mars Hill; Bob White, Caribou; Ruth Gahagan, Stockholm; Janet Woods, Caribou and Richard Rand, Presque Isle.
    President Carol McElwee of Caribou opened the meeting with a special thank you to all members who brought in canned goods for donations to the St. Mary’s Food Pantry in Houlton. As a service project for this year, members will bring in food supplies for all the area meeting sites.
    One of the highlights of the meeting was entertainment by Chloe Wheeler of Blaine, who performed a Patsy Cline selection, followed by a Johnny Cash piece. Chloe is the 9-year-old daughter of Alison and Brock Wheeler.
    During the business meeting Membership Chair, Lee Bouchard of Fort Kent reported 70 people in attendance and a current membership of 344, making the Aroostook County group the largest in the state.
    Janet Woods of Caribou, community service chair explained the upcoming September 11, ‘Day of Service’ project. The group plans to donate about 150 or more “stretchy-type” book covers to a school in the northern Maine area.
    Congratulations went out to Jay Clark of Houlton, who received the County’s Leadership Award at the state MEA-R meeting in Augusta earlier in the spring.
    Richard Rand of Presque Isle conducted a ‘Remembrance Ceremony’ with the assistance of Rena Kearney of Mars Hill and Mabel Desmond of Mapleton. Deceased members of the organization who had passed away within the year were honored. As the person’s name was announced, a flower was placed in a vase for remembrance.
    The museum’s volunteer cooks prepared a Thanksgiving-style roast turkey dinner and delicious homemade pies for the luncheon.
    A $25 door prize was won by Jeannette Nadeau of Fort Kent.