A small granite bench will soon be situated on the small hill overlooking the Cape Elizabeth Middle School and athletic fields.

Donated by the Cape Elizabeth High School class of 1959, the placement of this four-foot rectangular bench is significant for these Cape alums, who still think of the current middle school as their high school and remember when the playground was part of their athletic fields. They attended junior high at what is now Town Hall.

The class of ’59 varied in size from 34 to 38 students and most alums are involved in this project. The bench will be dedicated in honor of the Class of ’59 and in memory of the six classmates whom they have lost.

Jessie Moulton Timberlake, a member of the class of ’59 who lives on Hunts Point Road, represented her class at the School Board meeting on March 8. Timberlake thanked the School Board and formally presented the bench on behalf of her class.

“We are all grateful for the education, support and upbringing that the School System and the Community gave to us,” wrote Timberlake in an e-mail. “We have reunited after many years of going on with our lives and find that we are still good friends.”

The class of ’59 will make also make a monetary donation to the high school. The alums commissioned an original painting, by Cape Elizabeth artist Rose Kennealy, of the Middle School, “as we remember it,” said Timberlake. The painting will be raffled off and the proceeds donated as a gift to the high school. Timberlake said she didn’t know how much that amount would be, but they are expecting somewhere between $1,000 and $4,000.

School Board member Elaine Moloney thanked Timberlake and voiced a hope that future Cape High School graduates will have the same good memories of their time here.

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