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Memorial run, walk

DIXMONT – The second annual Gary S. Crocker Memorial 5K Run and Walk is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 14, and will benefit the Dixmont Scholarship Association.

The race, which began in 2007 during the Dixmont Bicentennial, is held in honor of Gary S. Crocker, a community member and supporter of local agriculture and farming, who passed away last summer.

Registration begins at 8 a.m. and race time is 9 a.m. on Cottrell Road in Dixmont. The 5K event will issue prizes to the top three places in the men’s and women’s divisions. The cost to participate is $10, $5 youths. Each registrant will receive a commemorative T-shirt.

The association and race committee are seeking sponsors for the race T-shirts. Gold ($100), silver ($50) and bronze ($20) categories are available. Sponsors will have their business logos featured on the back of the shirts.

The Dixmont Scholarship Association awards scholarships annually to Dixmont high school seniors.

To go to the registration table and start of the race, enter Cottrell Road from Route 143, Simpson Corner Road, about 11/2 miles north of the intersection of Routes 9 and 143. Follow Cottrell Road down to the bend where the registration table and start of the race will be located. The race will be held rain or shine.

To obtain more information or to become a race sponsor, call Don Pendleton, head of the race committee, at 234-2243 or e-mail swancreek@uninets.net.

Grant to Good Samaritan

BANGOR – The Good Samaritan Agency has been awarded a $9,000 grant from the TJX Foundation to support the Teen Parent Education program.

The program is an individualized, alternative education program in which pregnant and parenting teenagers can earn a high school diploma. Students take traditional high school courses, as well as classes that emphasize parenting skills and other practical life skills that help them to become more self-sufficient.

Students come to the program from throughout the Bangor area. Curriculum oversight is provided by the Bangor Adult Education Program. The program depends on tuition from sending schools and the Bangor School Department as well as funding through United Way grants.

In the past five years, 50 percent of the program’s graduates have gone on to further education, either to a four-year college, junior college or technical school, or have become employed.

The agency also operates a child care center which is licensed by the state to serve up to 49 children age 6 weeks to 5 years.

Priority for child care is given to students in the Teen Parent Program, then to former students and low-income families. But day care also is available for the general public.

Other services to children and their families include adoption, counseling and advocacy to secure needed housing, transportation and medical resources.

The agency will provide home-based services when necessary and all services to single parents are free. For more information, call 942-7211.

Hampden Academy

HAMPDEN – According to the Link-22 newsletter produced by SAD 22, the Hampden Academy Class of 2008 included 11 Eagle Scouts among its graduates: Jason Edwards, Madison Albert, Chris Parent, Zeb Reynolds, Ben Rogers, Mike Scott, Ben Weston, Jon Stover, Harry Slininger, Matt Alexander and Troy Gaudet.

Some of the projects the Scouts completed to fulfill Eagle Scout requirements were:

. Renovating a garage at the Church of the Open Door in Hampden.

. Preparing and installing book blockers for shelves at the Edythe Dyer Library in Hampden.

. Cleaning the Twining Road Cemetery in Winterport.

. Designing and installing a walkway at Hope Lutheran Church in Bangor.

. Designing and building folding picnic tables for Edythe Dyer Library, and doing landscaping and making improvements to drainage.

Wagner Middle School

WINTERPORT – According to Link-22, the SAD 22 newsletter, several Wagner Middle School students were honored at a banquet on June 3 for achieving a 3.75 grade-point average for the school year:

Grade six: Casey Black, Sarah Burby, Justin Cottle, Tiffani Donlin, Amanda Gallacher, Rachel Gower, Erin Jeter, Joshua, Kiesman, Abraham Lebel, Erica Meehan, William Nealley, Thomas Olver, Sarah Palmer, Meghan Saunders, Kathryn Seekins, Kierra Speed and Sarah Tatgenhorst.

Grade seven: Edward Albert, Marissa Arrigoni, Olivia Barberi, Daniel Meo, Ian Miller, Kylee Parker, Andrya Ryan and Dayna White.

Grade eight: Marc Albert, Danielle Bickford, Emily Copper, Dillon Corliss, Marina Dow, Marion Earley, Clarissa El-Hajj, Lauren Ginn, Adam Gould, Samuel Lebel, John Meehan, Logan Poirier, Arrianne Redmond, Hillary Seekins, Helene Sherburne and Helena Tatgenhorst.

Colleges

Associate provost, dean

ORONO – University of Maine President Robert Kennedy has selected Stuart Marrs, a UM music professor and music division chairman in the university’s School of Performing Arts, to become associate provost and dean for undergraduate education.

The appointment is subject to approval by the University of Maine System board of trustees at its Sept. 15 meeting.

Marrs is a renowned percussionist who has been a UM faculty member since 1985. His extensive academic background includes teaching, research and outreach throughout Maine, in several states, in Latin America and Europe.

