Faculty, Staff, Students Sought to Welcome Junior Biathloners to Maine

UMaine Alert

Posted: April 19, 2024 - 1:32 PM

At approximately 9:24 a.m. on Friday, April 19, a University of Maine graduate student was struck by a university vehicle on Long Road at the University of Maine campus in Orono. The student reports that they are at a local hospital with minor injuries.

Emergency services, including the Orono Fire Department, University Volunteer Ambulance Corps, University of Maine Police Department, Orono Police Department and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

The university vehicle involved in the incident was a Chevrolet Express van. It was being operated by a university employee.

Counseling services and support are available for students, faculty or staff who may have been affected. The Counseling Center can be reached at 207-581-1392 and the Dean of Students Office can be reached at 207-581-1406.

The scene has been cleared and Long Road is now accessible. An investigation is being conducted by the University of Maine Police Department with assistance from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit. Any witnesses to the incident are encouraged to contact Lt. Noel Santiago at noel.santiago@maine.edu.

January 18, 2006 Archives

Contact: Contact: Steve Bowler, (207) 866-3400; Scott Arndt, marketing and promotions director, 2006 Biathlon Junior World Championships, 207-540-1000 (work), 207-551-3573 (cell)

ORONO — UMaine students, staff and faculty volunteers are being sought to help greet nearly 90 international youngsters arriving Jan. 23-25 at Bangor International Airport to compete in the first Biathlon Junior World Championship to be held in the United States.

The 2006 Biathlon Junior World Championship is attracting 450 team members from 30 countries for a 10-day competition Jan. 26-Feb. 3. They’ll be staying in the Presque Isle area. Most of the young athletes are flying directly to Northern Maine, but many will land in Bangor and take buses to Presque Isle.

“Our job in Bangor is to greet, tag luggage, answer questions and get the athletes on their way to Presque Isle,” says Steve Bowler, a volunteer for the biathlon events for the last two years. Bowler, now the marketing director at Dirigo Pines Retirement Community in Orono, remains an active supporter of the annual biathlon championships. “In the past two years in Presque Isle, we had hundreds of school children and community people come to the airport to meet and greet the athletes. They said it was the nicest welcoming they ever experienced – it was just good Maine hospitality.”

Flying into Bangor the evening of Monday, Jan. 23 will be six people from the Netherlands and 13 from Finland, arriving at 9:23 p.m.

Arriving Tuesday evening at 8:14 p.m. will be12 people from Sweden. On Wednesday evening, Jan. 25, two people from Switzerland and 16 from France arrive in Bangor at 8:14 p.m. On Wednesday, 13 Italians are scheduled to arrive at 9:23 p.m., with 11 Bulgarians and 15 people from the Czech Republic due in at 9:48 p.m.

The success in the last two years of the adult Biathlon championship in Presque Isle has great implications on future World Cups and Olympic trial events in Maine, Bowler says.

More information is available on the website: http://www.nordicheritagecenter.org/

Bowler expects 20 or so student members of the Hampden Latin Club also will join the welcoming party on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. He notes that biathlon organizers will be grateful to anyone who turns out to welcome the young athletes.

“We also would welcome any UMaine students or university faculty or staff to come by to help transfer luggage from the airport terminal to the buses,” Bowler says. Some of the athletes are not fluent in English.

For more information or further details, Bowler can be reached at (207) 866-3400.