The University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Foundation has received a generous $30,000 gift for two scholarships to be established in Dr. Kenneth Petress’ name. Dr. Petress was a Professor Emeritus of Communication with the University. The gift was presented this summer by Dr. Richard Asam, Professor Emeritus of Communication, a long-time colleague of Dr. Petress and the executor of his estate.
The University of Maine at Presque Isle will hold an opening reception for its newest exhibition entitled Me & Some Friends in conjunction with Presque Isle’s First Friday Art Walk on Friday, August 5 from 5-7 p.m. in the University’s Reed Art Gallery.
This impromptu exhibition will display works of art from 14 area artists and friends of UMPI Gallery Director Sandra Huck. Huck said an empty slot in the Reed Gallery schedule created the perfect opportunity for friends to pull together an exciting and creative exhibition.
Riverside Park in Downtown Presque Isle will once again be filled with music on Sunday afternoons this summer as the City of Presque Isle, the Presque Isle Downtown Revitalization Committee and the University of Maine at Presque Isle host the Fourth Annual “Music in the Park” Series.
This year’s music series kicked off on Sunday, July 10 and will continue with concerts on Sunday, July 17, 24 and Aug. 7, 2011.
The free concert series, which attracted average crowd sizes of about 200 people per show last year, includes shows ranging from Peruvian music to African drumming. Each Sunday afternoon performance features a main act as well as an opening act, giving the community a chance to hear some of the region’s finest up and coming local singers and musicians.
A University of Maine at Presque Isle professor who has spent more than 50 years working and participating in the Girl Scouts program has been recognized for her dedication with a nomination for the 2011 L.L. Bean Outdoor Heroes Award.
Dr. Suzanne Beaudet, a longtime Professor of Physical Education at UMPI, has been named one of the top 10 finalists nationwide for the award, which was developed to thank those who have dedicated their time to preserving the outdoors, according to L.L. Bean’s website.
With energy issues becoming an ever increasing focus at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, President Don Zillman recently traveled overseas to work on an energy related project with scholars and legal experts from around the world. President Zillman was in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands to discuss energy issues and to work with colleagues from as far away as China and Africa on his latest book, which will be published by one of the most prestigious academic presses in the world.
When Kate Sirois was a high school student at Carleton Project, she was able to complete a biology internship with University of Maine at Presque Isle professor Dr. Jason Johnston, doing college level research while fulfilling her senior project requirements for graduation. And when UMPI Social Work majors needed to learn more about some the challenges that high school students face, they were able to have a candid conversation with Carleton Project students.
The American Red Cross and the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Residence Life Office are teaming up to pull off the University’s fourth “Super Blood Drive” this summer, the time of year when the need for blood increases.
The Super Blood Drive will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Monday, June 27 in Wieden Gymnasium. The event is being sponsored by the University, UMPI’s Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society and Presque Isle Pizza Hut, and cosponsored by Big Cheese, Country Farm’s Market, Freihofer’s Bakery, L.L. Bean, Pat’s Pizza, and Wal-Mart.
Three hundred and thirty-two students at the University of Maine at Presque Isle have been named to the Dean’s List for the spring semester, according to Dr. Michael Sonntag, Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Officials with the University of Maine at Presque Isle and Bethany Bible College met in Sussex on Tuesday, June 7, to sign a cooperative educational agreement. The joint international venture provides students of BBC with a post-degree education option at UMPI, allowing students to attain academic requirements for teacher certification in Maine and New Brunswick.
“We are very pleased to be partnering with Bethany Bible College and providing its graduates with this opportunity to earn their teaching certification,” Dr. Michael Sonntag, UMPI’s Vice President for Academic Affairs, said. “BBC graduates will be able to transition seamlessly into our Education degree programs, receive hands-on experience in the education field, and ultimately be able to earn their certification in a fairly condensed time period.”
University of Maine at Presque Isle alumnus and photographer Jason Grass will present his first book Faded Away during a book signing on Friday, June 17 from 1-3 p.m. in the Owl’s Nest, located in the University’s Campus Center.
A personal loss inspired Grass to create this photography art table book, a pictorial journey through the last resting places of many people who, over the centuries, have lived here and called northern Maine their home. His 162-page book takes a thoughtful look at these landscapes, of love ones lost and remembered, or with the passage of time, forgotten, and explores how we deal with loss. Faded Away also showcases the quiet beauty to be found in the area’s cemeteries, and provides an important record of this aspect of local history.