Howard Pickering Mallett Gymnasium Rededication
By Charlie Longo
Like many other members of the Lee Academy community, I attended the Howard Mallett Gym rededication. Upon arrival I was greeted by Lee Academy trustee Gail Rae who told me about the amazing new items Lee Academy is selling. These pens will help others relive their history and make a tremendous Christmas gift.
"The pens were made from the maple flooring that was part of the gym, they are $25, and the money that we raise is going to be used to buy a new trophy case for the new gold balls we are getting." said Gail Rae.
When the clock struck two, it was time for the celebration to begin. Mr. Lindberg was the first speaker and he addressed the crowd, "I would like to thank the trustees for their dedication but more importantly their vision for Lee Academy. Lee Academy today is different than it was ten years ago, Lee Academy today is different than it was fifty years ago, and Lee Academy today is much different than when it was created in 1845. But that attitude is what has been able to keep Lee Academy alive as time has changed, as society has changed so has Lee Academy. At one point this school was centered around the agriculture of the area, bringing students in. From there it became the school of choice for communities that didn't have high schools, from all over the state of Maine. From there it became a boarding school for the Native Americans. And today, it has become a school of international, students from all over the world, and from all over the United States. The vitality that they bring, and our local students bring just shows the vibrancy of Lee Academy. You're here today to celebrate the reopening of the Mallett Gymnasium; this is just the first of many projects that you will see in the very near future. We will continue to update classroom buildings and the church on campus, we need to make this a showplace of Eastern Maine, maybe even the state of Maine, and we are very close to doing it." stated Lee Academy Headmaster, Bruce Lindberg.
After this, Mr. Lindberg introduced the President of the Trustees, Barry Webster. He started his speech off in the American way by leading us in the pledge of allegiance. Next he commented on future goals and mentioned, "It is a real important thing that happened here and I think that Howard Pickering Mallett would certainly put his stamp of approval on this place today. I know there are a lot of memories that have happened in these walls, and he would be very grateful." ~ President of Lee Academy Trustees, Barry Webster
The Passamaquoddy Governor Bill Nicholas represented his tribe and commenced in a tribal smudging with Lt. Governor Joseph Socobasin and family. "A majority of our elected officials graduated from Lee Academy. The teaching's and the learning's that you receive growing up going through school, promote you, promote you to be something that's either a leader or something else that is worth while in significance. Without the teaching's and learning's that we have learned by coming to Lee Academy, some good and some bad, where we came from and what we achieved Lee Academy is part of that." ~ Passamaquoddy Governor, Bill Nicholas.
Nicholas also mentioned tribal member Jon Connick and Senior at LA. Jon was recommended by Representative Michael Michaud for the United States Military Academy, and has dedicated his last four years to Lee Academy. At Lee Academy, we share the same feeling of pride in Jon that Bill Nicholas expressed.
After this ceremony we were presented the United States flag by Diane Smith representing Michael Michaud, the Maine flag by Elizabeth Schneider, and the Passamaquoddy flag by Governor Nicholas. After these three flags were presented the International students also presented their countries flags.
After a four-minute basketball drill and the playing of the school song we were off, back into the every day life of rural Maine.