Diantha Hawkes Grant
6999-02 Merrill Road #292
Jacksonville, FL 32277
(904) 860-3550
dondigrant@gmail.com
facebook.com/groups/UMaineClass1974/
We spent a glorious summer in Maine and our fourth season working as tour guides at the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village. By the time you receive this edition of the MAINE Alumni Magazine, Don and I will be back working peak at an Amazon Fulfillment Center in Campbellsville, KY. This will be our third peak and I’m glad we still have the stamina to work 10-hour days, five or six days a week. It’s just eight to ten weeks, but it supplies us extra cash to fill up the motor home and spend the rest of the winter traveling.
Stephanie Anderson (a floor mate from our days in Penobscot Hall), district attorney for Cumberland County, announced she would not seek re-election. In 1991, she became the county’s first female DA. Her departure has opened up a wide field of potential candidates, including three Democrats, one Republican, and one Independent. We wish Stephanie all the best in her future endeavors.
At the recent commencement at the University of Maine Fort Kent, Gregory Disy ‘99G received the Distinguished Service Award. This award is given to individuals who have gone above and beyond in service to UMFK.
President John Short said, “He has been a valued asset to our behavioral science program and our students.”
Greg is a licensed clinical social worker and CEO of Aroostook Mental Health Service (AMHS). He began his career with AMHS in 1980 and became CEO in 2009. He is active in several professional organizations and alliances and provides learning opportunities and internships for students pursuing a career in mental health. AMHS offers crisis, residential, outpatient, and rehabilitative services. Congratulations to Greg on this award.
The 2018 Maine Basketball Hall of Fame inducted its new class in August. Among the several Maine Black Bear alumni was Bill Fletcher G, ’77 C.A.S. Bill served as a teacher, coach, and administrator at Mattanawcook Academy in Lincoln, Falmouth, Penobscot Valley High School in Howland, Dexter, and Brewer. He also directed the Eastern Maine high school basketball tournament from 1986-2012.
I received this email update in June. After 40 years of teaching public school, Cheryl Grant Gillespie has been writing in retirement. She has published a book entitled Compassionate Journey: Honoring Our Mothers’ Stories with four other Maine women. It can be found on Amazon. Info is also on a website of the same name. A second career is fun!
For 30 years, Dave Halligan ’79G has coached basketball for the Yachtsmen of Falmouth High School. He became head coach in 1987-88. The 2017 school year found Dave in an exclusive eight-member club of coaches who have achieved 500 career wins, according to the Maine Association of Basketball Coaches. He has guided his alma mater to six state championships in three different classes.
Stay in touch! You can always email me an update. Go Blue!