29 from Maine in torch run today

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Theodore Pietz has always followed in his older sister Kimberly’s footsteps.

Today, he’ll be running with her, stride for stride, as the Olympic Torch Relay winds through Maine and New Hampshire.

Theodore and Kimberly Pietz are among 11,500 people selected by Coca-Cola, Chevrolet, and the Salt Lake Organizing Committee to carry the torch. Twenty-nine Mainers were among those selected.

The 13,500-mile relay began in Atlanta and will progress through 46 states before arriving in Salt Lake City for the opening ceremonies in February.

Theodore Pietz, a 20-year-old University of Maine junior and a graduate of Sumner Memorial High School in East Sullivan, developed a hearing impediment around age 2. He credits his sister with helping him overcome this limitation.

“She was always there for me. I followed her around. That’s how I learned about the world,” Theodore Pietz said.

Chevrolet solicited nominations for torchbearers on a Web site and with printed forms in car dealerships. More than 200,000 people were nominated. The criteria for selection were community service, embodying the Olympic spirit through sport and friendship, and motivating others by overcoming adversity.

Theodore Pietz nominated his sister for the honor. When Kimberly Pietz heard about what her brother had done, she also nominated him.

“My brother’s story is only one of success,” Kimberly Pietz said.

Theodore Pietz ran cross country and track at Sumner and was a member of the UMaine cross country and track teams as a first-year student. When he was sidelined with plantar fasciitis as a sophomore, he decided to pursue other extracurricular activities.

Along with three other students, he revived the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and pioneered its “Sound Mind/Sound Body” program, which stresses good health and academic achievement.

Theodore Pietz said the fraternity now has 40 members and its members have a 3.2 grade point average. Pietz, a computer science major, is also the council president of the UMaine fraternities. His duties include coordinating the activities of all 13 fraternities on campus.

Kimberly Pietz graduated from Sumner and UMaine and has been living in New York City since Sept. 28. The 22-year-old moved to New York to pursue a career as a freelance actress, model, and broadcast journalist.

Kimberly Pietz was a cheerleader at UMaine and Sumner. She attended the Maine School of Science and Mathematics in Limestone for one year before returning to Sumner in order to focus on the arts.

At Sumner, Pietz participated in drama and developed a love for theatre. At UMaine, she wrote an undergraduate honors thesis on promoting the arts in public schools. Her studies inspired her to invest $500 of her own money to create the Center Stage Charity Foundation for Sumner High School. That money will be held in trust and will be used when Sumner decides to build a new stage.

The Pietzes will run the torch for one-fifth of a mile through Portsmouth, N.H. Theodore Pietz said the honor makes him feel a bond with his sister and his country.

“Carrying the torch, you’ll feel as if you have a connection to all 11,500 people. The New York firefighters and the mayor of New York have carried the torch. … That flame means that no matter what, we’ll always have that spirit in our country,” Theodore Pietz said.

Several other local citizens will carry the torch through Maine and New Hampshire today.

Nancy Patterson

Nancy Patterson, a teacher for sixth- through 12th-graders in the gifted and talented program at Ellsworth, will carry the torch through Kittery.

Patterson was nominated by a friend, Bob Wilkins.

The Long Island, N.Y., native is dedicating her run to the late Phil Dunn, a swim counselor at a camp in East Hampton, Long Island, that she attended as a child.

“He taught me that everybody has something special to give. He brought that out of me and taught me how to do more than I ever thought I could do,” she said.

Patterson has been a volunteer with Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Maine Coast Memorial Hospital, the Grand Theatre, the Emmaus Center (a homeless center), a chairman of the board of the Ellsworth YMCA, and a middle school cross country coach.

Peter Smith

Peter Smith of Rockland, a 46-year-old building contractor and a longtime youth sports coach, will carry the torch through Concord, N.H.

Smith’s oldest daughter, Jennifer, a junior at Rockland High, nominated her father.

Smith began coaching 15 years ago at the request of the local recreational director. He has coached youth soccer, softball, and basketball and assisted with high school track and middle school soccer.

He is also active with Pilgrim Youth Fellowship at the Rockland Congregational Church, the SAD 5 school board, and the Rockland High Boosters Club.

Smith participated in football, basketball, and track when he was a student at Rockland High. A native of Germany, he moved to Rockland at age 6 when his mother married an American serviceman from Rockland.

Smith said he has enjoyed his work as a coach.

“I enjoy watching kids grow as athletes and people. I’ve seen several do amazing things by their mindsets, because they started believing in themselves,” Smith said.

Christine Simmons

Christine Simmons, a 17-year-old junior at Rockland High, will carry the torch through Manchester, N.H.

Simmons is active with the local Key Club, Aldersgate Methodist Church, the math team, and the Creative Writing Club. As an eighth-grader, she earned a State Citizenship Award from the Legislature for organizing a petition drive to keep Rockland District Middle School from changing its name.

She is also a member of an Interactive Theatre group that performs educational skits about issues such as teen pregnancy and drug abuse.

Simmons, who hopes to be an English teacher, said she has been inspired by her mother, Diane Thompson, and her English teacher, Raymond Kelly, who has Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

“He’s just a fighter and an incredibly brilliant man. He’s taught me a lot about life, English, and how to survive,” Simmons said.

Ronald Webber

Ronald Webber of Waterville, a former history teacher at Waterville Junior High and coach for the Waterville High soccer and ski teams, will carry the torch through Concord, N.H.

The 64-year-old Webber was nominated by members of the faculty at Waterville Junior High.

He said he is “retired,” but he still assists with varsity soccer and conducts an extracurricular “create your own country” program.

Webber taught for more than 30 years, including 29 in his native Waterville. His teams won a state soccer championship in 1983 and a state ski championship in 1973.

He also served on the board of directors for the YMCA for 12 years and has conducted 17 “heritage tours,” in which he organizes a trip for students and adults through historic sites such as Plymouth Plantation, New York City, Philadelphia, and Gettysburg.

Waterville’s soccer field, Webber Field, was named in his honor.

Other Mainers who will be carrying the torch include: Brandon Bailes of Bowdoinham, Betsy Brown of South China, Mary Kathleen Cahill of Bangor, Eric Cedergren of Eliot, Patricia Chasse of Wells, Ruth Clark of Durham, Meredith Damone of Freeport, Kim Flanagin of Raymond, Jane Gagnier of Raymond, Dyan Gardner of South Portland, James Hartman of Portland, Adrien Jean of Portland, MaryAnn Lessard of Portland, Gale Loveitt of Sidney, Daren Mallory of Gorham, Dan McKeown of Scarborough, Anne Mead of Kennebunk, Kathleen Neal of Enfield, Butch Phillips of Milford, George Ritz of Bradford, Jackaline Rutter of Biddeford, and Sarah Swan of Waterville.