UMaine's Diverse UMaine's Diverse - the University of Maine Alumni ...

Department maintains a mission of fostering
opportunities for the agriculture community and
of promoting stewardship of Maine’s natural
resources. Maine farmers care for 1.25 million
acres of land. Farmland brings the added public
benefit of open space with many recreational
opportunities.
Please send me an email and let me know
what is new and exciting in your world.
Go Blue!
1975
Isabelle Birdsall Schweitzer
76 Autumn Ridge Circle
Ithaca, NY 14850
schweitzer53@Yahoo.com
The news from the Class of 1975 doesn’t
include much information to pass along this
time. Please send me career, personal, and
family news.
John Kimball of Holden has been named
vice president and indirect lending manager
at Skowhegan Savings. He is heading up the
bank’s initiative to create indirect lending
packages directed at businesses. John comes
to Skowhegan Savings with 32 years of banking
experience. He previously was vice president
and senior indirect lending officer at Bangor
Savings Bank.
Paul Coulombe is CEO of the Portland-based
White Rock Distilleries, a company involved in
liquor bottling, branding, and distribution, and
owns over 100 liquor brands. Paul took over the
business from his father and now co-owns it
with his daughter. Paul is fortunate to be able to
run the company from anywhere, including his
Boothbay home, Florida, and the Bahamas.
In May, Gov. Paul LePage (G) delivered the
commencement address at Husson College
and also received an honorary doctorate.
Gov. LePage graduated from Husson in 1971
before continuing on to graduate school at the
University of Maine.
Dick Bowden ’89G has recently moved
to Tolland, CT, from Orland, ME. He and two
colleagues were awarded a U.S. patent for
a watertight wrapping material for big rolls
of paper shipped from the paper mills to
newspaper pressrooms. Dick is employed by
Cascades Sonoco.
1976
David Theoharides
68 Payeur Circle
Sanford, ME 04073
(207) 636-7482
dtheo@sanford.org
Hello, ’76ers!
I hope you were able to make our 35th Reunion
this fall. It’s still hard to believe so many
years have gone by since our years at the
44 MAINE Alumni Magazine
University of Maine. When we first graduated,
all our alumni news was about weddings, then
babies, then job changes, followed by our kids’
graduating, getting married, and us becoming
grandparents!
We received a news clipping about me!
David Theoharides ’89G was appointed the
new superintendent of schools for the Sanford
School Department last July. David had been
the assistant superintendent in Sanford for
the past five years, after a 29-year career as a
teacher and principal in Lincoln, ME. He and
his wife, Jane Goodwin Theoharides ’75, ’81G,
’97 C.A.S. live in Sanford where Jane teaches
math at the junior high school. They have one
daughter, Caroline, who is currently completing
her Ph.D. in economics at the University of
Michigan at Ann Arbor.
Our Class of ’76 TV celebrity, Bill Green
of WLBZ in Bangor, was the commencement
speaker at the 2011 York County Community
College graduation held in Ogunquit last May.
Bill is the host of the popular weekly TV feature,
“Bill Green’s Maine.” He is one of Maine’s bestknown
storytellers, and was inducted into the
Maine Association of Broadcasters Hall of
Fame last fall!
One of my dorm mates from Dunn Hall
freshmen year, Dennis Castonguay, has been
appointed to the University of Maine Pulp and
Paper Foundation executive committee. Dennis
is manufacturing support manager for Verso
Paper.
Carol Nordstrom Toner (G), ’89 Ph.D.
is one of the editors of Somalis in Maine:
Crossing Cultural Currents, a new book that
looks at the cultural encounters between the
recent Somali immigrants to Maine, particularly
in Lewiston, and the local population. The
anthology includes research about the Somalis’
departure from their war-torn homeland and
resettlement in Lewiston as well as stories from
Somali immigrants. Carol became part of The
Somali Narrative Project, a group of UMaine
faculty, UMaine Somali students, and Somalis
living in Lewiston. The students and faculty
read background materials, interviewed Somali
immigrants, wrote about their experiences,
and performed Readers Theatre in Maine and
beyond.
Nancy Schott Plaisted ’53, who writes her
class’s column, wrote, “I met Jeff Cole outside
a local bank in August. Since my car has a ‘UMO
53’ bear license plate, Jeff stopped to talk. Jeff,
of Kennebunk, a business administration major,
is president of Cole Harrison, a local insurance
company. He’s married to Kim Heineman
Cole ’79, ‘still in the medical field,’ he said.
His daughter, Rachael, who works for SRM in
Colorado Springs, was married in August. He
also has a son, Ben, a Plymouth State grad.”
Cynthia Petersen Curtis ’94G, principal of
the Windham Manchester School, was featured
in the Portland Press Herald, Lakes Region
Section, for her participation in a “Dancing With
the Stars” fundraiser for Project Graduation.
Jane Searles, regional manager of and micro
enterprise trainer for the Maine Centers for
Women, Work and Community, was honored
with the prestigious G. Clifton Eames Award
by the Bangor Region Leadership Institute.
The Eames Award is given annually to a person
who has been through the leadership institute’s
training and has made a positive impact as a
leader in the community.
Last February, UMaine basketball legend,
Bob Warner, was honored when he had his No.
52 jersey retired during a ceremony before the
America East game against Maryland Baltimore
County. Remember 35 years ago when we
packed the pit to watch Bob, as a freshman,
and senior Pete Gavett ’73 dominate the court
under coach Skip Chapelle ’62? Bob becomes
the fourth UMaine player to be so recognized,
joining Chapelle, Rufus Harris ’83, and Keith
Mahaney ’57, ’68G, ’71 C.A.S.
1977
Honored class at Homecoming
Pearl Turcotte Gapp
7468 Dugway Road
Clinton, NY 13323
(315) 853-6851
pgapp@hamilton.edu
Since I am not sure exactly when this issue
will be delivered, please allow me to take this
opportunity to wish you all a happy holiday
season, happy winter, and an especially happy
and healthy 2012! Many thanks to those of you
who have emailed me or sent in notes since our
last column.
The Vincent A. Hartgen Award is given each
year in recognition of outstanding contributors
to the advancement of the arts at the University
of Maine. The 2011 recipient was Elizabeth
Downing, a member of the University’s music
faculty and flutist with the Bangor Symphony
Orchestra. She is also senior associate director
of New Student Programs at the University.
Curt Carleen wrote that he and Cheryl
Lilienthal were married in Wickford, RI, on
February 7, 2005, 30 years exactly to the day
they met in Hannibal Hamlin Hall!
Rick Coyne of Wells has joined EXIT Key
Real Estate in Shapleigh. Vice president of Sappi
North America, John Donahue ’80G, has been
elected secretary of the University of Maine
Pulp and Paper Foundation. Paul Violette, the
former executive director of the Maine Turnpike
Authority, lives with his family in Portland.
Joyce Beckley is director of employee
services for the Portland Water District.
James Lynch is vice president of Maine
Commercial Tire in Hermon. He and the
company’s president were honored as
Maine’s Small Business Persons of the Year
in Washington, DC, by the US Small Business
Administration.
After several years of working with the United
Way of Sarasota County, Rebecca “Becky”
Petra Higgins is now director of development
for Catholic Charities in Naples, FL.
Finally, I received a note from Jackie Murphy
Luciano, who reminded me that our UMO days
were “a great time in our lives and we have made
unforgettable and unbreakable friendships!” I
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