Community honors exceptional volunteer Pat Moody as 2021 Windham Summerfest Grand Marshal

Pat Moody, a lifelong resident of
Windham and a volunteer who served
15 years as president of the Windham
Youth Basketball Program, has been
recognized for his willingness to
volunteer and unwavering devotion to
the community by being named as
the Grand Marshal of the 2021
Windham Summerfest. 
SUBMITTED PHOTO   

By Elizabeth Richards 

Pat Moody is likely to be at the heart of any conversation about how to make Windham a stronger community. That passion for community is the reason he has been selected Grand Marshal for the 2021 Summerfest.

Linda Brooks, Director of Parks and Recreation for the Town of Windham, said “Although there were some great nominees to consider, Pat’s passion, enthusiasm and energy for “all things Windham” made him a clear choice for the committee, as he has sought to bring unity to the community in many ways - and that is the essence of Summerfest.”

A lifelong resident of Windham, Moody’s willingness to go the extra mile is evident when he talks about the numerous ways he’s given back to the community, starting in his youth. His parents showed him that when there’s a need, and you have the ability to help out, you do it, Moody said.  “I try to do it with my kids, too, to keep them involved and aware of all those things you can do to help out the people around you to make everybody’s lives better,” he said.

Moody served as president of the Windham Youth Basketball Program for 15 years.  During his time with the organization, he said, they grew the program to the largest youth basketball program in the state. At the same time, they supported basketball throughout the community, holding an annual memorial tournament to raise money to help improve community basketball facilities, including Manchester School, Windham Primary School, and Windham High School.

Although Moody has stepped down as president, he remains committed to advising the organization to keep it strong. “Volunteer programs are only as strong and as good as the time and investment of the volunteers putting in. We’ve got some great people in that one,” he said. “It was a fun ride.”

Moody was an original member and chair of the Recreation Advisory Committee formed in 2015, which has worked to bring the community together through events like the tree lighting, the Halloween event, expansion of programs, and the creation of a new community park at the public safety building.

More than just a rebuilding of the skate park, which only serves a small portion of the population, “we wanted it to be something for everybody there,” Moody said. The plan, which is happening in phases, includes the skate park, basketball courts, beach volleyball courts, a playground, and a walking path around the whole area. 

“This is a way to bring the community together outdoors,” Moody said.

Work on that is currently under way.

Moody has also played a central role in exploring the possibility of a community center in Windham. He served as chair of the initial ad hoc committee that explored feasibility of the project and what members of the community valued in a community center. Their findings were presented to the council, who showed enthusiasm and wanted to better understand the possibilities, Moody said.  A second committee was formed, also chaired by Moody, to discover exactly where the center might go, how much it would cost, how it would be paid for and the kind of revenue it might generate. 

“We’re in the midst of that right now,” Moody said.

In the meantime, Moody isn’t one to wait around doing nothing.  Instead, he built a 36x40 barn with a half court basketball court and has “turned it into the Windham community center for now,” he said. They host events for kids and adults and offered space for preseason basketball when the schools weren’t allowing facility use because of COVID-19 restrictions. Upperclassmen, seniors and parents who thought all was lost were “over the top appreciative” to be able to use the space, he said.

Both Moody and his wife (who was his high school sweetheart) have careers that help support the community, she as the manager of the Windham Walmart and he for work in Public Affairs and Government Relations for AAA Northern New England. Moody has been recognized nationally and locally for the work he does to help keep the roads safe.  

Moody said his first response was when he learned he’d been nominated as Grand Marshal was “oh, fun!” Expressing appreciation when you see people in the community helping out is important, he said, and can fuel the fire within them.

