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“It’s been 10 wonderful years,” Stuart Marrs, director of the music department exclaimed Friday afternoon at the Class of 1944 Hall open house. In his address, Marrs reminisced about the excitement of moving the instruments from the old performing arts hall into the then-new hall, and glows, “It was just like heaven.”
The open house on Friday afternoon was a celebration of the anniversary of the hall’s opening and an appreciation of those individuals who made its creation possible – the class of 1944. One member of that class who was instrumental in the project was Al McNeilly, whom Anita Wihry, the executive director of institutional and facilities planning, thanked. “If it weren’t for Al’s leadership, it never would’ve happened,” Wihry said.
McNeilly responded, “There was no place for performers to put a tie on, to rehearse, play, no spot to call their own, so the class of ’44 rose to the occasion and went out and raised a million bucks.”
Friday’s open house offered the tours as well as various performances by music, dance, and theater students. There were acts from the Opera Workshop, Chamber Jazz Ensemble, College of Dance and the Improvisation Workshop. All of them showcased the students’ varied talents and served as a sincere thank you to the class of ’44. The decade-old program now boasts more than 60 students.
The open house was wrapped up in the McNeilly Lobby, named after the aforementioned Al McNeilly, with a speech from Janet Waldron, the vice president of administration and finance. She handed the mic over to a few others, including McNeilly, who challenged UMaine students to match the class of ’44′s donation of one million dollars. Waldron joked that this year’s class could actually beat their donation and get a hall named after itself because, after all, they have inflation on their side.
