Fall is in full color changeover as I write this post in York, ME, and it reminds me of enjoying the seasons I experienced on the Orono campus. And maybe you remember that sometimes peaceful feeling walking on the mall or near the Memorial Union and noticing all the leaves falling, or making your way to dinner on a cool, crisp night at Hilltop, Stodder, or York Commons. My son, Turner Goodenough ’22, now in his senior year at Orono, just finished his club soccer season with a win at St. Anselm College in Manchester, NH. My other son, Bryant Goodenough ’20, is in his second year of graduate school at Michigan Tech (Upper Peninsula), where the snowfall averages over 220 inches annually (compared to Orono, which is roughly 70 inches per year)! Let’s hope that New England doesn’t get buried this winter as compared to the easy winter we remember from 2021! Would love to hear from you for our next news post on the Class of 1988!
Patricia “Patty” Minnehan Cormier graduated with her bachelor’s degree in forestry and has been a licensed forester ever since. In 1990, she added firefighter/emergency medical technician to her resume when she moved to Princeton, ME, with her husband, John, who was a Maine firefighter and former U.S. Air Force firefighter. Patty grew up in Kingfield, ME, where her family operated Deer Farm Camps, which included 30 miles of ski touring trails, a ski touring center, and sporting camps. In 1999, Patty started with the Maine Forest Service and moved to Augusta. It wasn’t until she moved to Farmington in 2007 that she became an active firefighter. At that time, she joined Farmington Fire-Rescue for Chief (Terry) Bell. Today, Patty says she and John still live in Farmington, where they have a winery and home brew supply store! Let’s raise a stein to Patty!
Steve Moore graduated with a degree in business administration, later earned an MBA at the University of Southern Maine, and is now in his 15th year at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC! Steve says remote work is pretty common now and he has been a full-time remote worker for the last 12 years, including eight years in France. He said he has also done some work for the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, building databases and web/mobile applications for country-level data collection. Steve is now in Tampa, FL, and follows Maine news on Twitter and the Lewiston Sun Journal — what’s that saying about how you can take the boy out of Maine — but you can’t — ! Thanks, Steve, for catching us up!
Tom Roth graduated with his bachelor of science degree in wildlife management and also the Class of 2000 MA from the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School of Public Policy and Management. Tom announced that his first book was published. A Sporting Year in Maine covers the calendar year in the life of an average outdoors person. There’s lots of discussion about how his college years and trips into the outdoors with friends and roommates helped shaped the person he has become. Tom is a 25-year columnist for the Maine Sportsman Magazine and has published thousands of articles in national publications. This is Tom’s first book venture. Congratulations, Tom, — I knew I recognized your name from Maine Sportsman Magazine. Thank you for making the Class of 1988 proud of your accomplishments!
The Alternative Organizational Structure (AOS) 98 school board selected Robert Kahler to be the new superintendent. Most recently, Robert was the Lisbon Community School principal. He has been in the school district since 2014 with previous experiences including principal of the Livermore Falls Elementary School and Tripp Middle School and six years as assistant principal and co-curricular director at Lisbon Elementary School. Robert began his new role in July 2021 and reports he is thrilled to dig in and get to know the communities that are part of the AOS 98 community. Congratulations, Robert!
Here’s an update from an old friend of mine from campus, Scott Hunnewell. Scott earned his BS in mechanical engineering and has been recently promoted to the role of vice president – nuclear engineering for the Tennessee Valley Authority supporting TVA’s three nuclear power plants: Browns Ferry, Sequoyah, and Watts Bar. Scott started his career working at the Savannah River Sites K Reactor, a heavy water nuclear plant, where he was a senior reactor operator and a shift technical advisor. He joined Sequoyah nuclear plant team in 1992 as a mechanical design engineer and subsequently pursued a career in construction. Scott returned to Sequoyah in 2009, where he served as the nuclear steam supply manager, the senior manager of systems engineering, and the senior manager of design engineering before moving to the Browns Ferry Plant. Scott credits his days at UMaine, Ben Chapman, and his participation in the Mini Baja Car project for preparing him for his career in nuclear power.
Who has already heard this cool news from the headline of the Bangor Daily News “Former UMaine and major league standout is making a new baseball TV Show”!? The article, dated April 14, 2021, highlights the news that Mike Bordick, a former Winterport resident and UMaine Sports Hall of Fame shortstop who spent 14 seasons in the major leagues, is developing a TV show that focuses on baseball. The Hampden Academy graduate also hopes to sell the concept to a network. Mike reflects in the article, “I worked with so many incredibly creative people at MASN and this is something we talked about for a long time — we want to promote the game!”
The pilot includes an interview with National Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher and MASN color commentator Jim Palmer. Mike also spoke with parents of a recreational league baseball team who discussed how important it is for their children to have a chance to play after COVID-19 has disrupted sports. In his personal segment, “Rocks to Pearls,” Mike talks about his path to the major leagues and he offers tips on baseball videos sent in by viewers. Mike says the key is that youngsters have the opportunity to get out and play! Wishing you all the success possible in this endeavor, Mike — Go Blue!
I would love to hear from more of our proud Class of 1988 people. If you haven’t updated us in years, feel free to reach out to me via email or cell — be well and support UMaine!