RUMFORD – The Stephens High Class of 1953 held their 50th reunion on Sept. 27 at the

Town and Country Inn in Gorham, N.H. The reunion committee organized a reunion that began with an informal get together in the afternoon followed by a banquet in the evening.

Forty-seven of the graduating class of 119 attended the festivities. This represented 50 percent of the 93 classmates still living.

Stephens High School was demolished in 2000, but as a memento of the reunion each attendee received a paperweight, with an attached photo of the school, made out of a portion of a brick from the dismantled school they had once attended. A park with a commemorative marker occupies part of the area where the school once stood.

Classmates came from as far away as California and Oregon to attend the reunion. Marilyn Burgess and Maynard Murphy won the prize for the largest extended families, 43 and 34 respectively. Dorothy Breau and Mac Vaughn were recognized for being married the longest, more than 50 years. Larry Theriault gained recognition for being the most recently married in July 2002. Al Boudreau and Virginia “Babs” St. Pierre Coady were elected king and queen of the reunion for being the least changed and still looking most like their yearbook picture.

Most of the class of ’53 still make their home in Maine, but many live in locations all across the country including 16 who live in Florida either part or all of the year.