RUMFORD – It had been decades for some, in some cases as long as 30 years.

All had been out of school and working for a long time. But then, the shutdowns began. And suddenly, their jobs were gone.

Some returned to school to learn new skills, including nine who received a certificate of recognition for successfully completing a one-year metal trades technology program offered by the new River Valley Technology Center and Central Maine Technical College.

On Wednesday those nine were honored.

“It was hard but I’m proud,” said John Moro Jr. of Peru, who had last been in class in 1985 when he graduated from Rumford High School. “There’s a lot of stuff we’re doing that is so new.”

Moro and others have been victims of the recent closings of several wood products-related businesses in the western Maine area.

The RVTC and CMTC, with help all along the way from the Maine CareerCenter, put together a program in metal trades technology training that virtually guarantees a job in the metal trades industry, said Norm MacIntyre, director of the RVTC.

The CareerCenter helped get students into the program and offered them support, while classes were provided at the Region 9 School of Applied Technology in Mexico and the CMTC campus in Auburn.

Moro said he and his daughter, Ashley, a sixth-grader at Peru Elementary School, are now in competition with each other in their grades. “I told her I’d keep up with her,” said Moro.

Most of the nine local students recognized Wednesday night at a small ceremony at the Eagles Hall are continuing on at CMTC to earn an associate degree in the metal trades, including Lois Chase of Woodstock, a 1973 graduate of Telstar High School, who lost her job at Gilbert Manufacturing in Locke Mills.

“At first it was kind of confusing, but everything fell into place. It was kind of mind boggling, but most things came back, like English and algebra,” she said. “I didn’t think I could do it, but my husband and daughter were behind me.”

The nine who received their one-year certificates went through CMTC graduation last Friday, but MacIntyre, Diane Dostie of CMTC and Marlene Gile of the local CareerCenter wanted to give these hard-working students another chance at recognition. After all, this is the first time the RVTC has been involved in a training program that brought several groups together for the benefit of displaced workers.

“It’s wonderful,” said RVTC board member Dick Lovejoy.

Lovejoy is one of several RVTC board members who has been involved in the plans for such a center and training program from the beginning.

“There’s no building yet, but somehow Diane found a way to get students back and forth and worked out the details to make the program work,” he said.

Region 9 helped out by providing instruction for upgrading skills for adults returning to school, and the CareerCenter helped out every step of the way, he added.

MacIntyre viewed Wednesday’s ceremony as a watershed breakthrough. “It was a long time in coming, but we made it. The students here are proof,” he said.

Small groups of displaced workers from the western Maine area begin the course work necessary for the completion of the one-year certificate every few months. And before long, most of the classes will be offered in the River Valley.

The RVTC board is busy trying to find sufficient funding for the renovation of the former bag mill in downtown Rumford that will be turned into a technology center and small business start-up site, one of seven statewide.

“It’s been a trial by fire, but we all managed to pull it off,” said CareerCenter counselor Gile. “It was a joint effort and we’re very, very proud. I couldn’t be happier. All were dislocated workers out of school for a long while. Their lifelong learning will be with them and hopefully will be instilled into the next generation,” she said.

Besides Moro and Chase, the graduates are Jason Chochran of Jay, Sharon Theriault of Woodstock, Kenneth Arsenault of Rumford, Thomas Davenport of Canton, Linda Libby of Roxbury, Joseph Parise of Rumford and Jimmy Wakefield of Andover and Lewiston.

eadams@sunjournal.com