Springer presented with Myrick Award

DOVER-FOXCROFT — A life devoted to the service of others has earned Kevin Springer of Greenville the Piscataquis County Economic Development Council’s 2025 Warren “Pete” Myrick Community Service Award. 

The honor recognizes an extraordinary dedication to community service, education and civic leadership across Piscataquis County. Springer was presented with the Myrick Award during a combined annual dinner and awards ceremony for the PCEDC and Piscataquis Chamber of Commerce on Monday evening at the Central Hall Commons.

The late Myrick of Guilford was a founding member of PCEDC and a lifelong advocate for civic engagement, economic growth and education. Each year, the award celebrates those who follow in his footsteps through exceptional service and leadership. 

Springer, a lifelong Greenville resident, serves as the supervisor of ambulance services at Northern Light CA Dean Hospital and he has devoted his life to helping others. Whether responding to emergencies, mentoring new EMTs or organizing community events, Springer is known for his selflessness, compassion and unwavering sense of duty, per the announcement of his honor.

A 1990 Greenville High School graduate, Springer began his career in the culinary arts before returning home to serve in emergency medicine. For more than 20 years, he has been a cornerstone of local healthcare and public safety, volunteering countless hours with Greenville’s fire department and leading initiatives such as the Community Para-Medicine Program — connecting paramedics with primary care physicians to support elderly and homebound residents. 

Springer’s commitment extends well beyond his profession. He is an active member of the Friends of Squaw Mountain, helping revive the ski area now known as Big Moose Mountain and regularly volunteers with Greenville Schools for events like Career Day, TV Turn-Off Week and student vaccination clinics. He’s also known for organizing and cooking at community benefit dinners, often helping neighbors through hardship with kindness and humility. 

John Simko, a PCEDC board member who nominated Springer, said the honoree served as best man at his wedding.

“Certainly Kevin has done tremendous work across the community, but I know him best from his work with emergency medical services,” Simko — the 2010 Myrick Award recipient — said. 

He said he worked with Myrick years ago and Springer reminds Simko of Myrick’s dedication to service.

“He’s very good at his job, in the event you found yourself in an emergency you would count yourself lucky that Kevin is on the scene,” Simko said about the man who he has worked shoulder to shoulder with on many shifts.

“Sure he knows his craft, he could start an IV in the dark while hanging upside down in an overturned vehicle,” Simko said. “But what makes Kevin exceptional is not that he does his job well, he does, but how he chooses to do his job. When a serious call comes in, perhaps a car crash, ATV accident in a remote setting, perhaps a cardiac arrest at a remote camp up on the lake, it is not uncommon for the 2-person crew responding to have your phone ring while you are leaving the hospital. Kevin will be on the other end offering to meet the ambulance and jump onboard and help if he can. He doesn’t have to do this but he does it anyway.”

Springer will check in with ambulance crew members after calls to see how they are doing and allow them to talk through their experiences. These can help the responders see the situation a little better.

“‘There’s nothing else you could have done’ is a common refrain from Kevin,” Simko said.

Often Springer knows the patients and families when arriving on scene. He can help with the next steps, such as calling the proper authorities and Springer can speak with family members to let them know what has happened if needed.

There are also the other times, such as saving someone’s life and one instance where Springer helped carry a hospice patient on a stretcher upstairs at church so she could attend her beloved choir one last time.

Springer will also pitch in and help out, even on his day off. Simko said one patient from Rockwood was transported to Greenville, and then to Bangor for emergency surgery. Springer put in 10-12 hours even though he was not supposed to work this day, instead wanting to provide the best possible care for the patient.

This year’s Myrick Award winner also will check in with elderly community members, doing so for Simko’s late mother as if she was Springer’s own parent.

“He eased my sorrow by helping carry my burden,” Simko said when his mother passed away several years ago. “He’s a brother to me and family to everybody in the Greenville community.”

“Like Pete Myrick did, Kevin Springer works to better the lot and life of those in this community,” Simko said. “He does so not in official channels, but rather organically looking not for fame or fortune but proof that he has made a difference which he does every day.”

After receiving a standing ovation, Springer thanked everyone and said the honor is very humbling for him.

“We really appreciate you for everything that you do, more than we even knew,” Piscataquis Chamber of Commerce Executive Director/PCEDC board member Denise Buzzelli said.

Previous Myrick Award recipients are Owen Pratt, retired Dover-Foxcroft town manager (2003); Merlene Sanborn, director of the Penquis Higher Education Center (2004); Roger Merchant, Piscataquis County Cooperative Extension Service (2005); Edwin Treworgy, retired educator, long-term member of the SAD 41 school board and member of the Three Rivers Kiwanis in Milo/Brownville (2006); Tracy Michaud Stutzman, executive director of the Maine Crafts Association (2007); Sherry French, office manager for WDME Radio (2008); Rhonda Taylor of Maine Highlands Federal Credit Union (2009); John Simko, former town manager of Greenville and former president of PCEDC (2010); Thelma Regan, executive director of Piscataquis Valley Adult Education Cooperative (2011); Bob and Barbara Moore, owners of Bob’s Sugarhouse (2012); Dennis Green, former select board member Brownville (2013); Richard “Dick” Brown, CEO Charlotte White Center (2014); Eddie Lewis, volunteerism and community and the Dover-Foxcroft Kiwanis Club (2015); Norman E. Higgins, retired SAD 4 superintendent and state representative (2016); Sue Mackey Andrews, Solutions Consulting Group, LLC, Dover-Foxcroft (2017); Nancy and Tom Harrigan of Milo (2018); Tom Lizotte, retired Piscataquis County manager and PCEDC board member (2019); Tom Goulette, retired Guilford town manager (2020); Paul Stearns, retired SAD 4 superintendent and state representative (2021); Bill Thompson, retired educator and longtime Guilford select board member (2022); Chris Maas, longtime Dover-Foxcroft community volunteer (2023); and Jack Clukey, Dover-Foxcroft town manager (2024).