SANFORD — After Liam Grogan and his family attended the inauguration of President Barack Obama one year ago, the then-second grade student wrote U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a thank-you letter, as the family had been randomly selected to receive tickets to the event from Collins’ office.

“Did I tell you I am your Number one fan,” he wrote in the letter. “You are welcome at my school anytime.”

Collins, on a swing through York County Thursday, took young Liam up on his offer, paying a visit to Margaret Chase Smith School, where she greeted first and second grade students and then spent a half-hour with 72 third graders, outlining some of the work she does as a U.S. Senator and answering their questions.

Liam would have been a third-grade student at the school this year, but moved with his family to Freeport. He was invited back for the day, however, and beamed when Collins took some time to speak with him.

“Thank you for inviting me,” she told the youngster. “I still have the note you sent me. You told my you were my number one fan and I like that.”

“I had no idea I would become a U.S. Senator when I was your age,” she told students, advising them to work hard, get an education and believe in themselves. Collins said Sen. Margaret Chase Smith of Skowhegan, for whom the school is named, was a real hero and an inspiration.

“I got to meet her in Washington when I was in high school,” Collins told the youngsters. “I was so proud she was my senator. She taught me I could grow up to be whatever I wanted to be.”

Smith, the first woman to serve in both houses of Congress, became a member of the U.S House of Representatives in 1940 and won election to the Senate in 1948, where she served until 1972.

Collins told the third grade students about a number of aspects of her job, including the time she christened the USS Farragut at ceremonies at Bath Iron Works.

“My job was to christen the ship with a bottle of champagne,” she said, explaining that breaking the bottle on the bow of the ship on the first try was a must, because if the bottle doesn’t break, it is considered bad luck.

So, Collins said, she gave the bottle a mighty whack and drenched everyone, including the Secretary of the Navy, the president of Bath Iron Works, and her own silk dress. Perhaps, she told the students with good humor, that might be why she hasn’t been invited to christen another.

Collins explained that her membership on the Senate Armed Services Committee involves travel and showed photographs of spending time with Maine troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

She talked about seeing penguins on a trip to Antarctica.

“They’re really cute, but they’re really stinky,” she said. “They smell like rotten fish.”

Collins showed a photo with the Boston Red Sox team back in 2004 when the team won the World Series and spoke of meeting astronaut Chris Cassidy of York and a Yarmouth girl who testified at congressional hearings on juvenile diabetes.

Invited to the White House to meet with President Obama on Dec. 7, she told the students that as the meeting wound down, a steward appeared with a cupcake and a candle to mark her birthday.

Steven Bonia asked how many presidents she’d met.

“Four,” she said, including both President Bushes, Clinton and Obama.

“The first President Bush invited me to a special dinner where raw oysters were served,” she told the third graders. Collins explained to the youngsters she wasn’t a fan of the dish, so she ate them as quickly as possible. “President Bush thought I loved them and ordered more,” she said with a smile.

In response to a question from Ethan Fortier about strategies she uses to convince her colleagues to agree with her on issues, Collins illustrated the approach used by the Maine and New Hampshire delegations in order to ensure the future of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard when the 200-year-old yard was in danger of closing. She said she studied hard to make sure she knew the arguments and that both Democrats and Republicans worked together.

Student Alex Kong asked if she would pursue another job in politics.

Collins explained that at one point she had run for governor of Maine, and in her words, “got clobbered” by independent candidate Angus King.

“But I didn’t give up on my dream, so two years later, I ran for the U.S. Senate and won,” she said. “If I hadn’t believed in my dream, I wouldn’t have made it.”

Soon after, Collins left for other appointments ”“ to visit the York County Shelter in Alfred and St. Louis Child Development Center in Biddeford.

Liam Grogan headed back to school in Freeport.

“Someone told me this is something I’ll remember my whole life,” he said of Collins’ visit to his former school.

— Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or twells@journaltribune.com.