First All-Maine 5 lived up to their early success

To a man, they stepped back in time not missing a beat.

The date: March 31, 1956. The Bangor Daily News headline: “Here’s Your Dream Team! Drinon, Bishop, Davenport, Marchetti, Scott All-Maine.”

The were the first. Ed Marchetti of Morse, “Name Something He Can’t Do.” Paul Davenport of Houlton, “He Can Do Everything.” Pete Scott of Cape Elizabeth, “Class M Player, But Grade A.” Danny Drinon of Bangor, “One of Maine’s Greatest.” Dick Bishop of Morse, “Brilliant in Every Phase.”

“Maine’s Bob Cousy,” Drinon had 51 of 53 votes; Marchetti 46. Playing in large, medium or small classes, much was made of Scott being “Class M.”

Where are they now? Proving nothing succeeds like success.

Drinon and wife, Judith, reside in Holden, Mass. They have five children and two grandchildren. After junior college, Drinon had a scholarship to the University of San Francisco. He made the final cut of Bill Sharman’s ABA Los Angeles Jets and tried out for the San Francisco Saints before moving to Massachusetts.

With Miles Diagnostics for 30 years dealing in laboratory, medical and hospital equipment, he is a diagnostics systems specialist.

“It was a real honor, back then, to be picked,” he said. “Those were great times and, hopefully, it still is. People really turned out.” The Drinon children preferred hockey, but he played his game for some time and coached a bit. He is now a golfer.

Marchetti was All-Maine at Colby before boarding the Navy’s Bath-built destroyer USS Forrest Sherman for Europe and Africa. He settled in the Boston area 25 years ago and owns Office Environment of New England, selling and distributing office furniture.

He and his wife, Pat, sent basketball stars Michael, ’86, and Kelly, ’89, to Colby. They have one granddaughter.

Marchetti fondly recalls the ’56 New Englands in Boston Garden. He and Bishop were All-New England. “It was very special. Getting on the train, seeing the big city, did mean something. And it has meant a lot as the years went by. We were lucky to have a person like Gene Hunter as our coach.”

He likes to hire former athletes. “People who have competed and been part of a team understand what it is is to be disciplined; what it is to get out and work hard; to stick with it.”

Ironically, just after I spoke with Scott, he was notified of the death of high school coach Bill Bonville, “one of the most influential guys in my life.” Bonville steered the Bowdoin co-captain toward business where he saw better opportunity for him.

The Waban resident owns three Boston-based security identification businesses: Security Photo, Corp., Identifiers, and Comprehensive Identification Products, a Chinese manufacturing company. Identifiers won the contract to re-badge World Trade Center employees following the recent bombing. His products are used by airports, businesses and institutions.

Married with two adopted children, sports “was my life,” he said. An active Bowdoin fundraiser, Scott is “probably an overachiever” due to time spent in athletics learning “to over-compensate for a lack of confidence.”

One of seven children abandoned by their parents, Bishop grew up in the Military and Naval Children’s Home in Bath. Coach Hunter was the major influence in his life. He taught Bishop “if you lose track of yourself, you don’t like yourself, or don’t enjoy your own company, you have a super problem.” He learned “never to look back and wish things might have been different.”

From Morse to MCI and on full scholarhip to Rollins College in Florida, he became a Hall of Famer. He and Sandy settled in Iowa and then Minnesota were he rose to vice president of a large banking firm. He owns a banking insurance consulting business run by son, Bill. Tennis and golf now replace racquetball and handball tournaments. Daughter Carla had a basketball scholarship to Arizona State and was all-state as were brothers Bill and Byron.

The Bishops now work real estate and reside in Bonita Springs, Fla.

Davenport returned to St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia in ’92 from his home in Lingen, Germany, and was inducted into its Hall of Fame. He averaged 20.4 points for Nova Scotia and Maritime championship teams. After St. Paul’s Seminary in Ottawa, he taught junior college and studied abroad where he met his future wife, Ursula. With a doctorate in theology, he came to the states in ’72 but went to Germany in ’75 where he taught English and religion. The couple’s three sons are all-province soccer stars.

Honors such as being All-Maine “are engraved in my memory,” he said in a phone interview. “I remember the tournament, the game against Old Town when I scored 32 points,” and then just 17 in a loss to Stearns. But he got 17 rebounds against Marchetti in the consolation game.

Davenport believes, “there is a strong connection between sports and good health.”