Anniversary of the founding of the Marine Corps

 Thank you to all those who have served our country in the Marine Corps, including our own Earl James, as well as our rector's college lacrosse coach, Web Harrison (RIP), and so many other heroes.

Anniversary of the birth of the US Marine Corps

Anniversary of the founding of the Marine Corps

 Thank you to all those who have served our country in the Marine Corps, including our own Earl James, as well as our rector's college lacrosse coach, Web Harrison (RIP), and so many other heroes.

Anniversary of the birth of the US Marine Corps

 

OBITUARY

Webster L. Harrison

MARCH 31, 1940 – JUNE 17, 2018

AUBURN: Webster Lee “Web” Harrison, 78, of Auburn passed away unexpectedly due to cardiac arrest at his home on June 17, 2018. His friends described him as a man of character and wisdom, serious, engaging and loyal. He was a good man who enjoyed life and touched many lives for the better. He was born in Torrington, Connecticut on March 31, 1940 to Lee H. Harrison and Inez Delia Webster. He is the grandson of the 19th century Lewiston Mayor, William E. Webster. He was a student at Torrington High School and New Hampton School. He attended Bates College from 1959-63. He played football under the tutelage of some very fine men who would have a lasting impact on his life, and developed disciplined, hard work habits as a Biology major. He loved the education and opportunities that Bates College afforded him. A loyal alumnus, he recently celebrated with former classmates at his 55th Reunion. In 1964 he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. As an infantry platoon commander in Vietnam, his experiences and memories from there were an important part of his life. He saw the best and worst examples of human behavior, and it taught him to truly value the freedoms we enjoy. Following Vietnam he was stationed at Quantico, VA training officer candidates. He was discharged from the USMC in 1967 as a Captain. He said his experiences as a Marine officer taught him that commitment, discipline, integrity and courage were necessary to succeed. This is how he led his life. In 1977 he was named head football coach at Bates College and the following year head lacrosse coach. During his tenure he coached and mentored hundreds of Bates athletes. He always emphasized the academic side of their time at Bates. His commitment to those he taught through sports may be reflected in the array of success that can be found in his former players. In his last years at Bates he joined the Office of College Advancement. He retired in 1999 after 25 years of service. Web was very engaged in a second “career” in retirement. During that time he developed a love of golf and spent hours practicing his swing at his favorite driving ranges and offering coaching tips to anyone who was nearby. His competitiveness was evident when he played with “ The Coaches Foursome” and former players. He loved spending winters in Siesta Key, FL where he could practice and play and enjoy the serene life by the water. He spent many hours on the lanai talking and laughing about Marine Corps days and hundreds of other topics with his dear friends. He developed an extensive library of varied topics from the history of the Vietnam war, gardening and cooking to the stock market and science. He was proud of the fact that he was a lifelong learner and was currently studying the history, physics and philosophy of time.... really! He inherited both his Mother’s and Father’s love of gardening. Lovely gardens on his property in Auburn featured over 12,000 daffodils. They were a source of enjoyment, pride and more than modest accomplishment. He proclaimed himself as the Daffodil King of Auburn and was shooting for the title to include Southern Maine. He gave away thousands of those daffodils every year. Bouquets were given to people at the Hospice House, Androscoggin Home Healthcare and Hospice in Auburn, the Dempsey Center for Cancer, Hope and Healing and the staff at East Auburn Community School, which his daughter had attended. He enjoyed talking about the 27,000 varieties and 13 types. When people stopped by they often got a lesson, including an annual visit from the kindergarten class down the hill. He is survived by his loving wife of 31 years, Kathleen (McEntee) Harrison of Auburn, daughter Kathryn Harrison and her husband, Tim Smith of Fort Collins, CO and his beloved granddaughter, Delia Smith. Condolences may be shared with his family at www.thefortingrouplewiston.com

Per Web's wishes, a Memorial Service will be held at Bates College Chapel at a later date. Those wishing, may make a charitable contribution to honor Web's memory to Friends of Bates College Athletics c\o the Development Office 2 Andrews Rd. Lewiston, ME 04240 or Androscoggin Home Healthcare and Hospice 15 Strawberry Ave. Lewiston, ME 04240. Arrangements are under the care of The Fortin Group Funeral Home, Cremation and Monument Services 70 Horton St. Lewiston, 784-4584.

