Elf has a new friend

I haven't made my bed yet. Look who Elf found to snuggle with. :-)

What a great community

Apparently one of the faculty walked by a local church this afternoon and then came back and sent the email below to all the faculty and staff on campus.

Children from the Farmington Children's School are  selling delicious homemade donuts and hot apple cider in front of Old South Church to raise money to buy a guinea pig.

They will be there until about 2:25.

 

A Satisfied Customer

Fwd: [staff list] UMF Receives Libra Grant to Help Develop Alpine Ski Team

Begin forwarded message:

From: "April Mulherin" <April.Mulherin@maine.edu>

Date: October 11, 2007 4:01:34 PM EDT

To: <april.mulherin@maine.edu>

Subject: [staff list] UMF Receives Libra Grant to Help Develop Alpine Ski Team

Reply-To: "April Mulherin" <April.Mulherin@maine.edu>

UMF Media Release for Immediate Release

#R078-009

CONTACT:

UMF Assistant Director of Media Relations April Mulherin

207-778-7081

april.mulherin@maine.edu

*** University of Maine at Farmington Receives Libra Grant to Help Develop

Alpine Ski Team *** 

FARMINGTON, MAINE (October 11, 2007)- University of Maine at Farmington

Director of Athletics, Fitness and Recreation Julie Davis is pleased to

announce that the university has received a grant from the Libra Foundation

to help support the development of an Alpine ski team.

The Libra Foundation is a Maine-based organization that has made significant

contributions to worthy initiatives throughout the state.

UMF has enjoyed a successful student-led ski club in the past, which was

supported by student senate and the ski industries program and volunteer

coach Harry Ricker.  "The Libra grant, combined with funds from UMF's

Student Senate, will allow us to launch the expansion from a student-led

club sport to a more competitive ski team with increased infrastructure and

additional support for coaching," said Davis. "The program will be

accessible to all levels of skiers and will allow us to recruit student

athletes from New England and beyond."

The ski team is currently undergoing dry-land training in anticipation of

the upcoming season, which is scheduled to begin in December. The team will

compete in both Alpine and Nordic disciplines in the United States

Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association's Reynolds Division. The division

was established in 2006 by Ricker and named in honor of Tom Reynolds, UMF

Athletics Hall of Fame inductee. Other institutions in the division include

University of Maine at Orono, University of Maine at Fort Kent, University

of Maine at Presque Isle, and the Bates College "B" team.

According to Ron Bonnevie, UMF Ski Industries instructor, the Reynolds

Division utilizes mountains in western Maine thereby reducing travel and

providing opportunities for other colleges to have access to the region.

"UMF's access to local ski areas is hard to beat.  We have a great slalom

hill 5 minutes from campus (Titcomb Mtn.) for day and night training, with

Sugarloaf, Saddleback, Black Mountain and Sunday River all less than an

hour's drive," said Bonnevie. "It's about as good as it gets throughout

northern New England. These options provide UMF skiers with more quality on

snow training and flexible training times to coordinate with class

schedules."

Not only will the ski team have lifelong benefits for its student athletes,

but it is expected to have positive impacts on the western Maine mountain

region as well. The importance of the economic vitality of the region was

recognized by UMF in its final Libra grant proposal, which highlighted the

university's existing strong partnerships with the area's ski mountains and

outlined future opportunities to strengthen those relationships.

The benefits of the ski team are too long to list according to Leigh

Breidenbach, director of the UMF Ski Industries program. "We are a snow

sports ski state and this Libra grant says we value those activities and

consider it part of our heritage as Mainers," said Breidenbach. "At UMF,

skiing is a passion as much as it is a sport. After graduation, the vast

majority of our skiers stay in Maine. They are lifelong skiers, guaranteed."

# # # 

For more information, contact UMF Director of Athletics, Fitness and

Recreation Julie Davis at 207-778-7264 or jadavis@maine.edu.

===================================================================

Thank you for sharing the good news at UMF, Maine's public liberal arts

college.

Regards,

April Mulherin

April Mulherin

Assistant Director of Media Relations

University of Maine at Farmington

207-778-7081

april.mulherin@maine.edu