HOULTON, Maine — The Ricker Board of Trustees met on Friday, Oct. 23 for their biennial meeting. Chair Leigh Cummings oversaw the meeting with Executive Director Gary Bossie. The topics discussed included the spring presentation of 32 scholarships to recipients throughout the County. A total of $266,000 will be dispersed to students who have been awarded a Ricker Scholarship. These scholarships of $2,500 are recurring for the four years of the student’s academic career.
Since the closing of the college in 1978, Ricker’s endowment has increased from less than half a million dollars to $7.1 million today. Through investments and bequests from many benefactors who had an interest in the college the endowment has grown substantially under the management of the H.M. Payson group in Portland.
Karen Donato, a board member, shared a report on the recent Ricker Reunion held Sept. 17-20. Seventy-five alumni attended the four-day event which included informal gatherings, a catered dinner and brunch, a bus tour of the greater Houlton area, a tour of the former campus on Kelleran Street and the Ricker Room at the Aroostook Historical and Art Museum. Participants enjoyed Houlton’s Fall Festival in Market Square and a visit to the Southern Aroostook Agricultural Museum in Littleton. Guests came from as far away as California and some had not been back to the campus for decades. Woody Dunphy of Houlton, a former coach and athletic director, also attended the reunion. The event was organized by Donato of Houlton and Meg Leach of Portland.
The trustees meet twice a year with the next meeting scheduled for May 21, 2027. Other trustees in attendance were Amie Belyea, Tina Condon, Ruthann Cowger, Pat Cunningham, Karen Donato, Fawn Dunphy, Debbie Melvin, Tom Pierce, Greg Sherman, Cynthia Thompson, Lynda Foren-Turner, Travis Watson and Dan Watson, emeriti.
