Lincoln Academy will induct six new members into the school’s Sports Hall of Fame on Friday, Nov. 28 during alumni basketball festivities. The awards presentation will
take place between games at 6 p.m. in the Nelson Bailey Gymnasium. This is the third annual induction ceremony.
New inductees include former student athletes Arlene McCurda Cole, Lowell F. Simmons, Kenneth M. Dodge Jr., Robert Tukey, and Dr. Stephen Reed; as well as
coach Jeff Bradbury.
Arlene McCurda Cole
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Arlene McCurda Cole grew up in Jefferson, and graduated from Lincoln Academy in 1947. She played basketball and softball and lettered three years in each. In 1945, the
basketball team was second in the Knox Lincoln League. They tied in 1946 and won the championship in 1947, winning all 15 games.
In 1947 the softball team won 15 games and tied Camden for the championship. They won the Knox Lincoln softball title in 1946 and ’47 and went undefeated in
both seasons.
Cole does not recall even holding a basketball before her freshman year. She came off the bench as a guard under principal and coach Nelson Bailey in her
sophomore year and blossomed.
“By the start of my junior year I was a regular starter for the team, and we continued to win,” Cole said. Her job was to steal the ball and feed it to the
forwards on the other half of the court. When Cole played there were six members of the team, three forwards and three guards. The forwards never crossed the centerline
on the court.
Cole was the catcher for the softball team for three years. “Back then we did not use gloves,” she said. “I had no mitt; no body or facial protection. Of
course the ball was a lot softer than a baseball and the pitcher threw it to the batter underhand. World War II was going on while I was at Lincoln and no one had any
extras. Probably we couldn’t have bought the equipment if we had wanted to.
“Near the end of my time, a few of the girls had gloves, but I was so used to catching with my bare hands, I couldn’t change.”
Later, she returned to college and graduated from the University of Maine at Orono with a bachelor’s degree in history.
The Coles owned and operated Cole’s Woodcrafts out of their shop on Academy Hill, where they made wooden toys and novelties for gift shops.
Arlene Cole has remained active in the community, teaching Sunday school at The Second Congregational Church in Newcastle, serving as president of the PTA,
serving as a ballot clerk for Newcastle for nearly 50 years, and serving as deputy warden and deputy registrar of voters.
She was on the organizational committee of the Newcastle Historical Society and served as secretary for many years. She later moved to the position of
curator of the museum.
Always interested in history, she wrote the history book “Between Two Rivers” for the town during its 250th anniversary in 2003. She wrote many historical
articles for The Lincoln County News and they were published into a book, “History Tales of Newcastle, Maine,” in 2012. She is also a life member of the
Jefferson Historical Society.
Cole has been active in the Grange since age 7. When the Jefferson Juvenile Grange was formed in 1938, she became master and later secretary. She is a past
master of Bunker Hill Grange and served as secretary for 35 years. When Bunker Hill gave up its charter, she joined Willow Grange in Jefferson. She is also a member of
Lincoln Pomona, Maine State, and National Grange.
She won the blueberry pie contest at Union Fair in 1960 and became the first Wild Blueberry Queen. Her picture still hands in the hall at Union Fair.
She has been a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather observer since May 13, 1965. NOAA awarded her with the coveted Thomas Jefferson
award in 2012. Her daily weather report has appeared in The Lincoln County News for over 50 years.
She and George had three children, Marjorie Turner, Raymond, and Dorothy, and all three graduated from Lincoln Academy.
Lowell F. Simmons
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A great athlete and an even greater patriot, Lowell F. Simmons graduated from Lincoln Academy in 1935. Simmons played basketball all four years and was captain of his
senior year team that posted a 14-0 record to win their second consecutive Knox-Lincoln League championship.
In addition to basketball, Simmons was a gifted track and field athlete for his four years. One season, he represented LA and the state of Maine at the New
England championships in the broad jump and high hurdles.
Simmons was always competing in something after school. In the fall, he ran cross-country, and in the spring, with glove and bat, he played four years of
baseball, being selected captain in his junior season. He even made time to play on the club tennis team.
Simmons was aptly described in the Lincolnian ’34 as “our star all around man.”
After graduating, Simmons enlisted in the United States Army and passed his air cadet entrance examination in August 1942. He was called for flight training
in 1943. After extensive training, he chose heavy bombers and had additional training in the B-17 in Florida.
During World War II, he was assigned to overseas duty in the European Theater with the 8th Air Force in May 1944. He flew bombing missions on Berlin.
Second Lt. Simmons was killed in action while over a North African desert. His plane was hit by flak that knocked out three engines. Lowell ordered the
other nine men on board to jump. They were captured, but all returned home.
Simmons’ chute caught on the tail wing of the plane and he went down with it. He was listed as missing in action for an extended period of time. The missing
plane was located in a North African desert and found to contain Simmons’ remains.
He was survived by his wife Flora and son Lowell S. and daughter Marilyn.
After his death, an award was set up in his memory at the school. The Lowell F. Simmons Award is voted on by the Lincoln Academy coaches and is given
annually for excellence in athletics and citizenship.
Kenneth M. Dodge Jr.
