Anne Schmidt
3818 Eagles Walk
Katy, TX 77450
anne.schmidt@me.com
(207) 669-2523
facebook.com/groups/UMaineClass2004/
Happy spring, Black Bears! I hope that wherever you are Mother Nature was kind to you last winter and that you are welcoming the change in seasons. As anyone who paid attention to the news at the very end of last summer, the weather was particularly cruel to us here in Texas. The end of August and early September brought us hurricane Harvey and a destruction that I have never seen before in my life. I took the opportunity to write about my thoughts in a column for the Portland Press Herald in September, and during the whole riding out of the storm I was contacted by many local news agencies to give a Mainer’s account of how things were going in Texas. We were very lucky where we live outside of Houston that our home did not take on water, but had terrible things happened to the reservoir in our area, it most certainly would have been a different story. We had localized flooding and there were certainly days when we were stuck in our house because the roads around us were impassable. Just to think that a land area almost the size of the state of Maine was under water for days and weeks on end is still so overwhelming. For those who were affected, the cleanup took months and the rebuilding is still going on today. I know many people who are still in the rebuilding phase of their homes, and it will likely go on into this spring and summer. We are going to be seeing the effects of this storm for years to come. In the almost-four years that I have lived here, I have seen three floods. Harvey was by far the worst, but this is a city where excessive amounts of water have devastating effects, and I have a feeling that storms like these are going to become the norm and not “every 500 years” like they are supposed to be.
In other environmental news, one of our classmates is making an impact in her new position. Kristy Palmer Bishop was hired by Sevee & Maher Engineers in Cumberland, ME, as an environmental compliance expert. In her role as a senior environmental engineer she helps guide clients in the compliance of regulatory standards at the local, state, and federal level. Also in the engineering world, Cole Teague was awarded the 2017 Maine Healthcare Engineer of the Year Award for his contributions and excellence in health care facilities management. Cole is the director of facilities management at Franklin Community Health Network in Farmington, ME. Congrats, Cole!
In educational news, former Portland school system educational technician, Simon Williams, has created a new website that he hopes will bring schools, students, and communities closer together. The project is called School Square and it is Williams’s hope that with the click of a mouse, schools can build relationships with community volunteers — and people can be more engaged with the school system, enriching the experience of all students. A Kickstarter campaign was launched in the fall. Sticking with education, Jennifer Walsh ’06G recently moved with her family to Virginia, where she is an assistant professor in dietetics at James Madison University. She is a teacher and researcher and is doing amazing work in the community by coordinating projects that promote healthy eating in areas with limited resources. And lastly, Matt Lindsay, current wrestling coach at Mattanawcook High School in Lincoln, was inducted in the Maine Amateur Wrestling Alliance Hall of Fame this past summer. While attending Penobscot Valley High School in the 1990s, Matt won four state championship wrestling matches and compiled a 125-3 over his four years in high school. Congratulations, Matt!
That’s it from me here in Houston, TX! If you are a Class of 2004 grad and happen to be reading these notes, please send me your news! I love hearing how my classmates are doing and we’d love to share your adventures with other Black Bears.