The County’s special envoy to the Alfond Arena

When the public address announcer at the Alfond Arena wished Arnie Davis of Washburn a happy 80th birthday during a lull in a hockey game between the University of Maine and arch-rival Boston University a week ago, it was well-deserved recognition for decades of unwavering loyalty to University of Maine athletics.

On that particular night, Davis was on his third 320-mile round trip of the week to take in four of the five basketball and hockey games scheduled at the Alfond. An ordeal for most men half his age, it was merely par for the course for Aroostook County’s unofficial ambassador to Orono, who has racked up major mileage over the years in pursuit of his passion.

Why does he do it? “I love the skill of the players in Division I athletics. You have to be pretty good to play at this level, and these kids are a pleasure to watch,” Davis explains. “I like it when they win, but when they don’t win I don’t get upset. It’s just great to be here…”

Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow – nor the erratic price of gasoline — will stay this dedicated warrior from his appointed rounds to see his beloved Black Bears, whatever the sport. From football in the fall, through hockey and men’s and women’s basketball in the winter and baseball in the spring, the coaches can be sure of one thing: If their teams play it, Arnie Davis will come. As well, you might catch him working as an official at the occasional high school track meet at the Beckett track complex. Davis, who ran track and cross country at the university in the late ’40s, is a former state collegiate champion in the two-mile run.

He’s the man who keeps the Alfond concession stands supplied with premium Aroostook County bakers, courtesy of the Maine Potato Board, with the stipulation that half the proceeds from their sale go to UMaine athletics. But most Maine fans know him as the congenial perpetual-motion public relations team of one who liberally dispenses pins promoting the potato industry, along with his famous calling card.

“Let me give you my card,” he’ll say to the rare person he has not previously met, thrusting into the hands of the nonplussed individual a business card that states “My Card” in bold blue type. Rare is the Alfond regular who doesn’t have one. So popular has the item become that, although Davis has had thousands printed, his supply seems always on the verge of depletion.

On a first-name basis with many of the Maine athletes and all of the coaches, Davis also makes a special effort to chat up the opposing players he encounters off the ice or playing field, as well as their fans. Most come away from the encounter with a smile, as well as the mandatory potato pin and calling card.

Black Bear baseball coach Paul Kostacopoulos was watching a Maine football game several years ago when he first met Davis. “This guy comes up to me, welcomes me to Maine, gives me his card and walks off,” Kosty recalled this week. Soon he was the recipient of a bag of potatoes, a welcoming gift Davis traditionally presents to all new coaches and university presidents. “Arnie is a truly special person who makes the University of Maine a special place to work,” says Kostacopoulos. “He has the gift of making people feel welcome, and he’s the kind of person the university is lucky to have…”

“Arnie Davis is just a joy to be around,” adds women’s basketball coach Sharon Versyp, who also carries “My Card” in her wallet. “He is a dedicated fan with an extreme love and passion for life” that others would do well to emulate, she said.

Davis belongs to every athletic boosters club on campus and holds two season tickets for each major sport except women’s basketball, for which he and his wife, Joyce, a registered nurse and a former University of Vermont basketball player, have four.

A Calais native and World War II navy veteran, Davis graduated from the University of Maine in 1949. He raised turkeys in Aroostook County before a career in the potato industry from which he retired to pursue in earnest his present gig as Mr. Super Black Bear Fan.

Such an institution has he become in that role, that, were the television cameras to catch him standing alongside President-elect George W. Bush at today’s inaugural ceremony (hey, you never know) I can picture one of the Alfond faithful turning to his chum and saying, “I recognize Arnie Davis. But who’s that grinning little dude he’s giving his calling card to?”

NEWS columnist Kent Ward lives in Winterport. His e-mail address is olddawg@bangordailynews.net.