LIVERMORE FALLS — The last seniors to graduate as Andies from Livermore Falls High School marched onto Griffin Field on Saturday night under an archway of green, gold and white balloons.

The field packed a full audience as the sun shone brightly and slid behind the trees as commencement services continued.

“You are now at crossroads in your life and you are sure to face other crossroads, some of great consequences,” said retired teacher, football coach and keynote speaker Ron Beedy. “One of my favorite poets, Robert Frost wrote in ‘The Road Not Taken’: ‘Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference,’” Beedy said.

He said he could relate to that.

“In 1966, I was a 23-year-old private in the U.S. Army facing a crossroad,” he said. “I could go to Vietnam as a radio/teletype operator working in the relative safety of a communications station, or I could go to officers’ school, become a lieutenant and lead an infantry into combat.”

The experience made a huge difference in his life, Beedy said.

“To you: Don’t be afraid to accept a challenge when at your crossroads. Meet it and go for it,” he said.

Salutatorian Mike Anctil congratulated his peers and thanked their teachers and advisers.

“It is hard to believe, but graduation is upon us,” Anctil said. “I am honored to stand before you today, and proud to be the last graduating class of Livermore Falls.”

Next year, when students attend the high school, it will be renamed Spruce Mountain High School, the Livermore Falls campus, while Jay High School will be renamed Spruce Mountain High School and will be known as the Jay campus.

Jay and RSU 36 are consolidating on July 1.

“Most of us have been looking forward to graduation all year; for some, maybe even longer,” Anctil said. “For me, however, today is bittersweet. I am excited to graduate from high school and begin the next journey of my life, but sad to think that Livermore Falls High School and our Andie mascot will be laid to rest. The important thing to remember, however, is that we were proud Andies and always will be in our hearts.”

Teachers and advisers Sue St. Pierre, Kym Bryant and Cathi Howell charged graduates to take all of the knowledge, compassion and experience they have gained over the past 18 years and use them to make the next 82 years even more extraordinary.

“The world lies before you; continue to take advantage of everything it has to offer,” Howell said.

Valedictorian Thomas Bizier spoke highly of teachers and thanked them for giving graduates “a first-rate academic education.”

He thanked all other staff, parents and family who helped him and his classmates through high school.

Bizier told his fellow seniors, “If you have guts, you can do anything.”

He encouraged seniors to “accept challenges in order to better yourself and to show the world your extraordinary power, and there is no class better at this than ours.”

He spoke about Andies pride and being the last of the Andies.

“Like the last of the Mohicans, we are the final generation of a noble and proud breed,” he said. “We are truly one of a kind, nowhere else will you find such a friendly, hardworking and unique group from an equally unique and amazing school.”

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