The Maine Sports Legends Hall of Honors will have three inductees from the northern region this fall, all representing different parts of Aroostook County.
Kathleen Mazzuchelli of Caribou, Murray Putnam of Oakfield and Ben Paradis of Fort Kent are this year’s honorees who will be honored Oct. 13 at the Alfond Girls and Boys Club in Waterville. The event begins at 12:30 p.m.
Kathleen Mazzuchelli
Kathy Mazzuchelli is being honored for her work with the Caribou Parks and Recreation Department in a career that began in 1972.
She was first hired as the programmer for the city’s recreation department, teaching and coaching softball, tennis and basketball and developing an after-hours exercise program for area residents which at one time included 120 participants. In 1980, she was appointed as the first female superintendent of parks and recreation.
Mazzuchelli has made a positive impact on every individual who has crossed her path, especially young people.
“She has fought to keep program costs low so all kids have an opportunity,” said former longtime Caribou resident Allison Heidorn. “In 38 years, she has held on to her passion and belief that all kids deserve a chance. She has made a small community in northern Maine a place where families have opportunities for some of the best recreational programs that can be found anywhere.”
Mazzuchelli is credited for developing the Nordic ski trails at the Caribou Country Club, she was instrumental in the acquisition of over 70 miles of abandoned rail line for a multi-recreation trail system for Aroostook County and worked on many projects in the Caribou parks and playgrounds.
She works very closely with Caribou Police Chief Michael Gahagan as a co-leader in the Community Alcohol and Drug Education Team (CADET) that has become a model for how any community can try to overcome the problem of substance abuse.
Mazzuchelli has been involved with the Hershey Track and Field Program for the last 36 years. She has also been the “voice” of the official Aroostook County Snowmobile Trail Report for over 30 years and is a member of Aroostook County Tourism Board, helping to promote the region state-wide and into Canada.
Murray Putnam
Murray Putnam established himself as an outstanding athlete, educator, coach, assistant principal and athletic director over a period of four decades in the southern Aroostook area.
Putnam became an elite coach on the baseball diamond for 44 years with an outstanding record of 481 wins and 131 losses.
“We all learned from wins and losses that good enough isn’t good enough,” said Sterling Lawrence, one of Putnam’s players from the 1960s and now the pastor at Bethel Church in Oakfield. “Excellence was something to go after, especially in the mental game of baseball. Coach helped us through the process of hard work on the playing field to become mature men by having qualities that would serve society well in our future.”
Putnam’s Southern Aroostook baseball teams captured 10 Eastern Maine championships, five state championships, one state Babe Ruth championship and 11 more in the North Eastern Maine League, which was abolished in 1985.
“The biggest thing I learned from Murray was discipline,” said former Presque Isle basketball coach Tim Prescott, who played for Putnam in the 70s, in a Bangor Daily News article. “I always think he looked at discipline as a positive. I don’t think he thought about what discipline does to kids, but what it does for kids.”
Putnam has received many honors throughout his career, including the Maine Baseball Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 1989. He was inducted into the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002. He was the recipient of the Award of Merit in 2006 from the Maine Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.
Ben Paradis
Ben Paradis is an athlete, educator, coach and avid community volunteer.
Paradis taught grades 5-8 at Eagle Lake School in the subjects of physical education and science after graduation from UM-Fort Kent in 1964. He then transferred to Community High School, now Fort Kent Community High School, to teach science. After teaching a couple of years, Paradis attended Cornell University to obtain a master’s degree in physics.
Returning to Fort Kent, he continued teaching at the high school in the physics department with his particular brand of ‘hands-on’ instruction until he retired in 2005, only to return back to the classroom teaching physics part-time at the present. He also teaches science courses at the University of Maine at Fort Kent. In the early 1980s he became an astronomy instructor, a position he still holds today.
Paradis coached soccer, basketball and baseball at the junior high level. In 1981, he started coaching the high school ski team in both Nordic and alpine. His girls’ ski teams won Class A state championships in 1986, ‘89 and ‘91, while his boys’ teams took Class C state titles in ‘94 and 2004. The Warriors also own 20 Aroostook League titles under Paradis.
“Ben is a true gentleman and consummate teacher and coach, always getting in life’s lessons whenever possible,” said John Kaleta, who taught and coached with Paradis and currently serves as assistant prinicipal at Sacopee Valley High School.
Paradis continues to co-coach both the boys and girls Nordic ski teams and still takes part in all of the workouts with his team, even at the age of 70.
