Maine’s YMCA, high school and college swimmers will certainly miss Norm Palmer, the longtime swimming official who is retiring after the state championships in February.

Palmer, 76, presided over his final Bangor home meet Thursday night as the Bangor girls beat Brewer at Husson College.

“Forty years is long enough. I feel it’s time for younger people to come in and take over,” said Palmer, a Bucksport native. “I’ve had a good career and I’ve enjoyed it. When the time comes you have to step down.”

Palmer won’t stay away from the pool entirely – not with grandson Eric Palmer, a Bangor High sophomore, in his second season swimming for Phil Emery’s Rams.

“I’m gonna sit up in the stands and watch my grandson,” Palmer said with a smile.

He is also giving up his position as a trainer for YMCA swimming officials.

Over the years Palmer’s name has been attached to all kinds of Maine Principals’ Association committees, state and national officials’ associations, and YMCA and UMaine boards. He was an original member of the Maine Swim Officials Association.

Palmer has an academic scholarship named in his honor with the UMaine swim team and founded a scholarship for Penobscot Valley Conference swimmers in honor of his wife Irene, who died three years ago.

Last year the National Federation of Interscholastic Officials Associations awarded him its Distinguished Service Award, one of just two Maine officials ever to earn the award in Region I, which covers New England, New York, and New Jersey.

Palmer retired last year as president of the state swimming officials association.

Palmer has also coached YMCA swimming and officiated junior varsity basketball in the 1950s and ’60s.

MPA posts sportsmanship policies

In response to the increasing number of incidents around the state and nation involving spectator problems at athletic events, the Maine Principals’ Association has posted on its Web site a sample policy concerning the behavior of spectators at athletic events.

MPA executive director Dick Tyler said the association’s staff wrote the sample policies based on examples from other states.

“We spend a lot of time talking about our coaches, players, and how they need to show respect for the officials and each other, but the spectators are often times completely out of control,” Tyler said. “It’s in that context that we’re offering this.”

The sample policy contains an adult patron conduct code for spectators at least 18 years of age and not enrolled in the school that prohibits the consumption, possession, purchase, or sale of alcohol or illegal substances at athletic events. The conduct code also suggests ways to deal with violations of the policy – namely, removal from the area where the event is being held.

Other sections offer guidelines for encouraging athletic directors and coaches to discuss sportsmanship with teams and fans. The sample policy recommends ejection from the event and denial of admission for fans who behave in an unsportsmanlike manner.

Other examples of unsportsmanlike conduct that are listed include vulgar or obscene language or gestures, possessing a weapon, fighting or threatening another person, failing to obey the instructions of a security officer or school employee, and engaging in illegal or disruptive activities.

Tyler said recent spectator incidents have heightened school officials’ awareness of such problems.

Tyler cited incidents such as the man and woman who attacked a referee after a middle school soccer game in Hebron last fall, the bottle of water thrown by one spectator into a crowd during the Eastern Maine Class A tournament at the Bangor Auditorium last winter, and the Massachusetts incident in which one father allegedly killed another father at a youth hockey practice last year.