Holy Spaces ~ Bates College

Holy Spaces ~ Bates College

"My ultimate epitaph should be, 'I went to Bates.' " ~Peter Gomes

‎"except for my parents, I owe everything valuable, precious and honorable to Bates.... 

My ultimate epitaph should be, 'I went to Bates.'" ~Peter Gomes

Bates football comes back to beat Bowdown, 28-24

Awesome!  My alma mater beat up on the Polar Bears!  Well done!!

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey, Bates '91


Read the whole story HERE >>>>>

Sophomore defensive end Tyler Kuehl's interception and 25-yard return for a touchdown gave Bates College its first lead of the game with 9:39 left in the fourth quarter, and the Bobcats went on to win 28-24 over Bowdoin, the Bobcats' first win over their in-state rivals since 2003. Here the Bobcats sing their traditional fight song at game's end on Garcelon Field.

RIP Lacrosse Legend Peter Kohn - Human Being Extraordinaire!

RIP Lacrosse Legend Peter Kohn - Human Being Extraordinaire!

I learned today from the Middlebury College twitterer that Lacrosse Legend Peter Kohn died. I am posting links to several articles about this wonderful person, and my heart is heavy thinking about him. I agree wholeheartedly with Middlebury College Director of Athletics Erin Quinn who said, “Our world just lost one of its kindest souls, leaving us with the responsibility of carrying on his legacy of kindness and humility.”

The above picture shows Peter sprinting in 1991 against Jim Grube, who was the head coach at the time (found on Peter Kohn's flickr account)

I grew up in Middlebury, Vermont, where Peter Kohn spent a good deal of his life working at Middlebury College and I was a total lacrosse junky. I watched my first lacrosse game at the college field and I was lucky to be on the Middlebury Union High School's first team when I was a freshman in High School. I was an avid fan of the game as well, and got to know something of Peter's work as a manager, as a morale-booster, and as a wise guide of the members of Middlebury's lacrosse teams. He also had a role in many other lacrosse teams, All Star Games, World Championships, and summer league teams. Later, he served other teams at Middlebury College as well.



During my senior year at Bates College, we played Middlebury in a lopsided affair, coming up short against the juggernaut that was (and is) Middlebury College Lacrosse. I remember Peter Kohn well, as he cared for his team, and was also gracious, helpful and kind to those of us on the opposing side. Later that spring, I played in a New England All-Star game at MIT and I was pleased to see that Peter Kohn was serving as manager of my team. His wonderful humanity and kindness shined through back in 1991 and hopefully will continue to shine amidst all those who he was able to touch in his rich life. Tonight, while Googling Peter, I found the picture below in which you can see Peter on the left, and also me on the right. I didn't know the picture existed, but was blessed to find it on PETER's (!) flickr page. I was blessed to be able to know him just a bit, and I pray that he rest in peace and rise in glory and may all those who remember him in these days feel blessed to have known him.

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey
Middlebury Union High school "Tiger" Lacrosse, 1987
Bates College "Bobcat" Lacrosse, 1991



Keeper of the Kohn movie website


Keeper of the Kohn, an intimate look at an icon in the lacrosse world: Peter Kohn, the longtime field manager of the Middlebury College lacrosse team. But this isn’t a story about collegiate lacrosse — though Middlebury does go to the national championships in the course of the film. Instead, it’s the story of a simple man whose loyal friendship and love for the sport provided him with a family, a home and a sense of purpose. Along the way, Kohn made an impression on dozens of athletes, to whom he passed along important lessons about humility, patience and kindness.

Watch it HERE on Hulu


Peter Kohn's photos on flickr, click HERE or http://www.flickr.com/photos/kohn_archive/



Excerpt from the Middlebury College Athletics Website:

Peter Kohn Passes Away

August 05, 2009

Beloved lacrosse manager and longtime Middlebury College friend, Myron G. “Peter” Kohn passed away on Aug. 5 at University of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, Pa. The lacrosse legend was unable to recover from a heart attack he suffered on a fishing trip near his home in Cape May, N.J., on Aug. 1.

“Our world just lost one of its kindest souls, leaving us with the responsibility of carrying on his legacy of kindness and humility,” said Middlebury College Director of Athletics Erin Quinn.

