It is with a heavy heart that I share the news that Red Gendron G, UMaine’s head hockey coach, died in April. I remember when Red joined Shawn Walsh in 1990 as an assistant coach and we all witnessed the UMaine Black Bears win their first NCAA Division I Championship in 1993. What a ride that was for UMaine students, and one I will always remember. After his first stint with UMaine, Red joined the New Jersey Devils for 11 years, during which time the team won three Stanley Cup Championships. In 2005, he returned to Division I hockey, where he was named an assistant coach at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. After six seasons with the Minutemen, he was named associate head coach at Yale, where he helped them earn their first NCAA Division I Championship in 2013. He returned to UMaine that same year and in 2020 he was named Hockey East Coach of the Year. This was all accomplished while serving as an assistant coach for the World Championships of Team USA. Donations can be made in his name to The Grant Standbrook Maine Hockey Forever Fund – mail to the Buchanan Alumni House, Two Alumni Place, Orono, ME 04469-5792.
Seven-time interscholastic champion Derek Marshall was inducted into the Maine Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame. Derek was the first swimmer in Maine interscholastic swimming to break 54 seconds in the 100-yard backstroke. He won seven state titles and established state records in the 100-yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke, and 200-yard individual medley. At UMaine, Derek won the New England Intercollegiate and North Atlantic Conference 200-yard backstroke events and set New England and NAC 200-yard backstroke records. His Black Bear 100-yard backstroke record extended for 21 years and his 200-yard backstroke record for 22 years.
Rich Buzzell, the athletic director at Marshwood High School in South Berwick, was chosen as Maine’s top athletic administrator. Rich was named the 2021 recipient of the Robert Lahey Athletic Administrator of the Year Award by Maine Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association during its annual conference.
Kirk and Heather Conner Young celebrated their 25th anniversary last summer. They live in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, where Kirk is a high school music director and Heather teaches Kindergarten. They have two sons, one who has completed college and the other who is a college sophomore. Kirk has been involved with The Barbershop Singing Society since college — performing, coaching, directing, and judging. Heather is an avid scrapbooker. Heather said, “Our goal is to find 25 new adventures for ourselves to celebrate throughout this next year.”
Monica Mugan reports that her band, Damsel, released “New to You” as both a physical CD and digitally on all platforms. The 11 tracks were recorded in early 2021 by the indie neo folk duo band members, Beth Meyers and Monica Mugan, with added textures from Florent Ghys (upright bass), Jason Treuting (drums and percussion), and Dan Trueman (hardanger fiddle).
In closing, I just wanted to send my thoughts and prayers to anyone who was impacted by COVID. I feel that everyone has been touched in some capacity and hopefully we will all be able to enjoy the upcoming holidays with friends and family, and hopefully a few UMaine alumni.
Please send your updates to pkoetzner@gmail.com