Not too many years ago, Wiscasset Middle High School was Wiscasset High School. The name was changed at the end of the school year in 2015 when due to declining student enrollment the high school was combined with Wiscasset Middle School. The new name took effect in September for the start of the 2015-2016 school year, the building undergoing some minor modifications to accomodate grades 6, 7 and 8. The high school had adopted its Wolverine mascot four years earlier in 2011; the school colors remained the same, red and black.

The team pictures shown here were taken by me in the fall of 1980, when Wiscasset High School’s student enrollment was about three times what it is now. The high school then had two cross-country teams, one for boys, the other for girls, and a boys' varsity and junior varsity soccer team. I took the pictures for the newspaper in late October near the end of the fall season. Hard to believe that was 45 years ago and some of the players shown are now grandparents! Maybe you recognize a few of the faces, or see yourself pictured here. Well, there're a few too many players pictured for me to name everybody, although I do want to share a few thoughts about the four coaches.

That’s Charles “Chuck” Shea standing with the boys’ cross-country team. After graduating from Bowdoin College, Mr. Shea returned to Wiscasset High School, his alma mater, where he taught math and served as advisor to the National Honor Society. Along with cross-country, he also coached basketball and baseball, too. Mr. Shea was quite an athlete himself in high school and college. He still resides in Wiscasset with Faye, his wife, on Chewonki Road out by the airport. After he retired from teaching he drove a school bus transporting the WHS teams to their away games.

Chuck’s brother-in-law Tim Flanagan is shown with the girls’ cross-country team. He also coached track, tennis and golf. It’s true, WHS had a golf team, a really good one, too. Student Samantha Sommers became the school’s first and only state Class C golf champion. Mr. Flanagan is probably best remembered for leading the Redskin boys’ basketball team to their first Maine Class C State Championship. He too taught math and also served as a student advisor and math team coach. He passed away not quite a year ago in December 2024. His wife Judy Shea Flanagan, a former Wiscasset selectboard member, continues to reside in the home she shared with Tim where they raised their family. It’s just a short walk from the high school. Judy, by the way, was the town of Wiscasset’s first woman elected to the selectboard.

Bill Carr, shown at the far left, coached the WHS boys' team. For many years Mr. Carr taught phys. ed and health at Wiscasset Middle School on Federal Street. He was also the junior high’s athletic director. Along with soccer Mr. Carr coached high school baseball. For many years Bill and his wife Jane resided on Foye Road where they raised their children who naturally attended Wiscasset schools. A few years ago, I happened to see Bill at L.L. Bean when I was working on the sales floor. He told me he and Jane had moved inland, Winthrop, I think. Bill was a good mentor, it was he who first hired me to coach in the Wiscasset school system – boys’ soccer, baseball and also track & field. One player shown in the soccer picture is Steve Dolton; he’s standing fifth from the right. Steve was a foreign exchange student from Oxford, England. His stay was hosted by the Ralph Sweeny family who lived in Dresden. Steve was quite a soccer player; he could play any position of the field. A few years ago he returned to the states and visited Wiscasset.

The final picture is one for the archives because it’s the first ever WHS girls’ soccer team. It was taken in the fall of 1981 when the high school introduced the sport and became a part of the former Mid-Maine Conference. Due to a lack of interest the high school had dropped field hockey a couple of years previous to this. The late David Fischer, “Fisch” to his players, was the team’s coach. Soft-spoken but firm when he needed to be, he led his charges to the playoffs in their first season and several other seasons thereafter. Mr. Fischer arrived at Wiscasset High in 1967 and spent 35 years teaching English here. His wife Cindy taught in the Wiscasset School System, too, elementary school. She was my daughter Katie’s kindergarten teacher and taught my son Jason as well. Sadly, Mr. Fisher passed away much too soon in June 2019. Mrs. Fisher continues to reside downtown.

These men were outstanding role models, both in the classroom and on the playing field. They believed, as I do, that being a student-athlete means striving to give your best not only in sports, but in academics as well.  

Phil Di Vece earned a B.A. in journalism studies from Colorado State University and an M.A. in journalism at University of South Florida. He is the author of three Wiscasset books and is a frequent news contributor to the Boothbay Register/Wiscasset Newspaper. He resides in Wiscasset. Contact him at pdivece@wiscassetschools.org