This story was originally published in December 2022.
Jerry Galusha and his best friend, Doug Cooke, share a friendship that dates back to 1984, when they were living in Rangeley and were introduced by mutual friends.
Over the years, they have often gone fishing or deer hunting, activities they both have enjoyed immensely.
“The relationship that we have is just unbelievable,” Galusha said. “We’ve had some really amazing adventures.”
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This fall, Galusha was confronted with a heart-wrenching task. He would take Cooke into the woods, one last time, in search of a big buck.
The difference was that this time they would not be walking the tote roads and trails together. Instead, Galusha would be carrying Cooke’s cremains in his backpack.
Cooke died on Sept. 5 at age 61 after a long struggle with renal failure. Galusha said after 40 years of dialysis or living with a transplanted kidney, Cooke opted to cease treatment and enter hospice care when his third transplant failed.
Doctors had originally told Cooke he would be lucky to celebrate his 30th birthday. Thus, he tried all his life to avoid getting too emotionally attached to people. He seldom asked anyone for favors.
Cooke and Galusha hadn’t seen each other much in recent years as Galusha focused on raising a family. But in late August, Cooke left a voicemail for Galusha explaining that he planned to enter hospice care.
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Cooke told Galusha he didn’t need to do anything, but wanted him to know. He did not want to become a burden to anyone else.
“His body was telling him that he’s had enough,” Galusha said. “He couldn’t golf. He couldn’t play his guitar. He hadn’t been hunting in years.”
The late Doug Cooke of Rangeley is shown with a buck he shot many years ago. Cooke’s best friend, Jerry Galusha, is honoring Cooke’s last wishes by taking his ashes on hunting and fishing excursions. Credit: Courtesy of Jerry Galusha
Galusha couldn’t let it end like that. In spite of Cooke’s reluctance to have his old friend see him in such poor health, he went to visit him.
But as Cooke faced his own mortality, he asked one favor of Galusha.
“He said, ‘Promise me one thing, could you please, just one time, take me in to Upper Dam to go fishing before you dump my ashes?’” Galusha said.
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The dam separates Mooselookmeguntic (Cupsuptic) Lake and Richardson Lake north of Rangeley. It was a favorite spot of theirs, one Cooke introduced to Galusha, who grew up in New York.
“He really loved the wilderness and Rangeley,” Galusha said of Cooke, who was a Vermont native.
Galusha immediately said yes but, knowing how much Cooke also enjoyed hunting, he didn’t feel as though the fishing trip was enough to adequately honor his friend.
“I said, I’m going to take you for the whole deer season, every time I go,” Galusha said. “He looked at me and started crying and said, ‘That would be so awesome.’
“It was hard. We cried and hugged each other,” he said.
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When Galusha went deer hunting near his home in Rangeley during the third week of November — a week the two buddies often spent together over the years — he tried his best to make it like old times.
Galusha spared no effort. He carried the cardboard urn containing Cooke’s cremains inside a camouflage can, which was wrapped with a photo showing Cooke posing with a nice buck he had harvested many years earlier.
He also packed Cooke’s blaze orange hat and vest, along with his grunt tube, compass, doe bleat can, deer scents and a set of rattling antlers.
Galusha chronicled the events of each hunting day by posting to Cooke’s Facebook page, complete with observations, recollections and photos.
Lots of deer were seen and there was one encounter with a buck, but after missing initially, Galusha refused to take a bad shot as the deer was partially obscured by undergrowth.
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“I just did what Doug would have done. He’s not going to shoot and I wasn’t going to shoot,” Galusha said.
He spoke reverently about Cooke’s resilience through the years in the face of his constant battle with health problems, which included not only kidney failure, dialysis and transplants, but four hip replacements and, eventually, a heart attack.
Jerry Galusha carried the cremains of his best friend, Doug Cooke, along with several items of Cooke’s hunting gear, on hunts this fall. Credit: Courtesy of Jerry Galusha
The arrival of muzzleloader season provided one more week to hunt. On Friday, Dec. 2, Galusha walked more than 3 miles along a gated road to an area where he had seen deer a week earlier.
That got him off the beaten track, away from other potential hunters, something Cooke would have appreciated.
“He wasn’t afraid to go do stuff,” Galusha said. “It might take us a little bit longer, but he didn’t care.”
Galusha, who still often refers to Cooke in the present tense, said he vocalized some of his reflections while in the woods. He saw eagles, which he thought might be Cooke keeping an eye on him.
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“I talked to him a lot,” Galusha said, who also enjoyed telling the handful of hunters he encountered that he was not out alone, rather with his friend.
He then explained the story of his promise to Cooke and reverently removed the urn from his pack to show them.
When Galusha finally saw the buck, it wasn’t quite close enough. He uses one of Cooke’s favorite tactics to coax the deer closer.
Galusha tried the grunt tube, and then the doe bleat can, but the deer didn’t seem to hear it. Then, he blew harder on the grunt tube and finally got the buck’s attention.
“I irked one right in, that’s what Doug would say,” said Galusha, recalling Cooke’s affection for using the alternating calls.
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The spikehorn turned and walked directly at Galusha, who shot it.
