Another Opinion, Editorial

HA Class of 1955 Gift

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HARDWICK – If someone wanted to maybe recognize one class that best typifies the alumni spirit, a group who continues to support one another and their community long after their high schools days, it would be tough not to choose the Hardwick Academy (HA) Class of 1955.


A proud of Hazen Union (HU) and Hardwick Academy alumni, 1972 HU graduates (from left) Mario Fradette, Dana Brochu, Jacques Goudreau and Mike Clark, were champions at the Class of 1955 June golf tournament years ago.
courtesy photo

Approaching their 70th alumni reunion this summer, the HA Class of 1955 has supported alumni dating back many decades now. The class developed the Memorial Fund, a scholarship for graduating Hazen Union seniors, many years ago that has contributed thousands of dollars to graduates. And just last month, the HA Class of 1955 made another significant donation to the Hardwick Academy/Hazen Union Alumni Association.

From their early days at Hardwick Academy, the Class of 1955 was always a very close group. Even after graduation, when attending the five-year alumni reunions over the ensuing years, the Class of ’55 always had one of the best percentages of classmates returning. They had 39 students pictured in their yearbook and many of them attended the banquets year after year.

Every five years, on the day of the alumni banquet, returning class members would first meet at John Robb’s Greensboro residence in the mornings, then head to class president Lewis Shattuck’s property on Caspian Lake in the afternoon to conduct a class meeting. Even after the alumni reunions stopped in 2013, the class continued to meet every year at Robb’s camp in June to celebrate together.

In 1995, at their 40th reunion, the class decided the time had come to start that scholarship fund. So they all donated their own money toward the cause that year.

The class also had an anonymous donor. Whatever money the class raised through their personal donations, this generous donor would match.

A year or so later, to increase their fundraising efforts, John Robb approached Mountain View Country Club and asked if the Class of 1955 could host a golf tournament on the mornings of the alumni banquet. The club agreed and the Class of ’55 hosted that alumni tournament each year over the following 13 summers. 

Robb and Shattuck would organize the event each year. When Shattuck passed in 2006, Robb continued it for a couple more years. The tourney would regularly draw over 60 golfers and Robb said the tournament would raise upwards of $2,000.00 each year. 

As the tournament date approached, the group would canvas Hardwick and the surrounding towns for gifts to hand out to the supportive golfers. “All the local businesses in town, and throughout our surrounding areas, were all very good to us, very generous to our cause, no question about it,” said Robb.

As the money grew, eventually a committee was formed called the Hardwick Alumni Association and they became a legal entity. “After we formed the committee, we met annually” said Robb. “We instituted our bylaws and we would always meet at the superintendent’s office.”

Robb said several local people served on that committee, at one time or another, including folks like Paulette Colburn, Bert Smith, Jon Lussier, Patty Lemay, Richard Brochu and treasurer Connie Bellavance. Robb remembers the group, spearheaded by Colburn, at one time also presenting plaques to Hazen Union in honor of supportive Hardwick Academy alumni who had passed.

With Bill Rowell leading the way, the Class of 1955 also started buying $500 EE Savings Bonds. Each year they purchased one, their anonymous donor would match it. They ended up buying a total of $6,000 in savings bonds. The bonds were guaranteed to double in value in 20 years.

The money the class raised gave birth to the Hardwick Memorial Fund, which gave out $1,000 annually to graduating Hazen Union seniors. As the money grew, they, at one time increased their giving amount to $3,000 annually, awarding both a $1,000 and $2,000 gift at Hazen.

Time marched on after those tournament years were done, and until just recently, those original savings bonds were all but forgotten. This past summer, John Robb, Connie Bellavance and Charman Salls at the Community Bank tracked them down. The $6,000 in bonds had grown to $12,631.10 in value.

The bonds were cashed out and Robb recently donated all the money from them to the Hardwick Academy/Hazen Union Alumni Association. He asked the association to make a donation to the Hardwick Gazette, which is forthcoming. He also suggested they continue donating to graduating Hazen Union seniors.

“You know, it is just amazing all the work this class did to benefit our schools,” said H.A./H.U. Alumni president Mike Clark. “They put on all those fun golf tournaments all those years, and they had the foresight to save money through those bonds. They have just given so much to the Hazen community, to our many Academy graduates, and now, through this gift, they will continue to do so for many more years to come because of their generosity.”

“John Robb deserves a lot of credit,” said Clark. “I remember playing in that tournament and it was always very well run. John’s love of golf, the love his classmates have shown for the Academy and for Hazen, they all just deserve so much credit. Their gift speaks for itself, just a great class and so very generous of all of them.”

The H.A./H.U. Alumni Association will continue awarding Hazen Union seniors money from this gift in honor of the HA Class of 1955. At its most recent meeting, the association discussed putting the bulk of the gift into an interest-bearing account to help fund the award in the future.

The day may never come when the contributions from one class exceeds the generosity given to our alumni by the Hardwick Academy Class of 1955. Many people have benefited, and will continue to benefit, from their spirit of giving.

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