Happy summer!
In mid-May, I walked into the Cape Elizabeth town hall and who did I see? It was Mike McGovern. He retired several years ago after a long career as the town manager and has been asked to do the job again on a temporary basis after the departure of his successor to Cumberland. Somehow, all seemed right in the world to see Mike back in his former office.
Perhaps there is a trend here, as former Bar Harbor Town Manager Cornell Knight has returned to his former role on an interim basis while the town searches for a new manager.
A strong connection to their Swedish heritage runs through both Brenda Nasberg Jepson and her husband, Alan Jepson ’76. Before they met, Brenda lived in London, working as an editor and photographer for a British newspaper. Curious about her family history and living fairly close to Sweden, she ultimately found she had distant cousins in a small community near the Arctic Circle. Finding these relatives became the subject of her first documentary, “The Copper Kettle,” the title of which came from a real copper kettle made by the brother of Brenda’s great-grandfather and gifted to her upon her departure. Ultimately, Brenda returned to the U.S. and met her future husband while hosting a screening of the film at the Lutheran church in New Sweden. After their marriage, they moved to Madawaska Lake Township and formed the Crown of Maine Productions, producing more than 20 history and culture documentaries for Maine Public Television.
In 2022, Alan was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and he and Brenda found a potential treatment center in Finland. While there, they once again visited the Nasberg relatives in Sweden and decided it was time for a follow-up film, “Swedish Adventure,” which will air this year on Maine PBS. After the visit, they found the homestead of Alan’s great-grandfather, Mons Jepson, who immigrated to Aroostook County in 1871 as part of the U.S.’s plan to populate the land north of Caribou. They found the abandoned house and land where Mons farmed potatoes, an emotional experience for Alan.
Former Republican Party Chairperson Demi Kouzounas announced her candidacy for the Senate seat currently held by Angus King. She realizes she is a longshot as Sen. King has registered as the nation’s fifth most popular senator. However, she was encouraged to run by Sen. Susan Collins. Demi has been active in Maine’s Republican party for many years and was instrumental in getting Donald Trump’s name on the Maine ballot late last year.
Classmate Charles “Chuck” Hulsey gave a talk at the University of Maine at Farmington on the topic of wildlife tracking. The event was sponsored by the Western Maine Audubon Chapter. It was videotaped and posted on their website: western.maineaudubon.org. Chuck will share tracking and species ID tips and techniques for lynx, bobcat, pine marten, and fisher cats. Chuck has a B.A. in wildlife management and forest management and has worked for the Maine Forest Service and the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife as the regional wildlife biologist in western Maine.
Bob Steneck G, professor emeritus of oceanography, marine biology, and marine policy, who has been an important researcher in the reshaping of marine science in the state of Maine, has retired. When he started his job as a marine ecologist, few of his peers interacted directly with fishermen, and he was among the first to work directly with lobstermen on their boats, diving to the seafloor to study lobsters. While the general consensus was that the lobster population was in decline, Bob was able to prove that the population was actually expanding. Several years ago, he and his colleagues published a warning that lobsters’ current abundance and high value may be creating a false sense of security while masking the risks of reliance upon a single species to maintain Maine’s maritime heritage. While still engaged in marine science by conducting microscopy research at the Darling Marine Center and writing a textbook on coral reefs, he is looking forward to having more time to enjoy his hobbies of photography and woodworking.
Meredith Strang Burgess, president and CEO of Burgess Advertising and Marketing and a founder of the Maine Cancer Foundation’s Tri for a Cure fundraiser, recently relocated her seven-member team to West Commercial Street in Portland. In a recent interview for MaineBiz, Meredith was asked how a person who majored in natural resource management with a minor in soil sciences got into advertising. Her response was that all her extracurricular activities while at UMaine had something to do with communication, public relations, and promotion. She continued to take science classes with some political science thrown in, never realizing that one could actually major in communication. In today’s crowded digital world, Meredith emphasizes storytelling because people remember their emotional response to a story. She also talked about her company’s use of “geofencing,” which allowed for digital communication within a certain geographic area. Her company used geofencing for the Maine Department of Transportation during the closure of I-295 in Portland for 60 hours while a new bridge was installed.