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06/07/2009
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Staff photo by Amy Calderfrom the Kennebec Journal
Sport of Kings
New Medicaid billing system inspires doubts among some
Christmas spirit
Guidance counselor: Dismiss complaint based on criticism of same-sex marriage
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Trust eyes orchard purchase
GOLFER OF THE YEAR: Bonenfant rises up Cony ranks
YOUTH SOCCER: Local team gives 'care package' to children in Afghanistan
All of today's:
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from the Kennebec Journal
from the Morning Sentinel
YES ON 1 BACKER REBUTS CLAIM
New system for Medicaid payments worries providers
After petition drive, Clinton police force budget will go a third time before voters
A rock musician makes trip home via Black Taxi
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Parks to have facelift
GOLFER OF THE YEAR: Sweet does job for Madison
YOUTH SOCCER: Local team gives 'care package' to children in Afghanistan
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Morning Sentinel
Gilman, a 1954 Nokomis graduate and owner of a successful electrical supply distribution company, said some of his best employees grew up in the School Administrative District 48 towns of Newport, Corinna, Palmyra, Plymouth, Etna, St. Albans and Hartland.
Many have stayed with the company a long time -- one woman has for 38 years, he said.
"Be proud of who you are," Gilman said. "Be proud of what you accomplish and never apologize for where you were raised."
The graduates chose Gilman -- who was born and raised on Main Street and still lives and works there, he said -- to speak at commencement ceremonies Saturday night.
A 1959 Dartmouth college graduate, Gilman owns Gilman Electrical Supply, which he started in his father's hardware store and which blossomed into a company with 18 electrical supply distribution facilities in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York.
His three children graduated from Nokomis, and he is proud of the fact that they never lost focus on family, he said. He urged seniors not to base their careers on money.
"Choose something you want to do -- something you have a real passion to pursue," he said. "Money is not a very good measure of what is best for you and your family. Make sure that you are not so busy making a living that you actually forget to live."
Gilman got a thundering standing ovation from a packed gymnasium.
Before the ceremonies started, seniors and their families milled about outside the school in the summer evening air, inhaling the excitement of graduation night.
Valedictorian Autumn Silke and salutatorian Justin Kezer, both 18, chatted about their college plans.
Silke, of Dixmont, plans to attend Worcester Polytechnic Institute to study biomedical engineering, with a focus on tissue development. She hopes to help find a cure for cancer, she said.
"I've always been interested in biology," she said. "I've been real good at it, which helps, and science has always been a passion of mine."
Kezer, of Plymouth, had planned to go to Worcester but changed his mind and will attend University of Maine at Orono to study finance, he said.
Like Silke, Kezer wants to help people. He said he'd like to start a nonprofit organization to help people who can not afford health care costs -- perhaps a nonprofit insurance company, he said.
He said he has spent a lot of time in hospitals, as his parents both are in the medical field.
"I see people all the time with health care problems," he said.
Amy Calder -- 861-9247
acalder@centralmaine.com
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