E/E II Reunion Maine 2007: Vol. 2: At the Reunion

BELFAST, MAINE

Some 70 RPCVs, spouses and guests held a reunion in Belfast, Maine September 21-23, 2007. This photo album is a graphic recreation of that event.

For the EE II website, click here.

To help Ethiopia & Eritrea, click here.

Email more photos to rmatthai@sbcglobal.net

Marv and Aralynn Vinande

View of beautiful Penobscot Bay as seen from the rooms at the main conference hotel.

The main conference hotel as seen from the seashore; also the scene of the reunion dinner.

Photo Credits:

John Edwards

Mary Holden Leonard

Mary Lou Casey

Bob Matthai

Misc. On-Line Sources

THE ADVANCE GUARD

Some people came early to help planning committee chairman Roger Sprague prepare for the reunion.

Don Curtis, Roger Sprague, Bob Matthai, Addy Edwards, John Edwards, Bob and Carol Taylor, Mary Lou Casey Matthai, Gloria Gieseke Curtis. Curtis.Curtis.e.Curtisning.

Bob and Carol Taylor came early to sample the seafood.

Marj Taylor Mansfield and Gloria Gieseke Curtis discuss the what's what of wat.

Gloria puts the recipe to the test. And how do you say crock pot in Amharic?

Kidist Tadesse gives the official verdict: all it needs is a bit more salt.

THE FRIDAY REUNION DINNER

Tables groaning with tasty victuals awaited the band of reunioneers, along with an evening of reminiscence, conviviality and

just plain fun.

Jolly Roger Sprague, shama-clad reunion planning committee chairman, greets the assembled multitude.

Famed cardiologist Peter Arquin, wife Linda looking on, is living proof of the efficacy of the "Dr. Arquin's Red Beef Isn't All That Bad for You" diet.

Bill Seraille shows Nancy Dean Nowak the proper technique for keeping the egg from slipping out of the injera; Judy Smith looks for hers.

Rob Albritton and Pat DeWerth Corbett pretend to have a good time.

Ed and Jo Orser.

John Ettinger and Katie Shultze

Ed and Aud Lynch.

Addy Edwards, Pat and Paul Renner.

Warren and Marty Fritz.

Ellen Berry, Syrena and Richard Gatewood

Saturday Morning

Saturday morning activities included a talk on current affairs in Ethiopia and Eritrea by expert Shlomo Bachrach; a slide show of the good old days in E/E; a description of the Ethiopia and Eritrea Returned Peace Corps Volunteers group and its education and health projects; and a memorial reading of the names of those E/E IIs who have passed away.

Shlomo Bachrach capitivated the attentive audience.

Very few of those assembled needed a morning nap; most were hanging on Shlomo's every word.

Barry Hillenbrand described the Ethiopia & Eritrea Returned Peace Corps Volunteers group and its newsletter, The Herald.

Dane and Judy Smith read the names of those EE IIs who have passed away. [See reunion website www.ee2reunion.com for list of names.]

THE SATURDAY AFTERNOON VOYAGE

Call me Ishmael...

Saturday dawned, if that day's stingy, grey light could properly be called dawn, with an increasingly impenetrable fog rising as cold, Canadian air descended upon the slightly warmer ocean waters.

We were blessed, however, and by the time of the afternoon voyage the fog had retreated on little cat feet to the far edges of the bay and nearby islands, leaving only an overcast sky and a chill, biting wind to test those who dared to venture onto the dark, mysterious waters of Penobscot Bay, where surely lay challenges--and perils--beyond one's wildest imagination.

As the intrepid RPCVs neared the wharf, their anxious, inquiring minds wondered what the impending voyage held in store: Would it be a quest for a white leviathan, an encounter with an iceberg, or a Flying Dutchman-like disappearance?

The pictures tell the tale.

Could a rogue wave strike?

Would there be a dashing stowaway on board?

Would they be invited to live in a yellow submarine?

What DID that weather forecast say?

Many ships were in the harbor. Was this theirs? No.

Or was this? No.

Marv and Aralynn Vinande and Mary Lou Casey Matthai smile a bit uncertainly as they wonder whether the "Good Return" would live up to its name.

Nervous laughter abounds as the motor vessel gets under way.

Intrepid adventurer John Edwards is ready for whatever the voyage may bring.

Not yet out of the harbor, the voyagers continue to reune innocently.

Soon the choppy seas cause the boat to develop a slight list to port.

Any fears are allayed by the calm, competent Captain Melissa who, despite her youthful appearance, has many years of seapersonship under her lifebelt.

In the off season Captain Melissa skippers this huge tug, capable of moving the most titanic ship.

Peter Arquin braves the gale to take some photos.

Shirley Haustveit Ellingson savors the brisk Bay air.

Bill Suppnik visits the pilothouse to see if Captain Melissa needs a first--or second--mate.

Pat DeWerth Corbett and Rob Albritton debate whether to break out the life jackets.

Safe back at home port, Gloria Tener, Phil and Ann Damon and others rush for dry, solid land.

Home at last. How 'bout them icebergs!

Helen and Jonathan set Foote on terra firma.

The Good Return's sister ship No Return encounters a mysterious, fog-shrouded island that has suddenly risen from the sea, threatening to cause the ship to live up to her name. Will she come back some day, bearing a giant ape bound in chains? But that is another story....

THE SATURDAY LOBSTER FEAST

Early New England settlers viewed the lobster as a repulsive scavenger unfit for human consumption, but today

the whole world realizes

what a delicacy a Maine lobster is.

And true connoisseurs understand that the finest lobsters can be found at Young's Lobster Pound in Belfast, Maine, not coincidentally the site of the recent

EE II reunion lobster feast.

The pictures tell the lobster tale.

Young's Lobster Pound viewed from the Bay through the lifting fog.

Pick your own. How do you say lobster in Amharic? Megebu teru noh.

Mary Leonard Holden meets her dinner.

Peter Arquin mimes the size lobster he wants.

Gayle Bradshaw Washburn, Tony (aka Bud) Clementino and Marian Quirk Cooper debate the many menu choices.

Bob Matthai and spouse Mary Lou Casey ponder what to do if they win the lobster raffle.

An authentic lobster pound experience. Zagat rating: Food, 28; decor, 12; service, self. Good times - priceless.

Roger Sprague starts on his third lobster as Don and Gloria Gieseke Curtis wonder where to begin.

Pat DeWerth Corbett and Michael Corbett

Parker Holden and Mary Leonard Holden

Pat and Paul Renner

Bob Matthai and Gigi Ott Wietecha

SUNDAY BRUNCH CHEZ ROGER

Roger Sprague hosted a wonderful Sunday brunch of injera, several kinds of wat and an assortment of ferenji foods for those who were a bit leery of a berbere experience after all these decades.