BANGOR – The spouses and children of Maine’s citizen soldiers will be special guests at a University of Maine men’s hockey game next weekend, thanks to an emerging statewide grass-roots effort called Operation Community Support.

And, as part of the program’s first major event, they’ll take in the Maine Black Bears game from the comfort of some of the Alfond Arena’s skyboxes where they’ll be joined by Gov. John Baldacci, according to chief organizer Thomas “Skip” Chappelle, a local businessman and sports legend.

The boxes donated for the premiere event, dubbed Operation Skybox, will be decorated with yellow ribbon to recognize participants of Operation Community Support, referred to informally as “Battle Buddies.”

Several corporations have offered the use of their luxury boxes in honor of the occasion, including Unicel, Webber Energy Fuels and Fleet Bank, Chappelle said, adding he hoped other box holders will follow suit.

Chappelle is perhaps best known for his accomplishments in the world of sports. He was a basketball star at Old Town High School, Maine Central Institute and the University of Maine, where he set the all-time win record as basketball coach from 1971 to 1988. These accomplishments and others got him inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.

He also was instrumental in bringing members of the New England Patriots to Bangor in 2002 as part of their post-Super Bowl victory tour.

What relatively few people know is that Chappelle is a former member of the Maine Air National Guard, a “Maineiac” himself. From November 1963 through November 1969, Chappelle served as a medical technician with the Maine Air Guard’s 101st Air Refueling Wing.

Chappelle said Friday he was sparked into action after reading remarks made by recently retired Maj. Gen. Joseph Tinkham during a wreath-lighting ceremony at Camp Keyes in Augusta, home base of the Maine National Guard.

During that event, Tinkham asked the audience of about 200 people to remember the children of the men and women serving in the Middle East and Afghanistan and in support capacities elsewhere.

“It’s very difficult to look these children in the eye with their parents away,” Tinkham said. “Take a moment to say hello to them, to cheer them up.”

Maine now ranks third in the nation for biggest percentage of Guard and Reserve personnel deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to published reports. Roughly 60 percent of the state’s citizen soldiers are away from home.

Some, like members of the Maine Air Guard, have been deployed since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Others, like the state’s Army National Guard units, were deployed a year ago. The deployments could go on as far into the future as June 2005.

For the families of National Guard and Reserve soldiers who’ve put their home lives on hold while serving their country in the Middle East and other global hot spots, chances to get together to see shows, games and similar events can be few and far between.

Operation Community Support aims to change that. The idea is to enhance military family assistance programs with existing community resources, Chappelle said.

For instance, he said, area businesses and institutions could coordinate sponsorships for tickets to local, cultural and sports events, museums, camps and schools. The free tickets or tuition would serve to boost morale, allowing families of deployed troops no-cost or low-cost entertainment and recreation while providing the community an opportunity to recognize the families’ sacrifices.

Though some funds are needed to cover costs – Maine Wal-Mart and First Citizens Bank are among the businesses leading that effort – Chappelle is seeking other kinds of support, such as the City Council resolves the support group received from Brewer Mayor Michael Celli, who offered the first, followed by Old Town Mayor Alan Stormann. He hopes to obtain similar resolves from city and town councils and boards of selectmen from all over Maine.

Chaplain Andrew Gibson, coordinator of the state’s Guard and Reserve family-assistance programs at Caribou, Bangor, Augusta and Portland, said that to his knowledge, Operation Community Support is the only initiative of its type in the nation.

“I have not heard of a program that is similar to this one. Some states have emergency funds or morale funds [like those in Maine], but I don’t know of any other state that has a program where citizen soldiers’ families are getting opportunities to share in exciting and wonderful events like these,” he said Friday.

“I think that the outpouring [of support] is very gratifying,” Gibson said.

In turn, that helps the troops stay focused on their respective military missions, he said.

For information on how to participate in Operation Community Support, call Chappelle at 941-9549.