Keri Sewell Seitz
Winter is in full force, and summer is just a dream. I hope your autumn was lovely and that you are reading this update in a cozy spot all your own.
We received a little update on our classmate James A. Robbins II of Searsmont, ME. James was recently elected to the board of Farm Credit East, a farmer-owned cooperative lender. The cooperative serves not only Connecticut, but also Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island and is part of the nationwide Farm Credit System. James is president of Robbins Lumber, a fully integrated sawmill that manages 27,000 acres of timberland. Robbins Lumber is a fifth-generation sawmill that produces Eastern White Pine lumber. James also keeps busy as manager of Georges River Energy LLC, a biomass power plant that burns wood waste, and is a director of Robbins Distribution LLC. He previously served as past president of the Maine Wood Products Association and was a member of the Northeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association.
Bangor High School has a new soccer coach, Andrew Varisco. Andrew spent 10 years coaching at the club level and is an ed tech in the special education department. He also ran the summer program for the Bangor Rams and noted, “I’m very passionate about the game, and I love working with kids and watching them grow as players and as people.” Andrew’s daughter, Bella, was a standout four-year player for the Rams and played at Castleton University in Vermont last fall. He and his wife, Christine, also have a son, Noah, who is a freshman at Bangor High School and also plays soccer.
Lastly, I have news on Lt. Col. Brian Risley, Air Force KC-135 pilot at the 101st Air Refueling Wing out of the Bangor Air National Guard Base. In recognition of his accomplishments overseas, Brian was awarded the Air Force Achievement Medal along with the Air Medal. The first was for leadership as a Detachment Commander of 41 personnel assigned to the KC-135 flying unit at Kandahar Air Base in Afghanistan, where he supervised 350 missions over 2,000 flying hours. The second was for sustained aerial flight as a KC-135 R/T Aircraft Commander at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, where he participated in 20 combat air refueling missions totaling 145 hours of flight. Thank you for your service, Brian.
That’s all I’ve got for now. Enjoy the bright winter days and the crisp, cool air!