Boothbay Region High School's alumni banquet was held Sunday night, and another alumni association-sponsored event, the Grand March and Alumni Ball, will take place this Friday evening at Porter Memorial Gymnasium.

As long as most Boothbay Region High School graduates can remember (and those who attended its predecessor, Boothbay Harbor High School), graduation week has included these two alumni activities. We take them for granted, without ever stopping to wonder who does all the work, and where the money comes from initially to coordinate them.

For generations - since 1904 - we've had an alumni association hosting our graduating seniors as guests at the alumni banquet where returning graduates also gather, and sponsoring the one-of-a-kind Grand March, in which the entire community takes pride. While we probably can't prove it, we're quite sure it's the last of its kind in the nation. Seeing our seniors dressed in their long white gowns and tuxedoes is for many folks the first visible sign of their transition from teenagers to young men and women ready to set out on their own. It's truly a beautiful sight as they march around the gymnasium before friends and family.

Nearly every BRHS graduate looks back on his or her class's alumni banquet and Grand March/Alumni Ball with fond memories. Most, however, quickly forget about the alumni association which makes it all possible. Only a few graduates remember to join the Alumni Association for the grand old sum of $2 per year (after years of charging $1, it was recently suggested by an alumni that the time had come to raise dues to the grand old sum of $2, and the association conceded that it might be appropriate). Those graduates who do join for the first year or two out of school soon forget, and literally hundreds of us, not only those who still live in the local area but those scattered all across the country, haven't been members for years. However, that can easily be remedied by paying $5 which is all it takes to bring you up to date.

We're all faced daily with organizations seeking donations. This small group, however, quietly goes about the business of making graduation special for our young people year after year. Only a handful carry out these responsibilities, despite the large number of graduates right here in their midst.

This week, while it's fresh in our minds, would be a good time to send in your payment to the Boothbay Region Alumni Association in care of treasurer Shirley Milligan, 8 Bay Landing Lane, #1, Boothbay Harbor 04538, tel. 633-6139. Be sure to give her your name at the time of graduation, the year you graduated, and your current address. Your small donation (you can always send more than the $5, you know, if you see fit) can make a big difference in maintaining traditions which are important to all of us who are proud to call ourselves BHHS/BRHS alumni, and your participation would also be welcomed.

- Mary Brewer