FARMINGTON — Once or twice a week, Alberta Tracy and Claire Meuse find a quiet place to sit at the Sandy River Center in Farmington and read a young adult edition of Frank Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz.”

Meuse, 86, a 25-year tutor with Literacy Volunteers, has been working with Tracy for three years. In between chatting, they get through about two to four pages a session. They are more than halfway through the book.

Meuse was one of 35 people recognized recently in the Remember ME project, an annual event sponsored by the Maine Health Care Association that honors residents living in Maine’s long-term care facilities.

Those honored could be pioneers, innovators, have unique or interesting accomplishments in their lives or have served their community, state or country. They are nominated by their nursing care facility, and 35 are selected by a panel of judges.

Since 2003, more than 350 residents from across the state have been honored, from decorated war heroes and community leaders to nurses, teachers, small business owners and homemakers, association spokesperson Nadine Grasso said.

“It has been wildly successful — beyond our expectations,” Grasso said Friday.

As part of the photographic tribute and life achievement recognition awards ceremony held each April in the Hall of Flags at the State House, a booklet is published with current and past photos of each honoree and short biographies. The remaining nominees are given honorable mention.

Honorees, their families, facility staff and state officials are invited to the celebration. This year more than 300 people attended.

The association represents 100 nursing homes and 135 residential care facilities in Maine.

Meuse is originally from Melrose, Mass. She and her late husband, Robert, had one daughter, Lori, a veteran English teacher at Mt. Blue High School in Farmington who now teaches American Sign Language.

Meuse, over her career, worked as a math and science junior high and high school teacher in several states, was a lifelong community volunteer and for 50 years was a Girl Scout leader and a Scouts’ summer camp director.

As a reading tutor, she taught individuals and groups, worked with people with developmental disabilities, with youngsters who needed to improve their skills and now, at 86, with senior citizens.

“After teaching eighth-grade boys, you can teach anything,” she said with a smile during an interview at the Sandy River Center. “I will take on any student.”

Meuse moved to Farmington 10 years ago, following the death of her husband, to be near her daughter. Shortly after arriving, she said she contacted Literacy Volunteers and began tutoring, a commitment she continued until three years ago, when she suffered a stroke that confined her to a wheelchair.

Although it is hard to always arrange transportation because of her disability, she said she tries to remain involved in community activities such as her book club, St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Farmington and the Gold Leaf Institute, a senior college, where one of the courses she recently took was on the history of chemistry.

Soon after getting settled at Sandy River, however, she found a reading student in Tracy.

“Claire is very compassionate and a great tutor. For years, she worked with a lot of youngsters who get referred to us by parents or their schools, and all the students liked her because she made learning fun,” said Joan Moes, who retired last month as the director of Franklin-Somerset Literacy Volunteers of America.

She recalled Tracy as a student involved with LVA for years with a strong desire to learn to read. The problem was she couldn’t find a tutor who was a good match.

Moes just learned Meuse and Tracy were working together.

“I am so pleased. There is a need for tutors at nursing homes, but we don’t have the people to do it,” Moes said.

Sandy River Center Activities Director Lynette Hinkley said the example Meuse is setting shows that the elderly want to remain active and involved.

“This is a very good learning experience for both of them, and it gives Claire a sense of being useful and valued,” Hinkley said.

Grasso said that the Maine Health Care Association is committed to the Remember ME project, and its member facilities and their staffs are committed to honoring their residents.

“Maine long-term care providers believe that each individual resident’s life story is important and worthy of recognition. This program has simply provided them with a statewide vehicle to share that belief with others,” she said.

“The feedback from residents, consistently, is that they are so very humble. While their accomplishments are so great and their actual experiences are often once-in-a-lifetime, they can’t imagine why they deserve this lifetime achievement award,” she said.

“I can’t tell you how many times in nine years I’ve heard residents say they were just living their lives, nothing out of the ordinary,” she said.

“In creating this project and naming it Remember ME, I wanted to give our long-term care residents the recognition they have earned and, at the same time, remind Maine lawmakers, regulators, media and the public of the value of these residents’ contributions,” Grasso said.

“They have spent the best years of their lives creating families and building communities. As they come to us for long-term care, it is our privilege to serve them,” she said.