The LA Alumni Council has chosen Alden McFarland to receive the 2010 award at the Alumni Banquet on June 5.

Alden grew up in South Bristol and graduated from LA in 1965, during the time of transition from South Bristol and Bristol High Schools to Lincoln Academy. Alden earned a business degree from Husson College in 1970. After a brief service in the Army, he went to work for Harvard Trust Company in Cambridge, MA. This began a long and successful career in banking. He moved back to Maine to work at The First National Bank of Damariscotta in 1975 and stayed there for 29 years, serving as branch manager in Waldoboro, Commercial Loan Officer, and in various other roles.

His two daughters, Erica and Alison, graduated from LA in 1996 and 1997 and have since added three grandsons to the family.

Alden retired from The First in 2004 and began a career in real estate with his wife, Ann, LA ’73, as ‘Team McFarland.’ But his true love is that of being a lobster fisherman during the summer and fall; something he has done since his childhood.

Throughout his career at The First and in retirement, Alden has volunteered in many capacities, demonstrating his strong belief in giving back to his home community of South Bristol as well as the larger ‘community’ of the towns surrounding Newcastle-Damariscotta. He has served on South Bristol’s Planning Board, Budget Committee and Comprehensive Plan committees and is currently representative to the CLC Ambulance Service. He has been active on behalf of the Gulf of Maine Foundation, the Damariscotta YMCA, the Chamber of Commerce, the Damariscotta-Newcastle Lions Club, the Waldoboro Lions Club and the Waldoboro Public Library.

For the past several years, Alden has served on the Lincoln Academy Development Committee, working on public relations and fundraising through the Third Century Capital Campaign and more recent projects such as the ‘Laptops for LA’ campaign. Ann McFarland was elected to the LA Board of Trustees in January 2010, creating an LA version of ‘team McFarland.’

Alden’s professional career, combined with his concurrent service in many facets of our communities, exemplify the qualities of an LA Alumnus of the Year.