AUBURN — At the Annual Meeting of the Androscoggin Historical Society in May, Russell Burbank was honored as the Volunteer of the Year.

In his five years as a board member of the society, Burbank wrote news releases, worked on fundraising projects and edited a booklet that describes the role of Androscoggin County residents in the Civil War.

Born in Michigan, he attended the University of Rhode Island for two years. On his 40th birthday, he received a bachelor’s degree from the Harvard University extension school.

During his 40-year career, he was employed as writer and editor by the Haverhill Gazette, Boston Globe, Massachusetts Teachers Association and Massachusetts Department of Education. Since retirement in 1992, he and his wife, Carol, have traveled extensively in the United States and Europe. They moved to Lewiston in 2003.

For the evening’s program, Professor Emeritus James Leamon of Bates College presented a talk about “Maine Loyalists during the American Revolution.” He emphasized the many factors that determined whether or not an individual remained loyal to the crown. He focused upon the Rev. Jacob Bailey as a case study.

Officers elected were President Betty Young; Vice President David Young; Recording Secretary and newsletter editor Douglas Hodgkin; Membership Secretary Bruce Hall; Treasurer David Chittim; and board members John Henderson, Karla Leandri Rider, Maurice Poliquin, Merton E. Ricker, Barbara Randall, Beverly Robbins and Marilyn Wilkinson.

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