Reading the Class Notes written by this year’s Thurston Bowl recipient is like talking to the local guy sitting at the counter of a roadside diner. The conversation is casual, comfortable, and more informed than anything you’d ever get from the newspaper or mayor’s office. This class secretary writes with an easiness and friendliness that comes with knowing one’s classmates inside and out, and with pride in their accomplishments as individuals and as a class. Yet he is never boastful. In fact, this year’s recipient is so gracious that, even though the Alumni Review mistakenly attributed his very first set of notes to the class’s president, he still stayed on to write for another 15 years. His notes are an editor’s dream — on time, clearly written, with every “i” dotted and every “t” crossed. And he always stops by the Review office when he’s in town — whether it’s to give a warm hug or to plead with the editors to add just one more update to his notes. Usually it’s both. In short, this secretary makes his job look easy. Perhaps it’s because he cut his teethworking in telephones — a field where connecting people to each other is paramount. Perhaps it’s the fact that he’s from Maine, home of this trophy’s namesake and three other recipients of the Thurston Bowl in the past 28 years. Or perhaps it’s because of his wife, Mary Louise. That’s what he’d tell you, anyway. For his kindness and warmth, for his dedication and devotion to his classmates and college, and for 15 years of distinguished service as class secretary, the Society of Alumni is proud to honor, from the Class of 1955, H. Mercer Blanchard.
Megamenu Social