Peoples Academy Alumni
Remembering the Golden Lady of Peoples Academy: Mrs Ida Mae Anderson.
Teacher, Colleague, Friend.
Class of 1943Alumni Association Vice President.This year’s Alumni Banquet is dedicated to Mrs. Ida Mae Anderson
As a student, teacher, theater director, and board member it would be difficult to find a year in Ida Mae’s long life that was not dedicated to Peoples Academy and the Morristown community. We could certainly not count how many hundreds of lives she influenced, but she would have been able to tell us every student who had ever influenced her. In her role as Vice President of the Alumni Association she never ceased to amaze us with her ability to remember every student and every class. So join us at the Alumni Banquet to share a favorite story or remembrance and help us raise a toast to Mrs. Anderson.
126th Peoples Academy Alumni Banquet
Saturday, June 1st 2019
Copley Country Club
PA and Observatory Tour: 10:30 AM
Annual Business Meeting: 11:45 AM
Buffet Luncheon: 12:00 PM
Cash Bar
The following classes will be sent invitations this year: 1944,1949,1954,1959,1964,1969,1974,1979, 1984, 1989, 1994, 1999,
All alumni are encouraged to attend, click here for a printable invitation: Mail In Reservation.
This year the Alumni Association is going to try something a bit different. Instead of dinner at the PA Cafeteria, the Copley Country Club has invited us for lunch. So join your classmates and fellow Wolves for a buffet lunch to swap stories and catch up on Dear Ol' PA.
Pre and post luncheon tee times are available. Phone 802-888-3013 for times and rates.
The Peoples Academy Observatory Resurrected &
the PA Band Shell Gets a Face Lift
In the spring of 2017, the Class of 1964 was intent on “giving back” to PA but their treasury was slim. An idea was suggested that we try to secure grant funds to refurbish the band shell and observatory that were both showing signs of wear and tear from many years of neglect. To secure the necessary funds, a grant was written to the Copley Trust Fund for $25,000. Through the support of Gloria Wing, Dick Sargent and the Morrisville select board we received the grant. The first step in the process was to remove many of the huge pine trees which shrouded the band shell and blocked the line of sight for the observatory telescope. Both buildings, built in 1937, had also sustained some damage over the years, and as the trees grew, there was never time for the buildings to “dry out” from the wet weather. Phil Grant, PA principal, Tracy Wrend, Superintendent, and Brian Rafferty, maintenance supervisor organized to have the trees removed by Jed Lipsky of Stowe during the summer of 2017. Several PA grads have had a role in the repairs: Don Blake and Tom Bjerke were contracted to repair/replace the damaged wood and concrete. This work was completed in the spring of 2018 prior to the PA graduation. The school maintenance staff deserves credit for upgrading the landscaping around the band shell. The Class of ’64 had wanted to paint the band shell but it proved easier to simply have the work completed by contractors who had the equipment to paint the wood and resurface the concrete. The band shell is 100% refurbished and will continue to host future graduations, homecomings, and the town band that still performs there during the summer. The observatory and telescope have been a bigger challenge even though it seems like a smaller project. The dome was power washed and repainted in conjunction with the work on the band shell, as well as re-grouting the seams of the brick structure. That turned out to be the easy part! Although the rotating dome is functional it still needs some TLC and maintenance. The “original” telescope is in place. It was stolen many years ago and Arden Magoon of Stowe made one for the school but no one is sure whether it was ever used. At some point, no one knows when, the original was returned, but it has been used very little for more than 30 years. We took the telescope clock to be repaired in Williston, while another PA alumnus, Jeff Walker of Sterling Technologies, gave us free time and materials to reproduce telescope parts that could not be purchased. Steve Quigley of Hyde Park has refurbished the exterior of the telescope and pedestal, plus Steve and Gary Nowak of Burlington ordered the new lenses that will make the telescope useable in current times. The Copley Trust Fund extended their support by an additional $5,000 to help us complete the purchase of the necessary lenses, and to eventually resurface the inside of the observatory. With some last minute spring adjustments, including the training of PA middle and high school staff, we hope to have these phases of the project complete. Steve Quigley and Gary Nowak have been instrumental in identifying how to repair and update the telescope and observatory. Gary, the astronomer extraordinaire, has given personal time on three different occasions during the last 20 years to get the observatory up and running. The spring/summer of 2019 would be a great time to have a community celebration of the projects and to organize a community astronomy club so that the observatory will be used by the school AND community astronomers. Commemorative plaques also should be purchased for each building. This has truly been a team effort directed by the CLASS OF ’64.
The Peoplonian Fund
How often do you dust your Peopleonian Yearbook off to remember old times and friends, or show kids and grandkids a glimpse of your good old years at dear old P.A.? Most alumni would probably agree that it is one of their most valued books. You’ll probably also remember that it wasn’t an inexpensive purchase.
Increasing costs in publications have only made yearbooks more expensive through the years. Just to break even, the school needs to charge $55 for each yearbook. This is a price that leaves some of our graduates without the means to purchase a yearbook in their senior year.
The Alumni Association believes that every graduate should be able to have access to this record of their time at PA regardless of their financial circumstances. Thus we are starting “The Peoplonian Fund”. Money donated to this fund will be forwarded to the school as a pool to help recognized students of need defray the cost of purchasing a yearbook in their senior year.
Please consider how much your Peoplonian has meant to you over the years and consider making a donation to help ensure that no fellow Wolf is denied these memories just because they cannot afford the increasing publication costs. If you would like to make a donation, please mail checks to:
Peoples Academy Alumni Association
P.O. Box 1393
Morrisville VT 05661
The PA Alumni Association has a new official Facebook page. There was some confusion in the past as there were two PA Alumni Association pages. We have adopted the page that was created by Hugh Tomlinson as our official page as it had the most activity. If you were a friend of the old page ("PA Alumni Association") or have yet to join us, like us on our new page and get in on the conversation. We will be posting events as well as encouraging alumni to let us know what you and your classmates are up to. Coming soon, we hope to be adding links to any facebook pages for specific classes. If you have a class facebook page that you would like to link to this website or the Peoples Academy Alumni Facebook page, please contact Trevor Putvain at trevorputvain@gmail.com