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Kenneth M. Dodge Jr. graduated from Lincoln Academy in 1963. He earned four varsity letters in basketball, four in track and field, one in cross-country, and two in
football.
He was the first recipient of the Lowell F. Simmons Memorial Award. He earned two first place medals for low hurdles in the Knox-Lincoln track and field
championships, and earned second and third place medals on LA’s 880 relay team in 1962 and 1963.
He was presented the best athlete medal and he won the intramural track meet for the 1963 senior class by competing and placing in every event.
As a freshman, he earned the Good Citizenship award and was a member of Boys State and the National Honor Society.
After graduation he joined the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve, and in 1966, served active duty doing general machine work and maintenance aboard the USCG cutter
Unimak.
He received a degree from Southern Maine Vocational Technical Institute in machine tool technology in 1969. He returned to the institute for metallurgy and
computer-assisted N/C programming courses, and continues to advance his career with numerous classes right up to the present.
Robert Tukey
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Robert Tukey graduated from Lincoln Academy in 1964. A star athlete, Tukey earned 15 varsity letters in cross-country, basketball, track, and baseball. He is also a
recipient of the Lowell F. Simmons Memorial Award. He was the high scorer at a Knox-Lincoln championship track and field meet.
He set Lincoln Academy and Knox-Lincoln records in the 220- yard dash and won the state 220- yard dash championship in 1963.
He competed in seven events in track, the 100, 220, 440, 880 relay, 120 low hurdles, high jump, and long jump.
At 39 years old, at the LA 1985 alumni track meet, he tied for second in the pole vault and third in the 220.
Tukey lives in Richmond with his wife and has worked for L.L Bean the last 20 years. They have three children and he is expecting his first grandchild in
November.
Dr. Stephen Reed
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Stephen Reed graduated from Lincoln Academy in 1965. He earned four letters each in cross-country and track and field. The Eagles won four straight Knox- Lincoln track
championships while Reed was competing.
Coach Andy Williamson challenged other top teams for a state championship meet, but all teams declined and Lincoln proclaimed themselves the state champs.
Reed ran sprint events, including the 220, 440, and 880, and also did the long jump. His best events were the 440 and long jump. He won multiple league
titles in the events. He was the top scorer in the Knox- Lincoln championship meet his senior year.
Reed was active in lots of clubs and activities at Lincoln, including National Honor Society, music, and band. He was presented with the Belfour achievement
award for seniors.
After graduating from Lincoln, he attended Bowdoin, where he ran cross-country and track for a couple of years, before developing shin splints his second
year. He went to medical school at the University of Burlington in Vermont and did his residency at Maine Medical Center. He opened his practice in Wiscasset in 1976.
Reed started his 38-year running streak at the same time, and has run 3 miles every day outside ever since. His streak will hit 39 consecutive years in June
2015, if his aging hips holds out, he said. In 1989 he started competing in road races.
He has run 60 marathons, including 25 straight Boston Marathons. He has placed fifth in his age group at two Boston Marathons at 50 and 60, and was number
one in his age group at Chicago in his 50s. His best marathon time came at Boston in 2:43.
In 1999 he was named Maine Track Club Runner of the Year. When his streak hit 35 years, he was presented a grand masters medal by the U.S. Runners Streak
Association. He was also presented with a Boston Marathon commemorative jacket after running his 25th consecutive appearance in the great race last April.
Jeff Bradbury
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Coach Jeff Bradbury led the Eagle boys soccer team for 18 seasons. During his tenure, Lincoln Academy won three Western Maine Class B Regional titles and two state
championship titles in 1982 and 1987. The Eagles played in back-to-back State Class B championship games, beating Ellsworth in 1987 and losing to them in 1988.
The Eagles soccer team, under Bradbury, won four Mid-Maine Conference titles in 1981, 1982, 1987, and 1988.
He started the wrestling program at Lincoln in 1971. He also coached junior varsity boys soccer, JV baseball, and helped his daughter, Alison, coach field
hockey.
When he first started coaching, there was no stipend for coaches, just merit pay. The more activities a teacher was involved in, the bigger the pay raise
they got the next year.
Bradbury taught business education at Lincoln Academy and taught driver’s education as a side business. He taught thousands of students how to drive.
His first varsity boys soccer win was in 1976; his first Mid-Maine Conference title was in 1981, and his first state title in 1982. He collected his 100th
career win in 1984. He was named Coach of the Year by the coaches association in 1987.
Bradbury was a consummate program builder with the community, feeding off his desire to make Lincoln Academy soccer teams and fans number one. His teams
provided many memories with afternoon soccer games in a competitive Mid-Maine Conference. Lincoln Academy and community pride benefited greatly during his tenure as
soccer coach and teacher.
Bradbury also had passion and dedication to LA’s other sports programs. He was the spiritual leader of Lincoln Academy around basketball tournament time. He
organized pep rallies and distributed black-and-white spirit items to make sure school spirit was at its best.
In retirement, Bradbury continues to support Lincoln Academy and its sports teams. He is the definition of a lifelong Eagle. He undoubtedly is one of the
most colorful characters to have ever taught and coached at Lincoln Academy.
