Diantha Hawkes Grant
Greetings from sunny Florida. Last fall, Don and I braved a brief stint at the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Campbellsville, KY, working PEAK and making sure you got your orders on time for Christmas. Ten-hour days are tough on your feet, but we managed to survive and will likely return next fall. We spent Christmas and New Years in New Orleans and then landed in Florida for four months. But it’s always good to point the RV north and return to Maine for the summer and fall and to our tour guide jobs at the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village.
Say it isn’t so! Stephanie Anderson, Cumberland County’s district attorney, has retired after almost 30 years! She had quite a career after her graduation from the Maine School of Law in 1977, including private practice and serving as an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn, NY. Among her successes was reorganizing the work of the district attorney’s office and working closely with law enforcement on domestic violence, drug cases, and juvenile court. In 1990, the office became computerized to help facilitate casework. One of her important cases funded a trust fund to provide counseling for victims of sexual abuse. She’s not planning on retiring full time. She is now the prosecuting coordinator for the Maine Prosecutors Association. Best wishes to you on your new venture!
Michael DePue ’85G checked in for the first time via email! He wrote: “Just returned to New Port Richey, Florida, from another summer on Tranquility Hill Farm (ma named it) in Vassalboro — ya can’t get there from here! My wife, Mariann (U Tampa) and I have been doing the snowbird thing since I retired from Hillsborough County schools in 2012. I taught AP and honors history at Robinson High in Tampa as well as coached numerous sports. The last 10 years I was fortunate to be head football coach earning 2012 Florida 5A Coach of the Year/ three times, NFF Tampa Coach of Year/best winning record in school history. My teams had a great run, with college degrees earned from Alabama to military academies to Assumption College in Massachusetts and many more. Several players are in NFL and CFL. I tried to get some to play for Coach Jack Cosgrove ’78, ’84G but winter in Orono was a bit much for them, fishing is great on the Gulf of Mexico, and winter will fly by. Then it’s back to Maine to grow a garden, play golf at Natanis, and fish.”
This also came by email. “After 40 years of teaching public school, Cheryl Grant Gillespie has been writing in retirement. She has published a book entitled Compassionate Journey: Honoring Our Mothers’ Stories with four other Maine women. It can be found on Amazon. Info is also on a website of the same name. A second career is fun!”
That’s all, folks. It has been 45 years since our graduation! Where does the time go? Keep the emails coming!