Mainers picked for New England Hall of Fame

Some of the top players, coaches and officials in Maine basketball history are members of the fourth class of inductees to the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.

That class will be honored during a ceremony on Oct. 6, 2006, at the University of Rhode Island.

Selected as high school players from the Pine Tree State are Jon MacDonald of Stearns of Millinocket and Don Crosby and Julie Veilleux of Cony of Augusta.

High school coaches selected were Frederick “Red” Barry of Bangor, Wally Donovan of Waterville, Packy McFarland of Gorham and Scarborough, and Dick Barstow of Katahdin of Stacyville.

Selected for distinguished achievement as a player at both the high school and college level was Paul Bessey of Orono, a former standout at Buckfield High School and the University of Maine.

College coaches selected for the Class of 2006 are Bruce MacGregor of Husson and Jim Beaudry of the University of New England.

College players to be inducted include Kay Cross and Harland Storey, both of Colby College in Waterville, Jim Marois of Bates College in Lewiston and Julie Plant of the University of Southern Maine in Gorham.

Tracie Martin, a college and high school referee based in Eastern Maine, is one of four officials from throughout New England to be inducted.

Selected to receive the Pathfinder Award that honors New Englanders who have left the region and achieved extraordinary success in basketball is former Bangor resident Thaxter Trafton.

A former basketball standout at Morse High School in Bath and also at Husson College in Bangor, Trafton became the city’s director of parks and recreation and also served as executive director of the Bangor State Fair.

The Danforth native left Bangor in 1980 and on to make a bigger mark on the arena business when he accepted a position as executive director for the Arizona State Fair and Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum. In 1985, he assumed the post of director of operations for the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers and also became general manager of the Richfield Coliseum in Ohio until 1988.