Five to be inducted into Legends Hall Hale, Bouchard, Tammaro among list

Caroline Gentile of Presque Isle, George Hale of Orrington, Tony Tammaro of Baileyville, Rachel Bouchard of Hallowell and Ron Cote of Biddeford will be inducted into the Maine Sports Legends Hall of Honors at the Husson College campus Sunday at 1 p.m.

Hale began a long broadcasting career while serving in the United States Navy during the Korean War. In the early 50’s he took a job with Bangor TV-radio station WABI and became known as the “voice” of the University of Maine Black Bears, broadcasting football, baseball and basketball games.

Tammaro, a basketball official for 60 years, worked over 5,000 high school and college games in New England and Canada. He refereed for 37 consecutive years in the Eastern Maine Tournament. He was inducted into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Maine State Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.

Born in Augusta, Bouchard was a trailblazer in basketball. The 1987 Hall-Dale High School graduate was an agile 6-1 center. The two-time NEWS All-Maine first-teamer, Gatorade All-American, and player of the year set 17 UMaine records and gave women’s hoops a prominent role at the school, sparking Maine to four conference and three tournament titles.

Cote, a 1968 St. Louis High School graduate, was a two-time all-state quarterback pick and led his St. Louis football team to a state crown. He won three varsity letters at the University of Maine and was quarterback of the varsity football team for three seasons. Ron returned to Biddeford in 1976 as a teacher and coached Biddeford’s baseball team to its first state title in 1984.

Professor Gentile is a nationally known educator in the field of Health, Physical Education and Recreation. She has been teaching physical education at the University of Maine at Presque Isle for 57 years.

The mission of Maine Sports Legends is to provide scholarships for outstanding Maine High School scholar-athletes. Four male and four female recipients from all four regions of the state will receive $500 scholarships. Two will receive an additional $500 as Harold and Bibby Alfond Scholarship recipients.

Reserved seat tickets are $35 and may be ordered by contacting Maine Sports Legends, c/o Paul McClay, P.O. Box 288, Augusta, Maine 04332-0288; by calling 207 622 1539 or by e-mail to PaulMcClay@msn.com.