September 2018

Fall teams have been on campus for the past couple weeks preparing for their upcoming seasons and many of our teams are off to a great start.  Our cross country teams hosted the UMPI Invitational for the first time in many years where they competed against conference rivals Maine Maritime and Thomas College.

The UMPI women’s team dominated their competition with defeating second place finisher Thomas College by 10 points.  Leading the way for the Owls were first year runners Valentine Degiovanni who clocked in at 22:36 followed by teammate Irina Norkin finishing in 2^nd at 23:14. Emelia Churchill finished 4^th overall and Kendra Silvers, Chenoa Jackson, and Ashley Morton all finished in the top 10.  The Men also had a strong showing with three runners finishing in the top ten including Nino Manzella finish 6^th, followed by Kyle Davis at 9^th and Andrew Hunt at 10^th.

Men’s soccer split games in their opening weekend in Vermont, falling to Green Mountain College 2-1 and following up with a 3-1 victory over Vermont Tech.  In the first game first year player Dakota Patterson scored on an assist by Chris Udobi.  Three first year players scored in the Owls victory over the Knights with Jack Harrington, Andre Rossignol, and Stephen Cochrane all recording goals.  Caleb Thompson had a great weekend in goal, including making a diving save on a Knight penalty-kick that helped keep the score tied 1-1, before the Owls would go on to score two goals securing the victory.

Women’s soccer lost a tough one to UMaine Machias 7-1 with first year player Kelsey Robinson scoring the lone goal for the Owls assisted by Jordi Legassie.  Women’s volleyball opens up their season Wednesday at UMaine Machias.

We are excited to have 22 home events this fall.  Please come out and support your fellow Owls! Upcoming home games for the month of September are:

Saturday, Sept. 29^th – Women’s and Men’s Soccer vs. SUNY Canton (12:00 PM/2:30 p.m.)

Sunday, Sept. 30^th – Women’s and Men’s Soccer vs. Fisher (12:00 PM/2:00 p.m.)

September 29^th – 30^th Homecoming Weekend

A good number of UMPI Owls took part in several parades this summer to spread #owlpride far and wide and to ensure people had the details for this year’s Homecoming festivities. At two of the parades, the UMPI crew featured a Hootie-mobile, the great idea of Kim Jones. Thanks to everyone who participated–it was great to have UMPI so well represented during these parades!

UMPI celebrates the 231^st birthday of the signing of the U.S. Constitution by hosting a slate of activities between Monday, Sept. 17 and Monday, Sept. 24. On Sept. 17, UMPI partnered with WUPI 92.1 FM to broadcast the Constitution Day radio project created last year. The short radio piece, which involved students, faculty, staff, and community members reading small sections of the preamble to the U.S. Constitution and sharing what the Constitution means to them—played throughout the day.

During the week, UMPI’s Democracy Wall will focus on a question related to the Constitution and free pocket-sized printed copies of the U.S. Constitution will be available.

As a finale, former UMPI President Donald Zillman will visit campus to deliver a book reading and Constitution-focused presentation on Monday, Sept. 24, at 2 p.m. in the Campus Center. Zillman will read from Living the World War, a two-volume study of the American experience in World War I.

On August 25, the Foundation of the University of Maine at Presque Isle hosted its first-ever Backyard Getaway Tour. This fundraiser for the Zillman Family Greenhouse offered tours of seven backyard escapes in the Presque Isle area, including garden houses, a stand-alone man cave, and a live-in tree house. The stops in the tour included Margie Hunter’s Peony House, Roberta Griffiths’ Garden House, CK Keegan’s Man Cave, Edie Greiner’s Teach Samhraidh, Scott and Llori Keirstead’s Backyard Hideaway, Rollie Wight’s Treehouse, and Claude and Marilyn Lamoreau’s Log Cabin.

J. Anthony ‘Tony’ McLaughlin, a former director of admissions at UMPI, passed away on August 18, 2018. He also attended the Aroostook State College. He worked tirelessly supporting student’s education through New England and beyond and was involved in many national admissions organizations.

Danfry Nieves began his term as UMPI’s new AmeriCorps VISTA on July 30. Nieves is from Paterson, NJ, and graduated from William Patterson University in 2016 with a dual degree in History and Geography & GIS. He previously served in AmeriCorps as a Research and Data VISTA Associate and a Neighborhood Asset Mapping and Condition Assessment VISTA at the New Jersey Community Development Corporation. He is passionate about serving people in low-income areas and believes in the power of higher education and its ability to enhance local communities. He loves geography and science and can’t wait to explore The County and all that Maine has to offer. Welcome, Danfry!

