HARDWICK – Hardwick Academy and Hazen Union (HAHU) alumni arrived from all over the country and the world this past weekend to take part in three events sponsored by the HAHU Alumni Association.
It took months for the association to prepare for the activities this past weekend, but what they did not plan on was Mother Nature bringing unrelenting moisture to the three outdoor events. It was a weekend that ran on a continuous cycle of drizzle, rain, followed by some promising clearing only to develop into another downpour.
The summer solstice weekend began on Thursday afternoon at Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro Bend. The Association held a social gathering at one of the nation’s great breweries spearheaded by Hazen alumnus Shaun Hill.
Heavy rain hit leading up to the afternoon social limiting attendance to a couple dozen people. But the Hazen Union Class of 1981 arrived with a strong group and John Gray from the Hardwick Academy Class of 1956 also arrived from Arizona with his partner.
On Friday, the association drew a record number of golfers to Mountain View Country Club in Greensboro for the annual Master’s Memorial Golf Tournament. It was the first time in the history of the event, which began in 2017, that more than 100 golfers played. The record total on Friday was 120 participants. A total of 25 hole sponsors also supported the tournament.
It was cloudy and cool when 14 of the 30 foursomes first teed off in the 12:30 grouping for the nine-hole scramble. Rain was minimal throughout that first round and in the end, two groups tied for the lead at five-under par 30.
The first group at 30 was the defending champions, the foursome of Arron Molleur, Nate Brown, Ted Benoit and Brian Niemi. They came out of the gates strong, birdying their first three holes after starting on the ninth hole. They would add two more birdies on holes five and seven to complete their round of 30.
Joining them at five-under par was another past champion, the foursome of Rick Wheeler, Mike Clark, Dale Rowell and Xavier Hill filling in for John Sperry. They started slower, birdying holes two and five, but finished stronger as they completed their round by birdying seven, eight and nine consecutively.
In the case of a tie, it was decided to use a card count to determine a winner. Using that method, the defending champs were leading after the first round because they birdied the first hole whereas the other group parred.
The second round of 16 foursomes then teed off in the 3:30 grouping. They endured a mix of weather, some drizzle to start their round, sunshine bursting out halfway through the round and then a heavy downpour over the final three holes that completely drenched every golfer.
The excessive moisture did not slow down the eventual 2026 Masters Memorial champions, another group that has been a past champion. The very last to complete play, the foursome of Joe Mulligan, Neal Mulligan, Patrick Mulligan and Griffin Holland overwhelmed the field with a fantastic round of seven-under par 28 to capture the 2026 Masters title.
They began their day on hole seven and birdied the first three holes. They would go on to par the first hole, but came back with birdies on two and three, and after parring four, finished with birdies on five and six to claim the coveted Masters green jackets.
There were four closest-to-the-hole winners. In the first round, Arron Molleur won closest on the third hole and Jefferson Tolman won on hole five. Later in the afternoon, Landon Thompson won closest on three and Jane Woodruff won on hole five. Every single foursome that played Friday won a prize thanks to generous donations from businesses throughout the region.
The highlight of the weekend arrived on Saturday morning with the association hosting the Hardwick Academy/Hazen Union Alumni Reunion at Mike and Sally Brochu’s Pavilion on West Hill in Hardwick. The biggest challenge of the day was safely parking everyone in a field that was slowly turning to mud after all the moisture it received.
Although rain, followed by a brief clearing, would cycle throughout the day, the reunion drew a crowd. It is estimated that around 130 alumni attended Saturday. There were a lot of registered alumni who did not come out, but there were also quite a few alumni who arrived unexpected.
After a catered meal from the Village Restaurant, alumni president Mike Clark took to the mic to get things started. The alumni were first entertained by Hazen students Chloe Cloutier and Lewis Lapierre singing the Hazen Union alma mater, followed by Clark and Dan LeCours (H.U. ’71) singing the Academy’s alma mater.
The association, in conjunction with the Hardwick Academy Class of 1955, awarded a pair of Hazen seniors with three $1,000 prizes this spring. The two seniors were Anderson Williams and Sadie Gann. Williams was on hand to accept his award and spoke to the alumni. Gann, who couldn’t make it to the reunion, won both the Spirit and Service awards. The Spirit awards this year were handed out in honor of Beverly Pape and Lorraine Hill.
The Service Award in 2026 was presented in honor of Art Chase and Wendall Ainsworth as members of Art Chase’s family were on hand to thank the Association and speak on behalf of Chase. He worked 37.5 years at Hazen Union. The association also thanked Mike and Sally Brochu for hosting the reunion and recognized Beverly Shepard, who passed recently and was a steady presence at most reunions.
The highlight of the afternoon was honoring Penny Libercent from the Hazen Union Class of 1976, celebrating her class’ 50th reunion. Libercent is arguably the most accomplished athlete to ever graduate from Hazen.
The Association’s Lorrie Brochu Curtis introduced Libercent and her two former coaches, Jan Howard and Jean Hackett. Hackett spoke on behalf of Libercent and delivered a long oral history of Libercent’s many accomplishments.
As a pitcher on the Hazen Union softball team, Libercent led Hazen to back-to-back state titles in 1974 and 1975. She was the school’s first 1,000 point scorer in basketball and she led the Lady Wildcats to back-to-back state basketball championships in her junior and senior years. Libercent was also invited to try out for the 1976 women’s Olympic Basketball squad and nearly made the team.
In 1974 and 1975, Libercent’s softball pitching record was 29-1. In her four years of playing varsity basketball, Hazen teams went 55-10. During the 1975-76 school year, the Hazen softball and basketball teams had a 36 game win streak. Hazen was undefeated in softball at 17-0, and went 19-0 in basketball to win their second state title.
Then began the progression of honoring the five year classes. First up was Joyce Slayton Mitchell of the H.A. Class of 1951, celebrating her 75th reunion. She won the “Oldest Attending Alumni” award.
There were four members of the H.A. Class of 1956 present, including John Gray, Gary and Reg Anair and Evelyn Chabot Preston, and they were celebrating their 70th reunion. Gray won the “Furthest Traveled” prize after arriving from Tucson, Arizona. The association mentioned 12 other alumni who traveled over 1,000 miles to make the reunion and handed them prizes. Debra Shepard traveled from Victoria, Australia, a distance of over 10,000 miles.
The H.A. Class of 1961’s Scudder Parker was on hand to speak for his class and the H.A. Class of 1966 had around 10 people as Dave Brown spoke for them.
Next up was the first graduating class from Hazen, the Class of 1971 as Kevin Hussey spoke for them. Celebrating its 50th class reunion was the Class of 1976 as Libercent spoke. The Hazen Union Class of 1981 also had a big turnout of around 10 people as Nancy Shepard and Terri Schoolcraft both spoke to the crowd.
There were representatives from other Hazen classes, but a few of them had left prior to speaking. The Association also gave out many donated door prizes, and for the second year in a row, Carmeline Williams won the 50-50 raffle.
The Hardwick Academy/Hazen Union Alumni Association will post pictures of the three events on their website, hardwickhazenaliumni.com, and their Facebook page.
The Association is led by president Mike Clark, vice president Patrick Hussey, secretary Gail Luther O’Brien, treasurer Karen Hall and members Lorris Brochu Curtis, David LeCours, David Burnham, David Shepard and Brenda Eastman.