“I cried,” he said of the moment, recalling that Cooke had been there when he shot his first antlered deer, also a spikehorn.
During the long drag back to his truck, Galusha had plenty of time to think about how much Cooke would have enjoyed the hunt — and watching him make the drag.
At one point, a crew of loggers had approached.
“I was pointing to the sky saying, ‘We got it done,’ shaking my hand,” Galusha said. “A guy came up behind me and said, ‘You all set?’ and I’m like, yup.”
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Cooke and Galusha had lived together for 10 years at one point, but they also had gone long periods without talking with each other. Even so, whenever they were reunited it was as if they had never been apart.
The last few visits were difficult. Cooke’s health was failing, but Galusha just wanted to be there for his buddy.
“It was emotional,” said Galusha, who was present when Cooke died. “I held his hand to his last breath.”
Next spring, hopefully when the fish are biting and the bugs aren’t, Galusha will grant Cooke — who he described as a fabulous fisherman — his final wish by taking him fishing at Upper Dam, just like they used to do.
“I’m thinking maybe around his birthday [July 19]. It might be sooner, depending on how buggy it is,” said Galusha, who expects to make more than one excursion with Cooke.
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Galusha said he will know when it’s time to say goodbye.
“I really don’t want to let him go, but I promised him I would, so I will,” he said.
The National Weather Service is predicting a scorcher for parts of western and northern Maine on Tuesday, with the possibility of thunderstorms, high winds and hail.
“The heat and humidity is going to supply energy to the atmosphere,” said meteorologist Hunter Tubbs on Monday. “That energy is going to clash with a cold front expected to come down from Canada tomorrow night. That clash has the potential to produce severe storms.”
The evening storms could bring large hail up to 2 inches in diameter and heavy thunderstorms, but severe winds are likely to cause the most damage, forecasters say. There is a low possibility oftornadoes, according to the severe weather bulletin.
The areas at most risk include Maine’s western mountains and the northern part of Maine, from its northern foothills up to the Canadian border, Tubbs said. There is some risk of severe storms in the south, but not as much, he said.
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Heat and humidity are expected to peak Tuesday, Tubbs said, with heat indices climbing into the upper 90s in cities like Augusta, Lewiston and Waterville. The heat index temperature — or how hot it feels when combining heat and humidity — is predicted to hit 104 in Fryeburg.
The humidity will ease Wednesday, Tubbs said, but the heat will linger into Thursday with highs in the low 90s. By Thursday evening, a gradual cooling trend will emerge that is likely to last into the weekend.
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Penny Overton is excited to be the Portland Press Herald’s first climate reporter. Since joining the paper in 2016, she has written about Maine’s lobster and cannabis industries, covered state politics…
More by Penelope Overton
The poster for “The Texas Carol.” (Courtesy of Lakewood Theater)
“THE TEXAS CAROL”
Don’t miss “The Texas Carol” set to be performed at various times July 16-25 at Lakewood Theater, 76 Theater Road in Madison.
The production by Jayme McGhan and Kevin Dean focuses on the Dinkel family as they head to Mee-Maw Jane’s East Texas ranch for what might be her last Christmas. The only problem? When the first two grandchildren arrive, they discover that Mee-Maw is already gone! Now how to keep that fact (and her body) from a family on the edge and salvage what remains of Christmas?
Starring Donna Irish, Shana Page, Will Stecher, Addie King, Caleb Landry, Quincy Morin, David Shedd and Earl Boyd.
Tickets cost $30-$52 for adults or $23 for children 4-17; lakewoodtheater.org.
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Brothers Will and Reid Nichols, of 12/OC, performing August 2025 at Thompson’s Point in Portland. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer)
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12/OC
Bowl in the Pines plans to host 12/OC at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at 1 Geranium Lane in Sidney.
Born in a family kitchen in Portland, 12/OC began as a shared dream between brothers Will and Reid, 14 and 11 years old, cutting their teeth at jam sessions and open mic nights. Their sound quickly resonated beyond Maine, capturing the attention of country music fans near and far. With a chart-topping single holding the No. 1 spot on Maine’s premier country radio station for 16 consecutive weeks, their momentum became impossible to ignore.
Tickets cost $52.73-$84-61; bowlinthepines.com.
Singer-songwriter Alice Limoges. (Photo by Alex Burnett)
Alice Limoges & missofija
Stop in at The Playhouse at Waterville Station at 7 p.m. Saturday for an intimate double‑bill featuring two of Maine’s most compelling rising artists: Alice Limoges and missofija.
Limoges has been singing since before she could walk. Whether performing her award-winning poetic songs about love and nature, or shining a light on mental health, her canon is lit up by her storytelling, unique, soulful voice and textural instrumentals. She has released six original albums/EPs, toured festivals and colleges across North America, and performed on Jon Samson’s Grammy Award winning album. She placed in the 2021 International Songwriting Contest and won the 2025 Maine Songwriting Contest.
After writing her first song at 3 years old, missofija never looked back. Her unique sound is inspired by her background as an opera singer and by the folk songs of her Lithuanian upbringing. She uses profound, symbolic lyrics, intricate melodies and complex harmonic structures to send chills through every audience she performs for.
