Jeanette Peters of Fort Fairfield and Dana Hews of Washburn will represent the Northern Region as the newest inductees into the Maine Sports Legends Hall of Honors. William Haskell of Presque Isle and Emery Plourde of Caribou will be inducted posthumously at the Oct. 10 ceremony, to be held at the Alfond Youth Center in Waterville.
The honor is presented to men and women for their extraordinary commitment and work behind the scenes, both academically and athletically, with students in Maine.
Jeanette Peters was born in Island Falls, Maine and grew up on a farm. Peters is a long-time educator, department head and coach. She attended Ricker Classical Institute in Houlton and played on the volleyball team for Ricker College at the time. She then attended Aroostook State Teacher’s College, graduating in 1966 with bachelor’s degree in Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.
Because the college did not offer women’s varsity sports at that time, she played on all intramural sports and received the Gold Key, which was the highest award at the time for intramurals.
In 1966, Jeanette started teaching physical education at Caribou Middle School. She also coached cheerleading and helped with the Caribou High School track and field team until 1968.
She moved to Virginia after her husband had been drafted and was attending Officer’s Candidate School there. They moved again to Baltimore City and she taught physical education and coached track at an inter-city high school.
From there she moved back to Caribou to teach at the middle school while her husband served in Vietnam. After a short stay in Bangor, Peters went to work teaching physical education at Fort Fairfield High School in 1971.
“Jeanette worked tirelessly as a physical education and health teacher and as a coach. She instituted a lifetime sports program at the school many years before it became the ‘fashionable’ thing to do. She gave the students many choices of activities for class, but they also learned to play and love sports. Many of them are still involved with their learned activity today,” said one of her teaching colleagues, Darrylin Keenan. “Jeanette and her husband worked long hours with student athletes and never looked to be patted on the back or recognized. She was a true behind-the-scenes person, helping youth to succeed. Having these athletes succeed and gain self-esteem was all the reward Jeanette needed.”
In her teaching years at Fort Fairfield she developed a 30-foot climbing wall and built a sand volleyball court, a golf driving range and a putting green.
“One of my greatest accomplishments that I will always remember,” Peters said, “was raising money to buy an adaptive bicycle for a handicapped child.” Her teams always helped serve Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner to seniors in the town.
Peters’ field hockey team was Eastern Maine champions and runners-up in Class C. Her softball teams didn’t miss qualifying for the playoffs and were Eastern Maine champions in 1988 in Class C and runners up in Class D in 2002. Her girls basketball team was Class B Eastern Maine runners-up in 1983. She also coached volleyball, boys and girls soccer and middle school cross-country skiing. Her softball coaching career ended in 1993.
“She was fiercely competitive and was an outstanding motivator, yet modeled outstanding sportsmanship to her players,” said Lynwood McHatten, a long-time basketball official. “I always wanted to be the very best I could be when I worked one of the games she was coaching because of the respect she conveyed toward me and some of my peers.”
Jeanette received SAD 20 teacher of the year in 1996 and 2003. She was inducted into UMPI Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995. In 2003, she was named Maine’s Secondary Health and Physical Education teacher of the year.
“She is the most generous, unselfish and hard-working woman I know with students and adults alike,” Keenan said.
Peters and her husband, Ken, along with their two dogs and two cats reside in Fort Fairfield.
Dana Hews was born on May 1, 1930 in Ashland and grew up as the only son on a potato farm. “Dana is the epitome of the term ‘work ethic’ and ‘principled’ – qualities he inspired in many of the students, athletes and teachers that he worked with,” said Dave Maxcy, a friend and teaching and coaching colleague. Maxcy went on to say, “even now as he is involved in the operation at Cavendish Farms during the planting and harvest season, he still shows the same qualities.”
Hews is a long-time educator, coach, guidance counselor, athletic director, principal and basketball official. During his high school years, he played baseball and participated in winter sports at Ashland High School. At Springfield College, where he was a physical education student, he played soccer, baseball and was on the gymnastics team. Also at Springfield as a student he served as the coach of a small college basketball team.
