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Bangor Metro >  January-February 2007 >  Scout's Honor

Photo by Eric Landis

Recently, Dr. John Winkin was awarded the Distinguished Citizen Award by the Katahdin Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America for his lifelong dedication to coaching and youth sports. Over 350 business leaders, community organizations, Scouts, and friends attended the event at the Bangor Civic Center, pledging over $75,000 to support the programs of scouting in the Katahdin Area Council.

At 86, Winkin is the oldest head coach in any college sport in the United States, serving as Husson College’s head baseball coach. Yet, says Husson president William Beardsley, “He’s one of the youngest people we have in the sense of his energy, his drive.”

Winkin was an Eagle Scout in New Jersey before serving in the military and witnessing the attack on Pearl Harbor from a nearby ship. He was a founding editor of Sport magazine, worked as a broadcaster, and has authored four books on sports. He came to Maine to coach baseball at Colby College in Waterville, and became head coach at the University of Maine in 1974. He led the Black Bears to the College World Series six times. He has been head coach at Husson since 2003, and is the college’s vice president of sports leadership. Coach Winkin, an Eagle Scout, credits the values of the Scout oath and law for his success. “I think my calling in life has led me to helping people, especially young people,” he said. “I think the oath is the backbone.”

With an operating budget of $1.1 million, the Katahdin Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America serves over 5,500 youth with the assistance of over 3,000 adult volunteers in Penobscot, Waldo, Hancock, Piscataquis, Aroostook, and Washington Counties.