Cele bration Gets Underway for
NMCC’s Golden An niversa ry
Christie Building entrance - Then
and Now
Drafting -
Computer-Aid
Then
ed Drafting - N
Library
ow
- Then
Library - Now
72 Higher Education WINTER 2011
On June 17,
1961, Maine
Governor John H.
Reed, an Aroostook County
native from Fort
Fairfield, signed
a bill into law
that established
an institute in the
deactivated buildings of the missile
base in Presque Isle. Fifty years later,
Northern Maine Community College is a thriving campus with record
enrollment serving the region’s higher
education and training needs.
The New Year marks the beginning of a series of important
milestones for NMCC that extend
through 2015. The golden anniversary of the College will be celebrated
both on campus and in the Aroostook
County community throughout that
time.
Festivities began in the moments
that lead into the heralding of 2011
in the heart of downtown Presque
Isle when the Star City Star, built two
years ago by NMCC welding and
metal fabrication students, was raised
near the intersection of Main and
State Streets at midnight. The Star
Rising has fast become somewhat of a
tradition in central Aroostook that is
looked forward to by area residents as
a localized and unique claim to fame,
not unlike the ball drop in New York’s
Times Square.
Activity on campus will begin
with the start of the new semester,
when the community is invited to join
students, faculty, staff and alumni of
NMCC, and its forerunners Northern
Maine Vocational Technical Institute
and Northern Maine Community
College, for flashback to the early
1960’s. A sock-hop, complete with
music from the era and a noon time
malt shop themed meal, will be held
in the NMCC
gymnasium on
Wednesday, January 12, between
11:30 a.m. and
1:00 p.m.
Additional
activities are
planned for
later in the year,
including a luncheon set to mark the
anniversary date of the signing of the
legislation that created NMCC on
June 17. Invited guests will include all
current and former County legislators,
and College officials hope to invite
former Governor Reed to attend the
event.
Major events will be held on the
weekend of September 9, 10 and 11
when the NMCC Alumni and Friends
Organization hosts its second annual
Homecoming weekend. A gala 50th
anniversary banquet is planned for
that time.
That activity will include the honoring of NMCC’s 50 Stars, individuals
from each of the graduating classes at
NMCC over the past five decades who
represent the vast array of careers that
the College has prepared individuals
for through that time, and who by
virtue of their profession and service
to their communities throughout the
region, state and other parts of the
country, embody the legacy of the
institution.
“The College has made a difference in the lives of the thousands of
people who have graduated from our
programs over the years, as well as
their families and the overall economy
of the region,” said Jason Parent,
director of development and college
relations. “We have a lot to celebrate,
and we’re looking forward to the many
opportunities to do that over the coming few years. We hope folks in the
area will join us.”