Tickets cost $20; theplayhouse.me.
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Trombone Shorty will play Bowl in the Pines in Sidney in July. (Photo by Jean Frank)
TROMBONE SHORTY & ORLEANS AVENUE
Don’t miss the Let ‘Em Go Tour set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Bowl in the Pines – Amphitheather 1 Geranium Lane, Sidney.
Perhaps the most recognizable ambassador for New Orleans music working today, Shorty has spent his entire life carrying the torch for Crescent City culture, and propelling it forward into the 21st century with his ecstatic live performances and intoxicating blend of rock, funk, soul, jazz, blues, hip-hop, and Caribbean influences.
Born Troy Andrews, Shorty made his first appearance at New Orleans’ iconic Jazz Fest at 4 years old, when he took the stage for an impromptu performance with Bo Diddley. By 6, he was heading up his own brass band, and by his early 20s, he’d released the first in a string of albums that would lead to performances everywhere from the White House and the Grammy Awards to Madison Square Garden and the 2025 Super Bowl.
Tickets cost $63-$120; bowlinthepines.com.
THE PRINCESS CONCERT
Check out The Princess Concert set for 3:30 and again at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Waterville Opera House, 1 Common St. in Waterville.
The performance will pay tribute to the iconic, heartwarming, and nostalgic songs from films including “Frozen,” “Wicked,” “K-Pop Demon Hunters,” “Moana,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “Beauty & The Beast,” “Anastasia,” “Pocahontas,” “Aladdin,” “The Little Mermaid,” “The Lion King,” “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” and more.
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Tickets cost $30-$67 for ages 16-plus; operahouse.org.
BLACK WOLF BAND
Waterfront Wednesday plans to host Black Wolf Band at 6 p.m. Wednesday in downtown Augusta.
The weekly Waterfront Wednesday events scheduled through Aug. 5 will feature free music, food and family fun returning to the Kennebec River.
Each week, concertgoers can bring a lawn chair or blanket and settle in for live music from local bands and DJs. There will be a food truck at every event.
For more information visit mainstreetmaine.org.
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Looking for more? Check out theonline calendar listings for other entertainment offerings.
AUGUSTA — As part of the summer speed reduction awareness and high-visibility enforcement campaign, the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety is working in conjunction with the other New England Highway Safety Offices, in a combined effort to slow drivers down. The New England Drive to Save Lives campaign calls on all drivers to recognize speeding as an unnecessary and aggressive driving behavior that endangers all road users.
Communities across America are affected every year by fatalities that occur in speeding-related crashes. In 2024, there were 11,288 speed-related traffic fatalities, accounting for 29% of all traffic fatalities. Young drivers have a higher chance of being involved in speeding-related crashes. In 2024, 39% of male drivers and 20% of female drivers in the 15- to 20-year-old age group involved in fatal traffic crashes, speeding was a factor.
Between July 6th and the 31st, from Aroostook County to York County, more than 47 law enforcement agencies will continue to conduct high-visibility speed enforcement to save lives and reduce speeding and aggressive driving. Law enforcement will be out reminding drivers to slow down and drive with care. Drivers should plan to leave sooner to allow more time to arrive without rushing. Maine Highway Safety Director Lauren Stewart says, “The seconds that you save by speeding are not significant enough to risk your safety or that of anyone sharing the road with you. Crashes are significantly more dangerous, resulting in death or serious injury when speeding is involved. Everyone wants to arrive at their destination safely.”
From Maine to Connecticut, New England is reminding drivers to Drive to Save Lives across the region. Whether you’re vacationing in another state or having a staycation, please slow down and take your time getting to your destination this summer.
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Chief Matt Cummings of the Fort Fairfield Police Department says, “Keeping Maine safe isn’t just a job for law enforcement; it’s a shared commitment across our entire community. When you slow down on our local roads, you aren’t just following the law; you are actively protecting your neighbors, our children, and the character of our town. Let’s work together to keep our streets safe for everyone.”
Speeding is an aggressive and deadly behavior. It reduces a driver’s ability to steer safely around another vehicle, a pedestrian, hazardous objects, or an unexpected curve. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), local roads are more dangerous than highways for speeders. It’s a common misconception that speeding is an interstate-related issue: In fact, in 2024, 87% of all speeding-related traffic fatalities in the United States occurred on routes other than interstates.
“Every mile per hour matters. Speeding reduces a driver’s ability to react, increases stopping distance, and turns a preventable crash into a deadly one. As Maine’s roads become busier during the summer months, we urge drivers to slow down, stay alert and help ensure everyone arrives safely to their destinations,” says Sgt. Josh Stewart of the Kittery Police Department.
The Maine Bureau of Highway Safety is reminding drivers to Drive to Save Lives this month. Spend your time on the way to your destination, enjoying all of the beauty New England has to offer, not speeding through it. From the lighthouses across Maine’s coastline, New Hampshire’s Mount Washington, Vermont’s Moss Glen Falls, Massachusetts’s Fenway Park, a ferry ride from Point Judith in Rhode Island, to Connecticut’s Gillette Castle State Park, slow down and enjoy your drive.