“Being nominated for something like this for all the things that you do in the community is just a big giant thank you,” he said. <

Senator Bill Diamond helps to pass law to keep hands on the wheel

Pat Moody of AAA, Sen. Diamond and Rep. Mark Bryant.
Can you tell the difference if the driver of this car
was intoxicated or intexticated

By Matt Pascarella

Distracted driving is unsafe and has been a problem for a while. And it’s only getting worse. According to the American Automobile Association (AAA) website, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates distracted driving kills an average of nine people and injures 1,000 every day.

Recently, Senator Bill Diamond introduced and passed LD 165, a bill “To Prohibit the Use of Handheld Phones and Devices While Driving.” This bill will go into effect on September 19, 2019.

The bill was created out of a similar law that Senator Diamond sponsored in 2011, that made texting while driving illegal. However, while it was illegal to text and drive, it was not illegal to use your phone or have it in your hand.

“We talked with law enforcement and the biggest problem is texting while driving; the crashes, the injuries are just exponentially increasing,” stated Senator Diamond. “What this says is you cannot have your phone or device in your hand. Everything in this bill is all about hands-free. You look down for two seconds, often times it’s three or four seconds – and in that short amount of time a lot can happen. And that’s a problem. This fixes it.”

This bill allows law enforcement to stop an individual if they are holding a phone in their hand, no matter what they’re doing. Diamond reminds the reader that you can attach your phone to your dash with a clip and if a call comes in, tap the button and talk or talk through Bluetooth.

We use the phone for so much more than calling people, and the temptation is there to use it. Senator Diamond goes on to say, “Just like we did with seatbelts; when we passed the seatbelt law people said, ‘you can’t make people put on a seatbelt.’ With public awareness and education, we did. It’s to the point now where, if you’re in a car without a seatbelt, most of us feel weird, and secondly, we got kids in the car who say, ‘hey dad, you don’t have your seatbelt on.’” Like the seatbelt law, this hands-free device while driving law is a cultural change.

What happens if you still do it? The first time is a $50 fine and every time after that is a $250 fine.

 “All Law Enforcement is going at this full speed; they’ve all become frustrated with the needless accidents because someone was distracted; and most of that distraction was with a phone,” added Senator Diamond. “It’s going to be very aggressive, and people need to know this. If they can break this culture, break this habit, they’re going to literally save lives.”

Pat Moody, Manager of Public Affairs for AAA of Northern New England has met with Senator Diamond and AAA has a campaign centered around not driving ‘intexticated’.

“AAA is an advocate for traffic safety. We do a lot of research on distraction in all facets of driver safety, we survey our members, then we also do research through the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety to better understand those aspects of driver safety. Specifically, we’ve done some work on distracted driving...the one big thing that comes out of this is that cognitive distraction is real. With this specific law it’s going to get that device out of their hands, so people are less likely to do things like Snapchat, check Facebook, send a text message – all those things that take your eyes off the road.”

The essence of AAA’s slogan; ‘Don’t drive intoxicated, don’t drive intexticated’ is both these driving behaviors end up with the same result. “A lot of people would never think of drinking and driving; dropping the kids to school and taking a sip of beer but they don’t think twice about sending a text,” added Moody. Texting and driving have become a habit, and come September 19^th, people are going to have to think twice when they’re in their vehicle.

To-be driver and 16 year old junior at Windham High, Hayleigh Moody stated, “You will be hard pressed to find a teen without a cellphone these days. When your phone “pings” and you know you have a text, it is really temping to take a quick peek and check it. Unfortunately, it only takes a glance away from the road for really bad things to happen. I think parents are key; the more they demonstrate that texting while driving isn’t appropriate then their kids will be more likely to follow their example. My dad uses the “do not disturb while driving” feature of his cell phone so it temporarily holds text messages until he is parked. The new “hands free” law...will help change behavior of adult drivers and when a teen sees that their parents are less distracted by their phones while driving, hopefully they will follow their example.”

“This is one of the most important bills I’ve ever passed because of the result of saving lives and injuries. I’m proud of this because I think it’s one of those things where an immediate difference can be made,” concluded Senator Diamond.