Peter Kohn was one of the most beloved and unique figures in the lacrosse world. For more than 50 years he was connected to the sport. The subject of a much-publicized documentary, “Keeper Of The Kohn,” he started as a field manager for the Park School in Baltimore in 1954. He was manager of the U.S. teams from 1978 to 1998, for the North-South All-Star game for over 25 years and for club teams in the United States Club Lacrosse Association for over 20 years. Kohn worked in the equipment room at Middlebury from 1981-1988, while serving as a manager of the men’s lacrosse team. He later began to spend his winters in Florida and returned to campus each spring to work with the team. When time permitted, Kohn also enjoyed helping out with other spring teams at Middlebury as well as teams during his brief visits in the fall and winter. Kohn is well-known throughout the lacrosse world, having served as manager of the U.S. National Team several times at the World Games.

Read the rest HERE

Excerpt from the Middlebury Campus student newspaper article today by Emma Gardner:

Middlebury lacrosse legend Peter Kohn passes away

Lacrosse legend Peter Kohn has passed away.

The Middlebury lacrosse field manager failed to recover after a heart attack on Aug. 1 that hospitalized him.

Kohn - part of the Middlebury family for over two decades - left an indelible impression upon those he met and inspired. Before arriving at the College in 1981, Kohn spent years mentoring teams and players at every level of the game. He managed six world teams and 32 all-star games, became known for his generous spirit and tireless loyalty and demonstrated a passion for lacrosse that touched generations of players. Today, the women's field-hockey and lacrosse field bears his name.

"He was the heart and soul of the lacrosse program," said women's lacrosse tri-captain Blair Bowie '09. "You could meet any alumnus from the past 40 years of Middlebury lacrosse and talk to her for hours and hours about Peter; he brought people together like that. Essentially, he represented the epitome of pure love of sport for no other reason than the joy of playing."

Kohn maintained a subtle but powerful presence throughout the lacrosse world. His far-reaching contributions to the sport were formally commended in 2004 when he was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Despite receiving numerous accolades and widespread recognition for his outstanding role in the lacrosse community, Kohn remained humble, genuine and focused on his players.

Read it all HERE

A Must Read: William Stringfellow...

A Must Read: William Stringfellow...check out the Stringfellow Week at Ben Myers' Faith & Theology Blog

Check out all of Ben Myer's postings on Stringfellow HERE

Here is but one excerpt:


Stringfellow on American Leaders

“The … ingenious aggressions of the principalities against human life in society, the victimisation of human beings … by the demonic powers exposes a crucial aspect of the contemporary American social crisis. The American problem is not so simple that it can be attributed to a few – or even many – evil men in high places…. Our men in high places are not exceptionally immoral; they are, on the contrary, quite ordinarily moral. In truth, the conspicuous moral fact about our generals, our industrialists, our scientists, our commercial and political leaders is that they are the most obvious and pathetic prisoners in American society. There is unleashed among the principalities in this society a ruthless, self-proliferating, all-consuming institutional process which assaults … and destroys human life even among, and primarily among, those persons in positions of institutional leadership. They are left with titles but without effectual authority; with the trappings of power, but without control over the institutions they head; in nominal command, but bereft of dominion…. The most poignant victim of the demonic in America today is the so-called leader”

(An Ethic for Christians and Other Aliens in a Strange Land, pp. 88-89).

Peter Gomes on the Colbert Report: (newsflash) Churches Protect the Status Quo

One of my heroes, and a fellow Bates College grad, is the Chaplain of Harvard University, Rev. Dr. Peter Gomes. He is a great preacher and has written some wonderful books about scripture and about preaching. He was recently on the Colbert Report to talk about his new book, The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus.

"He says Jesus came to turn things upside down, but churches have turned out to be defenders of the status quo." (hat tip goes to The Episcopal Cafe for this one!)

He is also interviewed on NPR, here, in a longer, more in-depth discussion...

~Rev. Peter M. Carey

Check out the Bates College and the other NESCAC Schools!

Big shout-out to my alma mater, Bates College, Lewiston, ME, and their fall sports schedules about to begin. Bates is in the NESCAC League, (New England Small College Athletic League) an awesome league of liberal arts schools, and some great student athletes who excel in the classroom, and on the athletic fields! If you know a high school senior who is looking for a college, they should definitely take a look at the schools from this league!

