A spring storm canceled the event at which they were to be officially recognized, so the women who grace the 2002 Celebrating Women of Aroostook calendar will be honored during the official kickoff of calendar sales on Saturday, Sept. 8, at Northern Maine Technical College in Presque Isle.

“The calendar will be hot off the press that day,” said Marie Wilcox of Maine Centers for Women, Work and Community, sponsor of the calendar.

Calendar sale proceeds help support services for women who live in The County. This year’s honorees include Vicki Brown of Presque Isle, who was nominated by her son, Travis, in recognition of her devotion to family, community and career.

A teacher at the Loring Job Corps Center and past president of the Presque Isle Chamber of Commerce, Brown inspires not only her family, but also those with whom she works.

Trained as a nurse, Corris Coffin of Presque Isle taught at New England Deaconess School of Nursing. She continues to nurture those beginning their lives by rocking babies at a day care center, and nurtures those at the end of their lives as a hospice volunteer.

Last year, Coffin gave more than 400 hours to the Retired Senior Volunteer program. Among other activities, she helps out at the Presque Isle animal shelter and serves her church in a variety of ways.

Lorraine Cox of Caribou helped organize the Special Olympics program in Aroostook County and wrote the first special education curriculum for 10- to 12-year-olds in Caribou.

Recognized statewide for innovative methods and high standards in teaching exceptional children, Cox is fondly known in The County as “Mrs. Santa Claus.” A devoted church member and dedicated Scout leader, she helped shape the bilingual programs in Aroostook County.

As the second of 13 children, Louise Espling of Woodland learned early in life to put others first, something she continues to do today.

For more than 20 years she has volunteered at the Good Samaritan Thrift Shop and, at age 77, fills her days with activities that benefit her family, her church and her community. Musician, educator, minister are just a few of the careers that describe the Rev. Dale Holden, pastor of Houlton Congregational Church.

A pianist, she has accompanied several community and school groups and still manages to lead a weekly sing-along at Madigan Estates.

A lifelong Fort Fairfield resident, Betty Kent-Conant heads the nursing department at NMTC and is a member of the Maine State Board of Nursing.

Kent-Conant is a member of the board of directors of several nonprofit organizations, including the Aroostook Health Center in Mars Hill.

With nearly 50 years invested in the lives of the citizens of Fort Kent, retired educator Venette King is known to all as “Mrs. King.” King was the 2000 Maine Retired Teachers Association Volunteer of the Year; the 1996 Outstanding Alumna of the University of Maine, Fort Kent; and 1996 Fort Kent Business & Professional Women’s Club Woman of the Year. She is a member of the local hospital guild, the VFW Auxiliary, church groups and Delta Kappa Gamma, among other organizations.

Ruth Lane of Sherman Station obviously cares deeply about the young people of her community.

Serving 12 years on the SAD 25 board and eight years on the board of directors of the Southern Aroostook Vocational Center, she helped “Operation Bootstrap” provide day care for young mothers completing their high school education.

Whether writing a grant for the Katahdin Valley Health Clinic, serving as vice chairwoman for the Rural Health Centers of Maine, working with the Southern Aroostook Development Corp. or the Upper Valley Economic Council, Lane still volunteered with the local ambulance service.

From a one-room schoolhouse to the schoolrooms of Danforth, Blanche MacKay used donations made in memory of her late husband, Bruce, as seed money to build a playground for community.

Despite a triple bypass operation and the wishes of those caring for her that she take it easy, MacKay made sure the children of Danforth have a baseball-softball field, a Little League field and a nature trail for walkers in addition to the playground. For her efforts on behalf of those children, the Maine Principals Association honored MacKay with its 2000 Service to Maine Youth Award.

Limestone resident Mattie McCormack is devoted to her family, her church, Scouting and Little League as well as Meals on Wheels.

Named that community’s Citizen of the Year in 1976 and the Beta Sigma Phi Woman of the Year in 1977, McCormack is a member of the Limestone/Caswell Historical Society, and has received her 32-year service pin from the American Cancer Society.

Cleo Ouellette of Frenchville taught English and French in SAD 33 for 33 years. Now retired, she is a member of that school board. During her teaching career, she represented her district for the Maine Teachers Association. A state winner of an international French competition, she taught French at UMFK and, in 1997, presented lectures for the Maine Humanities Council on the Franco-American experience.

She is active in her church and, as president of the Frenchville Historical Society, helped it obtain a grant to catalog and preserve artifacts.

Patricia Sutherland of Chapman taught English in Caribou and Presque, and was the first woman to chair the SAD 1 school board.

As director of development and college relations at NMTC, she has been instrumental in obtaining grants and has helped raise funds for its foundation, which now has an endowment of more than $200,000.

Secretary of Leaders Encouraging Aroostook Development, Sutherland served the board of the United Way of Aroostook and was the first woman to chair the Northern Maine Development Commission.

A 1996 recipient of the “Spirit of Aroostook Award,” Sutherland is a member of the Presque Isle Kiwanis Club and president of the Presque Isle Branch of the Association of University Women.

If you want a 2002 Celebrating Women of Aroostook calendar, or want to nominate someone for the 2003 calendar, call Wilcox at 764-0050.

Joni Averill, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402;

990-8288.