Special to the Aroostook Republican by Lena Dyer
CARIBOU — Members of the Caribou High School Class of 1944 gathered on Aug. 16 for their 68th reunion at the Par and Grill restaurant on Bennett drive, Caribou.
Contributed photo
Attending the Caribou High School Class of 1944 reunion on Aug. 16 were, from left, Carolyn Peterson Johnson of Brunswick, Thelma Levesque Morin, Florence Monson Gallagher, Elizabeth Plourde Beaulieu, Vivien Sandstrom Merritt of Bangor, Lena Gagnon Dyer, Beryl Sommers Hale, Robert Brown of Washburn, Philip LeVesseur, Richard Ouillette, Sterling Tibbetts and John Sodergren of New Sweden.
Lena Dyer represented the planning committee members while Elizabeth Beaulieu, Thelma Morin and Florence Gallagher welcomed the classmates and their guests.
A total of 38 letters of invitation were mailed and 18 replied by either mail or phone call. Those who responded to the letters were: Sylvia Peterson Everett and Philip Magil of Florida; Edith Daniels Shore of Montreal, Canada; Ann Harmon of Massachusetts; Vernon Wark of Bangor, Leatrice Chalout Vercelli of Connecticut and Mary June Trusty Heffner of Montana.
Guests attending with classmates were: Vivien Merritt’s daughter Debbie, her son-in-law Nick and her granddaughter Amy, all from Hermon; Rhonda Brown, wife of Bob Brown of Washburn and Eleanor Sodergren, wife of John Sodergren from New Sweden.
A memorial service was conducted by Florence Gallagher for all deceased members and especially for the three classmates who passed away most recently — Erma Shepher Curtis, who died on Oct. 23, 2011; Linnea Ostlund Helstrom, who died on March 20, 2011 and Charles Huston, who died on July 5, 2012.
Each guest was given a gift bag, donated by local businesses, and a door prize, given by a local bank, was won by Rhonda Brown.
In 2013, members of the Caribou High School class of 1944 will meet on Thursday, Aug. 15.
