Waldoboro High School alumnus Jim Graffam coaches students not just about the game of basketball, but also about the game of life.
Thankful for the support of the people in Waldoboro who sent him off to college and saved him from what he said would likely have been his death in the Vietnam War, Graffam never lost sight of the dream to strive for the best and has dedicated a long career as a mentor to students.
He recently drafted a thank-you letter to Waldoboro residents for the help he received 41 years ago, hoping they would get the message. Waldoboro Town Manager William Post read the letter during a Board of Selectmen meeting on July 28.
Graffam remembered when Wayne Pinkham, former Waldoboro businessman and selectman, stirred up the crowds using a famed “Spirit Jug” during high school basketball games in 1968.
A picture shows Pinkham dressed in suit and tie in mid-stride in front a large high school gymnasium crowd, his mouth open wide and a ceramic jug clenched in one hand held high. Pinkham, a self-described cheerleader for high school basketball, also announced the games over the radio at the booth in the Augusta Civic Center.
Graffam remembered the day of the last basketball game at Waldoboro High School when Pinkham and 75 residents of the town told him to wait before going off to war. They sent him to college instead.
The letter reads, “The conflict in Vietnam became personal when my best friend, Billy Shuman, who had been drafted in 1967, was shipped over in March. My intention was to join the Marines or the Army and follow him.
“In high school I enjoyed playing sports and by all accounts was an under-achieving student. I had no drive or reason to go to college. I wanted to serve my country. Only because of the nagging of my parents and a couple of my teachers had I even applied (and was accepted) to one school- Gorham State Teachers College, now USM.”
Graffam described how Pinkham, who operated an Exxon Service Station at the time, gathered monetary donations from 75 residents of Waldoboro. They paid for his first year of college including room, board and tuition, Graffam said.
“Whatever we did was well deserved,” Pinkham said from the front lawn of the Waldoboro home he shares with his wife, Arlene, who was also instrumental in getting Graffam to his first year in college.
Graffam had a difficult time concentrating on his work at the time, however. At the end of a road race, Graffam was confronted by his father and uncle who told him the news that his best friend had been shot while on patrol. He also learned that his brother was going to join the war.
“Only through the help of my family, my teammates and coaches, and the huge obligation I felt to the kind people of Waldoboro did I make it through,” he wrote.
Graffam said he went on to serve his country in the Army National Guard for 22 years after graduating from college in 1972. He eventually coached basketball and some baseball for many students throughout the following years.
From Medomak Valley High School, Bonny Eagle High School, St. Joseph’s in Standish, the University of Maine in Fort Kent, Gorham Mountain College in Vermont, the College of St. Joseph’s in Rutland, VT and, finally, to Lee Academy, the basketball coach emphasized the importance of trying.
“There’s nothing wrong with failing at trying to be the best you can be,” he said during a recent interview.
The coach, who also teaches history, composed his thank-you letter after memories surfaced during a class focused on the 1960’s.
He wrote, “I didn’t thank the people back in 1968 and I write this letter to do so today. Thank you. Without the kindness of Wayne Pinkham and the giving spirit of the people of Waldoboro, who knows what would have happened to me. Their actions quite possibly saved my life.”
Graffam said he has been a mentor his whole life and in his own way has been paying back what was given to him during those turbulent years. He especially enjoys coaching the students in his program at Lee Academy in Lee.
Lee’s basketball program attracts student athletes from all the United States and other countries, such as China. The challenge, Graffam said, is getting the students from different backgrounds to work together as a team. Many of them come from single parent homes. Some come from inner cities and other students from country lifestyles, but all of Graffam’s players have challenges to conquer.
He said they all want to be NBA players, but have to grow physically and emotionally in order to be ready for the regimented programs of professional sports.
Graffam started a rigorous program at Westbrook College, during a time he described as the “perfect storm of athletic testosterone”. As the college’s first athletic director since WWII, Graffam said he was trying to prove himself. There were no athletes, so he brought in coaches who then formed teams within three months. Some students had little to no experience playing basketball, he said.
Starting an athletic ‘boot camp’ program from the ground up, his freshman team went from winning 13 games in 1990 to winning 30 games in 1994. His students also learned some valuable off-court lessons.
Graffam recalled how they experienced death first hand while running laps in a cemetery. A man, who was not part of their team, fell down and died as he had been running.
One of his players was struck in the testicles and later discovered he had testicular cancer. Graffam said the player became very good at basketball after surviving the cancer and would have qualified for professional sports, but instead became a New York City firefighter. Eight other students from his program at Westbrook College moved on to play professional sports.
Asked to define his career, Graffam said it wouldn’t so much be about the students who succeeded in pursuing professional sports, but about the students who strived to be their best.
“I’ve had a lot of kids who have gone on and have been successful,” he said. “That’s the payback you have as an educator.”
Graffam said he believes that had he gone off to the war in Vietnam he would not have returned alive. He said he too would have strived for his best and would have signed up for the most challenging and most dangerous service.
He grew up on a hen farm in north Waldoboro. Graffam said his father, who had an eighth grade education, put all his children through college, believing that education provides flexibility and offers opportunities not easily available to those without. His father told him that as long as he worked hard and was a good person, he would get ahead in life.
Graffam is still trying to answer some questions today. He’s not sure what his pal, Billy Shuman, would say if he were alive, but he bets Shuman would approve of his life’s work.