“Stuart has great experience and a wealth of knowledge about the University of Maine,” says Susan Hunter, UM vice president for academic affairs and provost. “He is a student-centered professor who is highly regarded in our community, and I am delighted that he will take on this important new role.”

In the UM administrative structure, the associate provost and dean has broad responsibilities related to undergraduate education and oversees several offices in the enrollment management area.

“I am pleased and honored to be serving UMaine in this new capacity,” Marrs says. “Undergraduate education is more important than ever, and in this position I will strive to ensure we provide our students with the best educational opportunity.”

Hunter preceded Marrs in the associate provost role. She was promoted to vice president and provost in May, when Edna Szymanski left UM to take a university presidency in Minnesota.

Colorado College

Area students who graduated recently from Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colo.:

. Christopher Woodcock, who received a bachelor’s degree in history. He is the son of Beverly and John Woodcock of Hampden.

. Katherine Dawson, who received a bachelor’s degree in English. She is the daughter of Nancy and Jon Dawson of Bangor.

Duke University

BANGOR – Andrew George graduated from Duke University in Durham, N.C., on May 11.

He received a bachelor’s degree in biological anthropology and anatomy with a minor in Spanish and a certificate in Latin American and Caribbean studies. He was one of four students from Maine to graduate with the Class of 2008.

While at Duke, he was a member of the Duke Student Government for three years, serving on the finance committee for all three years. He also was a member of the Black Student Alliance, serving as treasurer for two years.

Andrew is the son of Roger and Shirley George of Bangor.

Massachusetts College of Art and Design

ORRINGTON – Lauren Garside of Orrington was awarded a bachelor’s degree in graphic design on May 23 from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston.

Saint Joseph’s College

STANDISH – Saint Joseph’s College has named area students to its spring dean’s list for achieving a semester grade-point average of 3.5 or better.

Bangor: Anmarie Reed, Benjamin White.

Hampden: Amy Levesque.

Old Town: Scott LaFlamme.

Winterport: Patrick Moran.

University of Delaware

BANGOR – Karen Pelletreau of Bangor received a doctorate in marine studies during commencement ceremonies on May 31 at the University of Delaware in Newark, Del.

University of Maine

ORONO – The University of Maine will conduct a full-scale test of its emergency warning siren system at 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 22.

As part of its comprehensive emergency communications system, UM installed a siren on the roof of the Class of 1944 Hall last summer. To assure full campus coverage, additional sirens have been added at Androscoggin Hall and York Hall.

Friday’s test will serve two purposes. It will verify that all the mechanisms are in proper working order, and it will allow for an assessment of the system’s coverage area.

The test will begin at 5 p.m. with five minutes at partial volume and then three minutes at full volume.

It is likely that the sound will be audible in parts of Orono and Old Town.

In UMaine’s emergency communications system, the siren serves as a signal that there is a serious issue and those who are on campus should seek information.

In an emergency, information will be posted on UMaine’s Web site and its on-campus e-mail and conferencing system. In addition, a recorded message at 581-INFO will provide details about the emergency. UMaine students, faculty and staff members also may register with UMaine.txt at www.umaine.edu/umainetxt, a system that provides emergency text messages to user cell phones.

University of Massachusetts

HAMPDEN – Sara Stephens of Hampden was named to the dean’s list for the spring semester at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. To earn the honor, she maintained a grade- point average of at least 3.5.

UM fundraising leadership

ORONO – As the University of Maine begins the second half of its six-year, $150 million private fundraising campaign, the vice president who has led the effort to this point has decided to step down from that job.

Barbara Beers, who has served as UMaine’s vice president for development, informed UM President Robert Kennedy of her intentions last month. Kennedy said he agreed to Beers’ request to leave the vice presidency “with great reluctance.”

Known as Campaign Maine, the current fundraising initiative is the most ambitious in UM history. During July, the campaign reached the $90 million mark.

“Barbara has done a wonderful job, and her efforts as vice president will have a lasting impact on UMaine,” Kennedy says. “She has built a strong fundraising infrastructure in our development office, and she has led our staff through some significant challenges as we have worked to develop the outstanding team that Barbara has put in place.”

Kennedy has recommended Eric Rolfson, UM associate vice president for development, to take over as vice president through the rest of Campaign Maine. Rolfson’s appointment is subject to approval by the University of Maine System board of trustees on Sept. 15.

“Eric is an accomplished, experienced fundraiser whose leadership has been critical to the success of Campaign Maine to this point,” Kennedy says. “I am confident that the transition will be seamless and that our fundraising momentum will continue unabated.”

Beers said she takes satisfaction in the campaign’s success so far and that “the timing is right” for a change.

Kennedy has asked Rolfson and Beers to explore ways in which Beers might continue to work on Campaign Maine, bringing her considerable expertise and experience to that critical, ongoing effort.