HOWLAND – As with many school districts in Maine, Penobscot Valley High School in Howland is trying to find a way to keep programs and improve facilities despite ever-tighter budgets. But the Eastern Maine Class C school has found a way to keep up its equipment and facilities without causing strain on local taxpayers.

Penobscot Valley girls basketball coach Joe Cyr spearheaded one of the school’s biggest efforts to date – a refurbished gymnasium floor that won’t cost taxpayers a dime.

Cyr, who is an employee at the Georgia Pacific paper mill in Old Town, got the company to donate the money for the floor’s revival, including a sanding, fresh coats of paint, new lines and new decoration. Cyr worked this summer to paint and re-line the floor, while former PVHS standout athlete Randy Rackley added some touches of her own.

It’ll be a big change for students who come back to school in a few days and basketball fans who flock to the gymnasium for games, said new athletic director Gerald Hutchinson.

“We keep saying, ‘Wait until everyone sees this,”‘ he said in the gymnasium Monday afternoon.

All told, Georgia Pacific contributed about $300, Hutchinson said, and a few other private donors chipped in, too. The school’s Parent Teacher Organization donated money to pay Rackley a small stipend for her work. The entire project, which was approved by the SAD 31 Board of Directors, cost about $600.

“[GP] pretty much gave Joe a credit card and told us to charge everything,” Hutchinson said. “They paid for all the paint, all the tape, all the brushes, everything we needed on the floor. Joe did the rest, and he did it for nothing. He was in here some mornings at 5 to tape. One morning I helped him, but he did the rest. It was his baby, I just backed him on it.”

Cyr spent at least 70 hours on the floor, Hutchinson estimated, including three coats of paint, some extra sanding beyond what a hired worker did, and all the lining.

The smell of paint still lingers in the gym, but the paint job is impressive. There’s now a big basketball in the middle of the floor with the center line running through it, the lines are a bright white – they’d faded to a dull yellow over the years – the end lines are Penobscot Valley’s dark green. Rackley painted the Howler head in two circles on either side of the floor.

Other projects under way for the school’s athletic facilities include new dugouts for the baseball field and a new wrestling mat, in addition to the new gym roof that was put on a few years ago. The baseball dugouts and wrestling mats were donated or paid for through fundraising.

There are also new soccer nets and corner flags along with new paint on the soccer goals and team benches. Hutchinson hopes to eventually refurbish the tennis courts, too.

And it was all done through donations or fundraising.

“We’re trying to improve the athletic facilities to go with the new school,” Hutchinson said.

The grade 7-12 $8.9 million school is on track for state education approval and an opening in September 2007.

Hutchinson was appointed to his athletic director position, which includes grades 6-12, this past spring. He has taught math at the school for 35 years and is going into his 21st season as the school’s wrestling coach. To make time for all his commitments, Hutchinson has decided to step away from soccer officiating this season.

Part of his drive as athletic director is raising money for equipment and facilities. To that end, the school has decided to start charging $2 for adults and $1 for kids for varsity soccer games.

Hutchinson is hoping the Howler fans will understand the need for admission to games, which had previously been free. Letters advising the school community of the change are going out Tuesday.

“The money will go directly into the soccer account,” he said. “[The program] won’t be self-sufficient [on admission alone], but the athletic budget is so high here that everything helps. Coaches are going to have to pitch in and help. Joe wanted his floor, he got it done. I wanted my mat, I got it done. … I’ll be surprised if I get any complaints [about the admission fee] because the parents here are so supportive of the kids.”

Hoop players shine at tourneys

Several of the top girls basketball players from Class A and B schools in Eastern Maine played on a 16-and-under team that performed well at the NCAA Division 2 National AAU tournament at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla., last month.

The Maine Blizzards went 3-2 against teams from Minnesota, Georgia, California, Maryland and Ohio in pool play, then won their first game in bracket play 62-60 in overtime against Oklahoma. Maine was eliminated by a loss to Missouri. Overall, the Blizzards finished in the top 16 out of 30 teams.

The team is made up of Katie Bergeron of Old Town, twin sisters Alyssa and Ashley Bragdon of Nokomis in Newport, Kelsey Butler, Kristin Richards and Kayla Carleton of Camden Hills, Jillian Ross of Belfast, Kristi Violette of Maranacook in Readfield, and Stephanie Bossie and Stephanie Libby of Winslow, which won the Class B state championship last winter.