Read the Summer 2012 issue - the University of Maine Alumni ...

1972
Honored class at Homecoming
October 19-21, 2012
Anne Dearstyne Ketchen
446 Brook Street
Carlisle, MA 01741
(978) 369-1661
anneketchen@comcast.net
I was really pleased to hear directly from a few
classmates with news to include in the column
this time.
Judith Frost Gillis, retired middle school
language arts teacher, is the volunteer project
manager for The Curran Homestead Living
History Farm and Museum in Orrington, ME.
The Curran Homestead celebrated its 20th
anniversary in 2011, renovated the first floor
of the farmhouse, completed a two-forge
blacksmith shop, and added vintage farm
artifacts to the collection. Check scheduled
events at the website: curranhomestead.org or
on Facebook. Volunteers of any age and ability
are welcome.
Tom Guter sent in some news “for the first
time since I graduated. After graduation, my wife,
Karen Damon Guter ’71, ’73G, and I moved to
Portsmouth, NH, where she began her teaching
career at Portsmouth Junior High School. I
completed my master’s in public administration
at the University of New Hampshire in 1975. In
1975, we moved back to Maine. Karen worked
for 31 years as librarian/media specialist in the
Yarmouth school department, retiring from the
Harrison Middle School in Yarmouth in June
2006. I retired as human resources director at
the town of Scarborough in February of 2007,
having worked there for nine years. Prior to that,
I worked in a variety of capacities at BCBS of
Maine (in Portland) for 19 years, leaving BCBS
as VP of claims administration. In June of 2007,
we sold our home in North Yarmouth, which we
had built 26 years before, and moved to Fort
Collins, CO, where we now reside. (Fort Collins)
is about an hour north of Denver and 45 minutes
south of Cheyenne, WY, along the Colorado
Front Range. We’re having a glorious time here,
hiking, backpacking, biking, snowshoeing,
fishing, and enjoying 300+ days of sunshine
annually. It has been a great move for two
lovers of the mountains and the outdoors.
We’ve been fortunate to have had numerous
Maine visitors, including Karen’s sister, Pam
Damon ’73, Doug ’73 (an ATO fraternity brother)
and Barbara Sirois Babkirk ‘73, Priscilla Marsh
Vandermast ’70, John ’66 and Barbara Marks
Chandler ’68. We also had a chance to connect
with Bruce ’00G and Becky Harvey Mailloux
’95G, ’02 C.A.S. in Denver, where Bruce, who
is superintendent of the Belfast area school
district, had an education conference. Bruce
and I were ATO fraternity brothers at Maine, as
well.” Tom would “love to hear from old friends
at tpguter@gmail.com.”
Roxanne (née Rodger) and Margo Zittel-Roy
Ellis ’93G sent greetings from Key West where
they have lived for the past two decades. Margo
Gerry Hawkes ’71 is developing Wheeled Hand Tool Systems
(WHaTS). The concept is to multiply the effectiveness of hand
labor and to mitigate fossil fuel consumption by making manual
power a viable alternative to fossil fuel-powered tools. Gerry had
a forestry business in Vermont and also consulted overseas. “I’m
having a lot of fun developing this product. I keep thinking of more
applications and designing more components,” he says.
teaches behaviorally challenged elementary
students and Roxanne, who transitioned
in 2009, runs their small independent cigar
business in town. They have two grandchildren
who live in Dallas.
Gary Cole, president of the Cole Land
Transportation Museum in Bangor, ME, was
diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2005.
At present there is no cure for this disease and
over 7,000 people in Maine have it. Gary is
now president of the Maine Parkinson Society,
whose primary mission is to help provide
respite care to those with Parkinson’s. For more
information about Parkinson’s disease, visit
www.maineparkinsonsociety.org. Also visit the
Cole Land Transportation Museum Website
to learn about Maine transportation history at
www.colemuseum.org.
Believe it or not, our 40th UMaine Reunion
is this year. Homecoming weekend is October
20-21 so start thinking about Reunion. The
Class of 2002 has inquired whether our class
might like to meet with them at some point
during Homecoming weekend to share UMaine
stories and to network, offer career advice, etc.
They would like to utilize the Class of 1972 as
an alumni mentor class. If this is something you
would be interested in, please contact Valerie
Mitchell, affinity programming coordinator at
the UMaine Alumni Association, at Valerie_J_
Mitchell@umit.maine.edu.
Now on to the clippings from the Alumni
Association. Barry Gates was installed as
potentate of Kora Shrine in Lewiston, ME, for
2012. Kora Shrine is a fraternal organization that
supports hospitals that provide care for children
without financial obligation
to patients and their families.
Barry leads a group of nearly
2,600 Shriners in central and
southern Maine. He lives in
Turner with his wife, Bobby
Jean.
Diane Monroe Smith and
her husband, Robert “Ned”
Smith ’75, ’82G of Holden,
ME, are authors who write
about Maine’s participation in
the Civil War. Diane’s books
include Fanny and Joshua: the
Enigmatic Lives of Frances
Caroline Adams and Joshua
Lawrence Chamberlain and
Chamberlain at Petersburg:
The Charge at Fort Hell. Ned
has written The 22 nd Maine
Volunteer Infantry in the Civil
War: A History and Roster.
Sarah Medina of the
Maine Tourism Commission
and Seven Islands Land
Company represents the
tourism or outdoor recreation
industry on a panel selected
by Gov. Paul LePage ’75G.
The panel consists of a
13-member commission
created to recommend
solutions for “reforming the
governance of land use
planning” on the more than 10 million acres that
comprise the unorganized territory.
Here are two links that might interest you:
the University of Maine Class of 1972 Facebook
page and the 1972 class page on the Alumni
Association’s site. Both can be found at
umainealumni.com: go to the Get Involved tab,
Class Pages drop-down, and choose 1972.
I’ll close on an administrative note. Have you
even wondered about the difference between
the ALUMNI FUND and the FUND for the
University of Maine? Here’s an explanation from
the Alumni Association.
The FUND at the University of Maine
seeks support from alumni, parents, friends,
faculty, and staff to support areas such as
scholarships, technology upgrades, student
travel and research, classroom and laboratory
improvements, new program development, and
other campus facilities.
The ALUMNI FUND is the Alumni
Association’s annual fundraising campaign.
The Alumni Association is an independent
501(c)3 and has to raise 52% of its operating
budget each fiscal year in order to serve our
alumni and offer the programs and services
our alumni enjoy. Donating annually to the
ALUMNI FUND ensures you will receive MAINE
Alumni Magazine twice a year. Gifts to the
ALUMNI FUND support programs and events
like Reunion and Homecoming weekends, The
Black Bear Road Trip, MAINE Alumni Magazine,
website, Bear Tracks e-newsletter, and more.
Both funds support good work that ultimately
benefits the University of Maine.
Summer 2012 43