Go Bobcats!!!

~ Rev. Peter Carey, Bates '91

Amherst College
Bates College
Bowdoin College
Colby College
Connecticut College
Hamilton College
Middlebury College
Trinity College
Tufts University
Wesleyan University
Williams College

~ The Rev. Peter Carey

Sunday Video Watching - Some of my Favorites - Video 1 - Corey Harris at Bates

Corey Harris, artist in residence at Bates College

Roots musician Corey Harris Bates College '91 in residence: photos and video

Mar. 4, 2008

Corey Harris '91
A learning associate's week

"I like to meet people where they're at," says roots musician Corey Harris '91.

At the moment, it's late on the afternoon of Feb. 29, a few hours before his performance in the Olin Concert Hall, and Harris is talking about how he will teach his master class the next day.

But the quote also does a good job describing how Harris' week as a Bates learning associate played out. He met students and faculty, their ideas and disciplines, with nuanced expertise.

On Tuesday afternoon, for example, Harris joined the discussion in Professor of History Margaret Creighton's course "Regions and American Culture."

View Video:

There, he used his mastery of Delta blues to give insight into one part of Southern identity.

Actually, he let his guitar do the talking. "He showed us how blues technique varied across parts of the South, even demonstrating nuances between places only a hundred miles or so apart," says Creighton.

Praised as a blues revivalist in the '90s, Harris was already moving forward on an intellectual/musical excursion. "What I play is roots music," he said in 1997. "I'm grounded very heavily in blues but I let everything influence me from what I hear today to what I'm gonna hear to what I have heard. I try to be as open as I can."

Harris' noteworthy 2007 saw him receive an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Bates and a five-year, $500,000 "genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation, which describes the artist as someone who "forges an adventurous path marked by deliberate eclecticism." Indeed, a glimpse at his touring schedule says it all: a banjo-based, roots-blues group performance at London's Barbican arts venue in late April followed by a reggae-tinged gig at the Lake Eden Arts Festival in North Carolina a few days later.

Harris calls his music "diaspora rock," and it's a passport of sorts.

Reat the rest HERE.

Corey Harris, seen here with family and friends at his Commencement in 1991, graduated with high honors in anthropology. He received an honorary Doctor of Music in 2007 and returned to campus as a learning associate in late February 2008. Photograph by David Wilkinson.

What would it take?

I have been wondering what it would take for people today to take to the streets to protest the current state of affairs in our country. At lunch today I had an interesting conversation with a colleague who had been in school in the '60s and described the protests that occurred related to the Vietnam War and the struggle for Civil Rights. Today, we have what amounts to a perpetual war in Iraq - and we may be soon at war with Iran. I wonder what it would take for people to finally say that they are fed up? I think that we have, perhaps, done better to work to support our troops - - I hope we are doing better at this task, but we seem to be lacking in leaders who have a level of nuance when it comes to discussing our foreign policy and who might be able to help us to both support our troops, and also seek solutions that won't take decades of occupation in the Middle East.

What would it take for people to take a stand on this issue, and so many others? I am also complicit in this non-action. Feeling relatively comfortable in my present state of economy, I feel the inertia of the status quo keeping me from standing firm with those who are working for justice. I feel the inertia of the status quo that whispers to me that I shouldn't rock the boat, lest I may fall in water. However, perhaps falling in is what is needed. I remember being at Bates College when the first Iraq War broke out in the Winter of 1991, and we took to the streets! And, from this vantage point, that military action looks like it may have fallen within the requirements of a Just War (perhaps). But today, we hear of Waterboarding, of some very strange and scary practices with detainees at Gitmo, the ongoing work of the School of the Americas (School of the Assassins?) to train mercenaries and "security" forces for corrupt regimes. We hear of this, we hear of the actions that our government is taking, yet there is not much criticism of these actions. Why not? What is keeping us glued to our sofas? What is keeping us from turning off American Idol?

I am not sure, but whether you are in full support of our current administration's policies or not, I would love to have a debate about it. I would love to hear some experts and ordinary people go head to head on these issues. I would love to see some Anti-War (and even "pro-war") marches!

What would it take to get people off their fat behinds to step up and stand for something?

"You've got to stand right up for something, or you're goin' to fall for everything" John Cougar Mellencamp