Seniors Achieving Greater Education (SAGE), a program that welcomes intellectually curious adults, age 50 and older, who have a desire to learn in the company of people with both shared and different perspectives, hosted its fall kick-off event on Friday, Sept. 7 in the Campus Center. Membership in SAGE is $25 annually (Sept. 1, 2018 – Aug. 31, 2019) and a $5 charge for each course. There are additional fees for field trips and some hands-on courses. Some of the courses offered are Make It Merry: A Homemade Christmas, Theatre Arts Appreciation, UFOs With a Side of Astronomy, Let’s Talk TED, Festival of Trees Project 2018, Let’s Go to the Movies, Presque Isle Citizens’ Police Academy, and Finding Your Ancestors. FMI, contact Lydia Kieffer-Till at 768-9502 or email lydia.kieffer@maine.edu.

UMPI’s planet Neptune was taken down in the spring to be refurbished at Northern Maine Community College. The maintenance repaired some damage to the fiberglass on the back side of the planet, and reconditioned it for another 20 or more years in orbit. The work was completed by NMCC’s Auto Collision Repair students with the guidance and supervision of their instructor, Bob Collins. Neptune was “put back in orbit” on May 31.

WUPI 92.1 FM, UMPI’s student radio station, is hosting a fundraising concert for the Ciera Alexys Radel Memorial Scholarship on Saturday, Oct. 13 at 8 p.m. in Wieden Auditorium. This scholarship was created in the honor of former WUPI DJ Ciera Alexys Radel, who passed away in 2015. Radel was extraordinarily involved on campus. It is their hope to award a $500 scholarship each year to a current freshman or sophomore who has shown the same involvement on campus as she did and keep her memory alive.

The concert will feature local musicians Crunk Witch, Roy Tweedie, and Amoebaz. There will also be a 50/50 raffle and vendors will be selling everything from clothing to jewelry. This event is family friendly and is open to the public. Tickets are $10 per person. FMI, call the station manager line at WUPI at 207-768-9565.

The UMPI Owl Relay for Life team would like to offer a huge thank you for everything that has been done to support the team. They had a very successful relay–the weather was excellen and the team again raised the most funds for a Non-Profit Organization this year, with a total amount of $9,006.94 raised.

Next year, the Owl Team will be in its 10^th year in Caribou for the Aroostook Relay for Life and it is possible they will hit an amazing milestone. If they raise $9,031.27, they will have raised $100,000 in 10 years! Their partners at the American Cancer Society will be looking into this for them – but the team may be the only college in the state to reach this milestone (and also New England), more information to follow on this.

The Owl Team also started off the 2019 fundraising year with its 6^th Annual Relay for Life garage sale at Kim-Anne Perkin’s house on July 20 and 21 and raised $1,100.

The team is always looking for new members, whether they work for UMPI or not. If you are interested, please contact either Laurie Boucher at 768-9512 or Lisa Leduc at 768-9436.

TRIO Upward Bound students spent their afternoons in the Pullen Art Studio learning drawing skills from instructor Carol Ayoob this summer. Perspective, shading, and a variety of the “tools” for drawing were explored. Self-expression was encouraged, along with the elements of design. Ayoob has been teaching ten summers for the Upward Bound program, and earned her BFA from UMPI in 1994. She received her MFA at the University of Maine in the Intermedia Graduate Program. Students attending were Makaila Beck, Brian Bourgoin, Storm Eirman, Michael Garman, Tiffany King, Kaitlyn Reimer, Latoya Trenchard, Calum Belmain, Taylor Burby, Auracle Cutting, Lance Davenport, John Hartt, Wyatt Joyner, Maxwell Lister, and Grace Schmitt.

UMPI will host the 2018 Hall of Fame Induction Dinner on Saturday, September 29, 2018 starting at 5:30 p.m. in the Campus Center. A social with light refreshments will begin at 5:30 p.m. followed by a buffet dinner and the inductions at 6 p.m. Inductees this year are Sarah Beasley (2006), Glenn Sharp (1997), Adam Smith (1985), and Gerald Hutchinson (1971). The cost is $20 per person. Current Hall of Fame members attend at no cost. Please RSVP to Sandra McDougal at 768-9506 or email sandra.mcdougal@maine.edu.

Want another great reason to read through the image newsletter? Well, somewhere in this issue of the image is our very own owl emoji. Here’s the challenge: just find it (don’t tell anyone else its hiding place!), let our office know, and you could be eligible for a $5 gift certificate to UMPI Starbucks! A winner will be randomly drawn from all of the people who find the emoji on Monday, Oct. 1.

To let us know you’ve found it, either click on the emoji and fill out the very short form, or email Gayla Shaw with the location at gshaw@maine.edu. Happy searching!