CALAIS – Washington County Community College President Bill Cassidy proudly announced Friday that the school would graduate its largest class ever.

One hundred eighty-eight blue-clad graduates were awarded diplomas.

Rep. Patrick Colwell, speaker of the Maine State House of Representatives and a Washington County native, said he was pleased when he was invited to speak at the school’s 34th commencement.

Colwell’s family has lived in Maine since before the Revolutionary War. One of Colwell’s ancestors was commissioned by President George Washington to be the first postmaster of Machias.

“My ancestors came to this country and settled in Washington County more than 200 years ago, and I was born here myself, well not too many years ago,” he said. “My family knows what it’s like to work hard to make a living – because that’s what the people from Washington County have always done. The lessons my mom and dad taught me when we were growing up in Machias and later in Gardiner have stayed with me for a lifetime.”

Colwell said he is an advocate of the community college system.

“I always worked with my hands. I was a musician, a construction worker and had my own tile contracting business. To me, the building trades have always provided some of the most honorable work there is. It’s a good way to support a family and a good way to contribute to the dreams and the futures of all the people who live and work here,” he said.

Instructor C. Eddie Smith, who was selected as distinguished faculty speaker, told the students that the staff had given them a good foundation from which to go out and “set the world on fire.”

Student of the Year Eric Voelker of Hampden said that Maine was known for its dedicated workers, and the staff at the college helped create that dedicated work force.

After working 13 years for the paper mill in Old Town, now owned by Georgia-Pacific Corp., Voelker was laid off. He was offered a job in New York, but he and his wife, Jean, decided to remain in Maine. He enrolled in WCCC’s Residential and Commercial Electricity program.

Smith nominated him for the distinguished award. In the nomination process, Smith said Voelker was “one of the best students I have ever had.”

Voelker praised the students who earlier this year helped raise nearly $35,000 for the Ronald McDonald House in Bangor through its Polar Bear Dip. He told the students that “team effort, was what it was all about.” He then invited the students to return next year and participate in the fourth annual Polar Bear Dip.