Editors note: This is the first of four profiles on the Class of 2009 that will be inducted next weekend into the Auburn-Lewiston Sports Hall of Fame.

AUBURN – You can’t have it all. You can’t do it all, either.

Yet somehow, through a journey in sports on target to enter its seventh decade next winter, John White has just about managed to try it all.

In neatly divided increments. With consistent success.

“Somehow I think I’ll always be connected to sports,” White said. “I competed. I coached. I was an administrator. Now I officiate soccer, basketball and baseball. I don’t ever drift too far from the sporting venue.”

Honoring a diverse career that never strayed far from his hometown, but included two unforgettable trips to Florida, the Auburn-Lewiston Sports Hall of Fame will usher White into its circle of honor Sunday.

One of the most versatile members of a storied Twin Cities athletic family, White will join his father John, uncle Bud and brother-in-law Bob Kendall in the hall.

His brother, Don, was one of his football teammates at the University of Maine, too.

“It’s nice company,” said John.

Fruits of his labor

The pinnacle of White’s playing career was a team milestone.

As a junior at Maine in 1965, White was a wide receiver on a Black Bears team that earned a berth in the Tangerine Bowl in Orlando.

It’s a footnote in history unlikely to be duplicated. The Tangerine Bowl later evolved into a New Year’s Day game known as the Capital One Bowl. Maine now plays in what is called the Football Championship Subdivision, formerly Division I-AA, where bowls aren’t part of the equation.

“It was in a different league, in a different time, with a different set-up,” White said.

But it was then, and arguably is now, the school’s crowning achievement on the gridiron.

Maine, coached by Harold Westerman, started the season with eight consecutive wins.

Early on, the Black Bears upset the University of Massachusetts, 10-7. White can rattle off a list of four Minutemen, including quarterback Greg Landry, who eventually made it to the NFL.

In another make-or-break game, Youngstown State put Maine in a 22-7 hole.

“We held them scoreless in the second half and won,” White said.

Two tough trips

That watershed season ended with two bittersweet trips to the Sunshine State.

Only the University of Tampa stood between the Black Bears and an undefeated regular season. Scoreless, the game raged on until Maine found itself backed up to its goal line.

Quarterback Dick DeVarney scrambled to find an open receiver. When a Tampa defender grabbed a fistful of jersey, DeVarney flung the ball toward the sideline.

“It was ruled a safety, and we lost the game, 2-0,” White said. “We didn’t really expect to go any farther.”

Despite the loss, Maine maintained its grip on both the top spot in the Yankee Conference and the Lambert Trophy, awarded to the top team in the Northeast.

It was enough to secure an invitation to the Tangerine Bowl for a showdown with Southern Conference champion East Carolina.

Maine kept the game tied into the early minutes of the second quarter. Then attrition caught up with the Black Bears.

“Dick DeVarney was our quarterback. John Huard was our defensive standout. We lost both of them to injuries in the first half,” White said. “We were like a ship adrift without them, and we got spanked. It wasn’t pretty.”

White also won a Yankee Conference track and field championship in the javelin.

That, too, was owed to a quirk of fate that couldn’t happen in today’s more specialized times.

“I started out in baseball as a center fielder, and I had a pretty good arm,” said White. “Back then we were able to do both baseball and track in high school. So I tried the javelin, and it just came naturally to me. I ended up being state champion.”

Teach your children well

White didn’t need to look far from Orono for his initial coaching and teaching job.

He and DeVarney joined Gerry Hodge’s football staff at Bangor High School after graduation. They reached the state championship game in their initial try.

Edward Little offered an opportunity to return home in 1969. White spent the remainder of his career – 32 years – at his alma mater, the final 21 as athletic director.

The duties of scheduling, overseeing live events, preparing fields and supervising coaches forced White to give up one of his hobbies.

While teaching, he became certified as a basketball official.

“After I became the AD, I didn’t have the time for it,” said White. “I never took it up again until I retired.”

Regrets? White expresses none.

State championships and gaudy winning percentages provide bold print on White’s EL resume, but his fondest memories of that stint are the personal ones.

“I got to watch our four children all play three sports in high school,” he said.

Today, White often is seen wearing stripes or blues and adorned with a whistle or carrying a clicker, looking 10 to 20 years younger than his actual age while adjudicating a high school soccer, basketball or baseball game.

“It’s a pretty good arrangement,” White said. “I have my mornings to myself.”

For all he’s seen and done, he’ll have to share Sunday evening with a few hundred of his closest friends.