Grads gather

The class of 1958 of Westbrook High School had a busy Aug. 9 reunion weekend, with a banquet, visit to the high school and a tour of the Westbrook Historical Society. The society president, Donna Conley, was a member of that class and sent me this account of their weekend:

The Class of 1958 holds a couple of unique distinctions – the industrial class of 1958 was the first to construct a house built entirely by high school students (this project continues today, thanks to the sponsorship of the Rotary Club and the City of Westbrook.). The house is located at Woodlawn and Libby Avenue. Also our class had the first exchange student ever to attend Westbrook High School, Marcus Raul from Switzerland.

On that Saturday morning some class members took a tour of the High School, led by Principal Marc Gousse. Following that, many continued on to the Westbrook Historical Society where they searched for family history or just perused the large collection of ‘old Westbrook.’ Many memories were stirred by the old photos of 1958 downtown Westbrook!

Some class members opted to go golfing Saturday morning, but all met that evening at the Embassy Suites. Forty-four classmates with spouses and friends (a total of 72) attended the event, enjoying the great food, entertainment and memories. Following the meal, class members broke up into grammar school groups for photos. The St. Hyacinth grads took the best photo since, before the photo was snapped, they were all instructed to say, “Nun.”

On Sunday morning, 25 classmates and guests spent a great 2-1/2 hours on a breakfast cruise in Casco Bay. No matter what they elected to do that weekend, all agreed that they had a wonderful time!

We thank Ellie Saunders, society member who was working with Donna that day, for alerting me to this news, and we surely thank Donna for her excellent account of the reunion.

Glaciers growing

We read in the July 9 Boston Herald good news from Northern California. The glaciers on Mount Shasta there are getting larger. The article says that glaciers are shrinking all over the world, but the seven tongues of ice creeping down Mount Shasta’s flanks are a rare exception. They are the only long-established glaciers in the lower 48 states that are growing.

Mount Shasta is more than 14,000 feet above sea level. It is benefiting from changing weather patterns over the Pacific Ocean. Scientists say that Shasta, about 270 miles north of San Francisco, is benefiting from more moist air crated by the warming Pacific Ocean that falls as snow. The added ice on Mount Shasta is also good for the state’s water supply by feeding springs and aquifers.

The two-column picture of the snow-covered mountain was handsome.

Sculptures stolen

The Aug. 15 Boston Globe had a long article, with a picture of famous artist Kahlil Gibran’s “Seated Ceres,” and mentioned that it and other sculptures (bronze) were stolen from the Forest Hills Cemetery, probably to sell as scrap metal. Gibran’s family has removed his sculpture, “Boy With a Dove,” from his grave there. He died in April. Others in the cemetery have been pried loose and stolen. Some remaining sculptures have been pried loose at the base, as if someone had tried but failed to remove them.

The 275 acres of the Forest Hills Cemetery has a renowned walking trail, the Contemporary Sculpture Path, with more than 30 works of art.

The cemetery has offered a $2,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of any of the stolen pieces. George Killey, president and chief executive of the privately run cemetery, said, “Anything they think they can scrap for quick cash and that they can easily remove may be targeted.” Killey also said that cemeteries throughout the state have reported thefts of copper or bronze materials, but he has never heard of renowned artwork being taken.

Cecily Miller, executive director of the Forest Hills Educational Trust, said, “One of the wonderful things about this environment was that people normally treated it with respect because it is a cemetery. It just seems particularly terrible that thieves would violate that space and destroy something that has much larger value.”

Avignon oops

A few small faults crept into the “From France” item in last week’s column (we were delighted with the picture of the famous bridge at the top of the article, however).

It read: “L’on y danse, tout en road,” where it should have read, “L’on y danse tout en rond.” “En rond means that they were dancing, “in a ring,” in the English translation.

Also, the last two lines read “Les messieurs font comme gay.” They should have read, at the end of each line, “comme ca.” The c has a little line beneath it, looking like our comma, a cedilla. In French that is pronounced like our S, and “comme ca” would translate “this way” in English.

The Oxford English Dictionary says this about the cedilla: “The mark written under c shows that the c is sibilant.” So I’ve learned a new word, too; Webster defines the adjective sibilant as “a sound resembling that of the s in sash.” I don’t expect to use it often.

Butter bennies

Today’s recipe is from Chris Sprague’s “Newcastle Inn Cookbook,” 1996. It contains recipes and menus from a celebrated New England inn, one that believes firmly in the benefits of butter.

APPLE CRISP

This apple crisp is great served warm from the oven with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream. There is no law against serving ice cream for breakfast – our guests will certainly attest to that!

6 large tart apples, preferably Granny Smiths

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold

Peel, core, and slice the apples. Toss the slices with the lemon juice, cinnamon and cloves. Place the apple mixture in a shallow 2-quart non-aluminum baking dish.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

With an electric mixer on low speed, blend the flour and the sugars. Cut the butter into 12 pieces, and add it while mixing. Stop the mixer once the mixture starts to clump. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the apples.

Bake until the topping is lightly browned and the apples are tender, approximately 40 minutes.

Serve warm from the oven or at room temperature. Serves 6.

Ramblings