Hearty Maine Hello! I hope everyone is enjoying the warm weather.
Jeff Buckwalter was featured in a MaineBiz article last August. Jeff is the co-owner and CEO of Portland-based The Holy Donut, featuring potato donuts. The company is 13 years old, has five locations, and employs around 120 people. They announced plans to start shipping their donuts nationwide in the summer of 2024.
I retired from the United States Army, effective April 1, 2025, after 26 years of active-duty service with a little time in the Maine Army National Guard prior to graduating and commissioning. I started as a field artillery officer, where I served about eight years and deployed on an operational deployment to Macedonia in support of the NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR) mission and twice deployed to combat in Iraq. I transitioned to be a Eurasian Foreign Area Officer in 2007, where I learned Russian at Defense Language Institute and earned a master’s in public policy and management with a graduate certificate in Russian Studies from the University of Pittsburgh. I served in a variety of assignments at Fort Belvoir, Kazakhstan, Germany, and the Pentagon. My family is remaining in northern Virginia, and I am currently looking into civilian employment.
A quick reminder about the Class of 1998 Scholarship Fund. I see more and more classmates announcing their children’s acceptance and decision to attend the University of Maine! The Class of 1998 Scholarship is annually awarded to descendants of the members of our class. Please consider contributing to the scholarship through the University of Maine Foundation and encourage your children enrolled at University of Maine to apply.
Please continue to send in your accomplishments and life updates! We love hearing from you!