LEWISTON — The USM-LA Senior College held its annual meeting in Room 170 of the USM-LA Campus on May 9. Lucy Bisson, president of the USM-LA Senior College board of directors, provided an update of senior college activities. Bisson said USM will launch new registration software, which means that senior college members will be able to register for classes online beginning with the fall session.

Dean Joyce Gibson presented USM-LA news, including enrollment deposits are up 32 percent and three new tenure-tracked faculty will be hired over the next few months. She said the Occupational Therapy (OT) Program has plans to open a center downtown to service people who do not have insurance. The clinic will be supervised by faculty and staffed by students working on their OT degree.

She added an associate dean position has been reinstated; Literacy Volunteers will move to campus; and more Franco-American programs and course offerings will be coming to campus.

Dick Lee recognized the two outgoing board members, Pat Vampatella and David Bernier. Bisson presented the report from the Nominating Committee, and George R. Blouin, Janet Senberg, and Mary Jane Beardsley were unanimously voted to join the USM-LA Senior College board of directors.

Blouin was born in Lewiston and attended St. Peter and Paul Parochial School. He attended Eymard Seminary, Hyde Park, N.Y., at age 14 and received both his diploma and associate’s degree. In 1961 he earned a BS in education from the University of Maine at Orono. 

Blouin taught English in Maine and English, drama, and speech at the Lowville Academy and Central School in upstate New York. He finished his teaching career at John F. Kennedy High School on Long Island. Along the way, he earned at master’s degree from the University of Stony Brook. Blouin has many years of organist, choir director, and musical play production experience. He retired in 1999 and moved back to Lewiston.

Senberg was born in Massachusetts. She earned her nursing diploma from Massachusetts General Hospital, eventually also earning a bachelor’s degree in nursing and ultimately a master’s degree in nursing from Boston College and became an Adult Nurse Practitioner. 

Senberg and her husband traveled and backpacked across Europe, eventually settling in Maine because it was rural New England and near the ocean. She worked at Androscoggin Home Health, Central Maine Medical Center, and Central Maine Vocational Technical Institute before working almost 20 years as a Nurse Practitioner at Lisbon Family Practice.

Senberg retired three years ago and volunteers at MCHPP, Red Cross, Lisbon Police and Lisbon Gardens and has two adult sons who live locally.

Beardsley moved to Maine in 2008. She is a retired reference librarian with college and public library experience. She is also past president of the International Association of Marine Science Libraries and Information Centers. 

Beardsley has ventured into various artisan businesses, including dried flower crafts and fused glass jewelry. She joined USM LA Senior College five years ago and takes an average of two classes a semester. Last fall, she participated in the first online memoir writing class. She is also a member of the Senior College Theater and Outdoor Adventure Clubs.

The fall catalogue is due out later this summer for classes beginning in September. FMI: 207-753-6510.

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