Distinguished Service Award Recipient Don Guimond

Guimond has been Fort Kent town manager since December 1993 and he was at the helm in the town's handling of, and recovery from, the Flood of 2008.

Don Guimond was born on his family's farm in Fort Kent, the second of five children of Albert Jr. and Pauline Guimond. He and his siblings are the fourth generation to operate the farm - Buggy Brook Farms - on the Aroostook Road in Fort Kent and Wallagrass.

Over the years the family farm has seen a variety of crops and livestock. Today, it concentrates mainly on hay, small grains and a cow-calf operation that produces as many as 120 newborn calves, annually.

Guimond graduated from Fort Kent Community High School in 1976 and received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Husson University in 1980. Upon graduation, Don returned to his family roots where he immersed himself in his community, his occupation and improvements to the family farm.

He is a graduate (2000) of the University of Southern Maine's Muskie School of Public Service Municipal Leadership program, and earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont in 2007.

Prior to holding his current position, Don was Fort Kent's planning and economic development coordinator. He previously worked as a program assistant at the Farm Service Agency and as the manager at Fort Kent Federal Credit Union, now Acadia Federal Credit Union.

Among his many civic and business affiliations, Don is a director/treasurer of Acadia Federal Credit Union; serves on the advisory board of America's First Mile; is a director of the Aroostook Municipal Association; is a director of the Greater Fort Kent Area Chamber of Commerce; is a member of the Maine Beef Producers Association; member and chair of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farms Service Agency county committee; is a member of the Maine Municipal Association Legislative Policy Committee; is a director of Le Homestead Palliative/Hospice Center; and is a member of UMFK's Center for Rural Sustainable Development Committee.

Among the many recognitions that Don Guimond has received over the years include: St. John Valley's Outstanding Conservation Farmer (1990); Maine Beef Producer of the Year (1993); Citizenship Award from the Greater Fort Kent Area Chamber of Commerce (2004).