OVER 500 FORMER STUDENTS AND TEACHERS OF THE ASSUMPTION ACADEMY SUCCEEDED IN TURNING BACK THE “HANDS OF TIME” AS THEY MET IN FORCE ON JULY 29-31ST TO CELEBRATE AAC 2005 CELEBRATION. THE EVENT WAS HELD AT POLYVALENTE ROLAND PEPIN. IN CAMPBELLTON. STUDENTS WHO ATTENDED THE ASSUMPTION ACADEMY BETWEEN THE YEARS 1941-1970 TURNED OUT IN DROVES TO MEET AND GREET FORMER CLASSMATES, FRIENDS AND TEACHERS
ORGANIZERS ARE NOW DESCRIBING AAC 2005 Celebration as an overwhelming success. Wayne Walsh, co-chair stated: “With all the unknowns we had to deal with, particularly dealing with a thirty year span of students and alumni, we could only dream about having such a successful Celebration. This was the ideal. You always expect Murphy to stick his head in and throw in a few curve balls but our team rose to the occasion and handled everything perfectly. Even the weather cooperated.” “I wonder if les Filles de Marie-de-l’Assumption had anything to do with that”, he continued with a smile.
THE PARTICIPANTS came to Campbellton in a party mood. Barry Furlotte, Class of 1969, said he was pumped for three days and drove from New York with a perma-grin, in anticipation. Descriptions like “bouncing for the weekend”, “fantastic reunion”, “memorable week-end”, “congratulations for a marvellous job”, “greeeeeeaaaat success”, “and a thousand praises”, “Sensational”, and dozens of similar comments continue to flood our email server two weeks after the event. Steven Hutchinson, co-chair, stated that he was particularly impressed by the enthusiasm and emotions everyone exhibited. “That was completely unexpected and certainly contributed to the successful outcome of the event” he stated
Preparations began at the beginning of the week when the AAC 2005 Celebration sign was placed on the Roland Pepin Polyvalent High School. Tables, chairs, decorations, food and drinks all had to be brought to the school by the volunteers. Seating was prepared for 460 people.
On Friday night, the official registration opened. Over 400 people registered and joined the Stardusters for a Meet and Greet of wine and cheese plates during an evening of reminiscing and having a great time. Some people were reunited after 30 -35 years. The air was electrified with excitement.
Saturday afternoon was reserved for class photo sessions at 1 pm. People began arriving at 11:30 am and were in a party mood. The picture taking sessions went smoothly throughout this impromptu party. People danced as the musician did sound checks for the evening. People had to be asked to leave so the caterer could set up for supper. It was a festive occasion. Registration continued during the afternoon with another 150 people registering.
The Gala supper on Saturday evening was prefaced by a special twenty minute skit presented by les Filles de Marie-de-l’Assumption . Four different actors recounted the history of the Assumption Academy in both official languages, which then was the norm of the day. The caterer was finally allowed to serve a magnificent supper aided by twenty servers. During this time over fifty door prizes donated by local businesses were drawn. Following supper, the Master of Ceremonies, Bobby Poitras entertained during the evening with songs from the 40’s to the 70’s. The dance floor was filled on the first note and never emptied the entire evening with people even enjoying the Macarena . Later in the evening, we were privileged to see Steven Hutchinson join Bob on stage in a duo. People partied until the wee hours.
Sunday morning found several partiers returning to the Roland Pepin Polyvalent gym to begin cleaning and packing everything to be returned. At eleven o’clock everyone attended a packed Notre Dame de Neiges church for the Commerative Mass remembering those who could not be physically with us. Father Romeo Morrison presided over a very moving ceremony on this special occasion. The music provided by La Chorale de Notre Dame de Neiges Choir included former members of the Laetitia Choir and guests like Paula Hebert and Sr. Viola Doiron formed the emotional high point of the event. The music was very moving and provided a perfect expression of the emotions being experienced by those in attendance. Special processions commemorating the school and the six decades of the school moved down the aisles. After mass, les Filles de Marie-de-l’Assumption under the guidance of Sr. Viola Doiron bestowed praise on the Organizers and special thanks to Deborah Theede, Steven Hutchinson and Wayne Walsh. The atmosphere in the Church could only be described as electrifying It was obvious that the students and teachers now realized that the reunion was coming to an end and as the co-chairs observed in their Introductory remarks “this may well be the final chapter in the history of this fine School”
Following the Mass, everyone descended on the Sugarloaf Park lodge where hotdogs and hamburgers were available for lunch. A special AAC2005 cake was brought out for everyone to enjoy. The weather cooperated wonderfully. It seemed everyone lingered just a bit longer not wanting the weekend to end. Finally the six balloons representing the six decades were released to the winds and they slowly climbed into the heavens signifying a final closure to the Assumption Academy. And people lingered for those last moments
Both of the Co-Chairs paid tribute to all of the participants who took time out of their busy schedules to attend the reunion. As Wayne observed all of the planning and organizing would not have succeeded without the support of all of those who attended and without whose enthusiasm none of this would have been possible.
