[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Page 3955]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                       CONGRATULATING JOHN DONATO

 Mr. KING. Mr. President, I wish to congratulate John Donato of 
Smithfield, ME, for his achievements in coaching over the past 45 
years. His hard work for girls' basketball teams across the State led 
to an impressive 500th win this past December, placing him in an 
exclusive club of extraordinary coaches. The season finished on a high 
note for his Lawrence High School team with a State championship win, 
marking his fifth State championship title over the course of his 
career.
  Mr. Donato's coaching record is stunning. While he passed the 500 
mark for basketball wins in December and now has 514, he has a grand 
total of 1,247 wins across all sports. His longest winning streak with 
a basketball team was an incredible 88 games. Mr. Donato has a long 
history of excellence in sports, from playing at the Boston Garden in 
semifinals games as a shooting guard in high school to bringing teams 
to wins as a coach at Houlton, Messalonskee, Mount View, Hall-Dale, and 
Lawrence High Schools. After attending Ricker College, Mr. Donato spent 
an impressive 18 years coaching basketball and 25 years coaching 
baseball at Houlton alone.
  While he was coach, the Houlton girls' basketball team won nine 
Eastern Maine Class B titles in 11 years and four State championships 
in 6 years. They had 261 wins overall. On top of that, his baseball 
team won two Eastern Maine titles, with 324 wins overall, and the golf 
team won two State championships. Mr. Donato then moved to central 
Maine, and after a year coaching at Hall-Dale High School, he began 
coaching at Messalonskee High School. There his team went 17-1 during 
his first season, a major turnaround from their 5-13 run the previous 
year. He would spend 8 years at Messalonskee, followed by 4 years at 
Mount View High School, and then began coaching girls' basketball at 
Lawrence in 2010. The girls' State championship victory this year marks 
Lawrence's first in 21 years.
  I am not the first to recognize Mr. Donato's great achievements. He 
was the McDonald's All-Star Coach of the Year 12 times, Eastern Maine 
Class B Coach of the Year 8 times, Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference 
Coach of the Year 4 times, and State of Maine Girls' Basketball Coach 
of the Year 5 times.
  Mr. Donato is not only a coach, but also a teacher and former 
business owner, now in his 14th year teaching science at Lawrence High 
School. In each respect, he has proven a strong commitment to his 
community. Whether in the gym or the classroom, Mr. Donato brings 
knowledge of leadership and team building that is invaluable for our 
students. I am proud to represent people such as Coach Donato, an 
outstanding citizen of Maine, in the U.S. Senate. On the occasion of 
his 500th win and fifth State championship title, I extend my 
congratulations to him and the teams he has coached over the 
years.

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