Don Robitaille, 91, of Lewiston high-fives a fan Sunday during a Bates women’s basketball timeout. Robitaille saw a need for cheering at sports games and volunteered himself for the role. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal
LEWISTON — When the cowbell tolls at Bates College basketball games, fans pay heed.
Longtime cheerleader Don Robitaille clangs the bell between periods and during timeouts to get the crowd cheering and boost the players.
“Students love it,” he said. “They go crazy and have a good time.”
At a recent match between the Bobcats women’s team and the Williams College Ephs, Robitaille, in a faded “Bobcats” T-shirt, faced fans seated on bleachers, rang the bell and called for a “B.”
He continued, “Give me an ‘A,’ give me a ‘T,’ …”
Fans cheered loudly.
Robitaille, 91, is a retired vending machine repairman and Navy veteran who lives near Bates College. He is an avid fan of the school’s basketball and football teams.
“When I started going to games, there was a student who would get up during timeouts and get the crowd all riled up,” Robitaille said in a recent interview.
The following year, the student was not there.
Don Robitaille, 91, of Lewiston leads a cheer Sunday during a Bates women’s basketball timeout. Robitaille saw a need for the cheering and volunteered himself for the role. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal
“I thought, ‘Where’s the guy? He must have graduated,’” Robitaille said. “So, the next time out, I got up and said, ‘We need a cheer,’ and the crowd responded — loudly.”
That was 30 years ago.
Now he also leads cheers at Bates football and volleyball games, and a couple of weeks ago he took his enthusiasm to Central Maine Community College.
“I asked the (women’s basketball coach) if I could do a cheer and he said, ‘Go for it,’” Robitaille said.
He said he was going back again that same week.
The purpose of the cowbell is to “wake them up,” he said. “I have a good time.”
Don Robitaille, 91, of Lewiston leads a cheer Sunday during a Bates Colleg women’s basketball timeout. Robitaille saw a need for the cheering and volunteered himself for the role. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal
When he’s not at sports games, Robitaille stays active: He rides his bicycle whenever the weather allows. He snowshoes when the snow is not too deep.
He bikes almost 4,000 miles a year, he said, adding that he had logged almost 100 miles by mid-January.
At age 70, he took his first cross-country bicycle trip, from Maine to Seattle. Ten years later, he biked from St. Augustine, Florida, to Texas. He would have kept going west, but he cracked a couple of ribs and damaged his bike when he tipped over in a slanted driveway in the small town of Comfort, Texas.
“Comfort,” he said, noting the irony.
He hitchhiked the 1,500 miles back to St. Augustine, bicycle in tow. It took four days, he said, adding, “It was quite an adventure.”
Robitaille got 14 rides, always insisting, “Bike’s coming with me.”
Everyone was “very nice,” he said. “No bad experiences.”
People would even get off the interstate to take him to motels.
Robitaille likes to talk and is not shy. Along with his apparently ageless energy and enthusiasm, he has an impish sense of humor.
Back in Lewiston, at his home on Old Greene Road, he watches from a window as his 90-year-old wife shovels snow in their driveway. He and Jeannine were high school sweethearts, now married for 67 years.
“I gotta go help her,” he says. “She’s looking at me.”
Then he laughs.
“I should let her do a little bit more,” he says.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