After college, Hews was a teacher and coach for several years at Ashland High School. In 1958 he moved to Presque Isle High School where he organized the physical education and health programs for all grades. He coached basketball at Presque Isle High School and had a successful career, leading the team to the Eastern Maine championship in 1961. Dana was also instrumental in introducing and establishing soccer as a sport in Aroostook County high schools. His career continued as a guidance counselor and principal at several central Aroostook County high schools.
Hews was known as an outstanding basketball official. “I refereed many years with Dana and his integrity stands out in my mind. He was older than I, but always maintained a high level of physical preparedness, giving the same outstanding effort for every game,” said Roger Shaw, who served with Hews on the local officiating board. “He treated the athletes and coaches with ultimate respect. He has a wonderful sense of humor and was a lot of fun to work with, always the same regardless of the situation or the people involved.”
Hews has also established an outstanding record of service in community affairs. He has served as a Little League baseball coach, was involved in church activities as a teacher and lay minister, served on the SAD 45 school board for nine years, was director of the Washburn Health Center for 23 years, was a member of the U.S. Army Active Reserve and today still continues to farm.
“Dana Hews is a gentleman and a gentle man, always looking out for the well-being of others,” Shaw added.
Hews and his wife, Virginia, are parents of seven children: Dana Scott Hews, Donna Sagner, Leigh Worley, Bonnie McLaughlin, Brian Hews, Sue Chasse, and Meredith Messer, many of whom have been involved in coaching.
William “Bill” Haskell was born in Presque Isle on Dec. 13, 1913. He was a graduate of Aroostook State Normal School and the University of Maine at Orono, where he participated in sports. He was the first Eagle Scout in Presque Isle in his younger years. He taught and coached in the local school system and in private schools in Massachusetts. He was a pitcher for the Presque Isle Indians semi-pro baseball team from 1934-1937.
Haskell was always interested in recreation, having played basketball and baseball on the local teams and being involved in the construction of the E. Milton Grant Playground and Swimming Pool. Because of his experience in summer camps and with teaching and coaching, he applied for the first director of recreation and parks position in Presque Isle in 1946. He served in that capacity for 35 years, retiring in 1981.
In an article published in The Presque Isle Star Herald in 1981, Haskell was quoted as saying, “I guess way back I was destined to be in recreation. I heard about this job, they wanted a full-time recreation director and bring all the activities for the youth and the adults, a year-round program. Then the community association decided action should be taken to acquire the U.S.O. building on Main Street. I along with the citizens hammered, sawed, painted, picked and shoveled and businesses contributed equipment to make repairs. All of this was fantastic.”
Presque Isle had a year-round recreation program for the youth and adults under Haskell. He also helped establish Aroostook County’s first indoor skating, ice hockey and curling facility in 1964. Under Haskell’s direction, the local recreation program expanded to include swimming, tennis, arts and crafts, baseball, softball, basketball, hockey, bowling, broomball, karate, senior citizens fly tying and slimnastics, and skating.
In 1979, Presque Isle’s recreation and parks facilities increased 40 percent with the completion of the Arnold Brook watershed recreation area, the indoor swimming pool, the Northern Maine Forum and the Riverside Bi-Centennial Park.
The Maine Recreation and Park Association in 2009 created the William V. Haskell Distinguished Professional of the Year Award to honor Presque Isle’s former parks and recreation director. This award is presented annually to recognize veteran Maine Parks and Recreation professionals who demonstrate leadership within the Maine Recreation and Park Association and have demonstrated outstanding performance on a community level through innovative programming, facility development and civic involvement.
Haskell was a member of the Presque Isle Rotary Club, a member and past commander of the American Legion, Ray Goding Post 88, a member of the Hayward-Frazier VFW Post 2599, a charter member, treasurer and past president of the Presque Isle Curling Club, associate supervisor of the Central Aroostook Soil and Water Conservation District and the St. John-Aroostook Resources Conservation and the Development Steering Committee.
On March 28, 1981, William Haskell retired after 35 years of serving the city. More than 200 people from all over the state attended the retirement dinner for him. Haskell died on Jan. 17, 1986, leaving his wife, Esther, a son, two daughters and two grandchildren.
Emery Plourde of Caribou is the other inductee representing the northern region.
