Wishing well dedication event reminds Manchester students of 9/11 sacrifices for freedom

By Ed Pierce

In the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, Manchester School fourth-grade teacher Donna Morton wanted to help her students honor the sacrifices made by Americans on that fateful day while helping them grasp what had happened and inspiring them to help make the world better for everyone.

Retired Manchester School teacher Donna Morton, left,
gathers with her former students and their parents in 
Windham to dedicate a wishing well that they created   
in the days following the terrorist attacks on America
on Sept, 11, 2001. Now adults, Morton's former students
and their parents restored the wishing well and thanked
Windham police and firefighters attending a school
ceremony on the anniversary of 9/11 for keeping
the community safe. PHOTO BY ED PIERCE

Morton had an idea and enlisted her students and several parents to create a wishing well for the school where children could hope for a peaceful future through kindness and love for one another. Built in just one afternoon, Morton’s students got to hammer, sand, and paint the wishing well, and it received a prominent place in the school’s front garden.

For more than two decades, on the anniversary of 9/11, Manchester students would form a circle around the wishing well, recite the Pledge of Allegiance, sing the “Star Spangled Banner,” and place wishes into the well for the future. But last year during the reconfiguration of the parking lot and traffic pattern at the school, the front garden was removed, and the wishing well was found to be deteriorating and unsafe.

Now retired from teaching, Morton was informed by a parent of one of her former students about the wishing well’s condition and they decided to restore it and dedicate it at Manchester School for students this year on the anniversary of 9/11. She contacted some of her students from her 2001-2002 class and a few of their parents still in the area to help. They gathered at Morton’s home and set about to reconstruct the well.

Scott Gartsu was 9 on Sept. 11, 2001, and a student in Morton’s fourth grade class. He wasn’t at school that day as he was at home with a broken foot but recalls sitting on the living room floor of his home in Windham and crying watching the events unfold on television. He was part of the students who helped to build the original wishing well for his classmates.

“It was a group effort,” he said. “My dad Todd was a carpenter, and I loved working with his tools. I remember building it and all the kids coming together. The fact that the wishing well has been around this long is pretty cool.”

Steve McFarland of Harrison was living in Windham on 9/11 and his son, Sam, was in Morton’s class that year. They both attended the dedication event and not only helped to build the original well but also worked on the new one.

“It’s neat to see all the kids out there involved,” McFarland said. “It’s nice that Donna Morton is keeping this tradition and reviving it. It’s a testament to her and her connection to her students.”

Speaking to current Manchester students, former students and a contingent of Windham police, firefighters and emergency medical technicians attending the dedication event for the well on Thursday, Sept. 11, Morton said 9/11 remains a special day for her.

“It’s a reminder of the hard work of police and firemen who keep us safe every day,” she said. “We want this wishing well to stand as a symbol of hope.”

She introduced Sara Conant, who was in Morton’s fourth-grade class on Sept. 11, 2001, and helped to build the original well.

“Wishing wells throughout time have been a symbol of hope, gratitude and a bit of magic,” Conant said. This well is no exception. On this day 24 years ago I was sitting in Mrs. Morton's fourth grade class when American history was forever altered by attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Anyone alive at the time knows where they were on that day and I was fortunate to be safely here.”

She said that as a way to honor the first responders, victims, and their families and offer the school community hope, her class made the wishing well to stand forever as a symbol of hope.

“In one afternoon, we all pitched in with some of our parents, my dad included, to create this,” Conant said. “But time isn't always kind and the well needed some love, so Mrs. Morton rescued it and tried contacting everyone in the class to help restore the well to the lasting symbol of hope, gratitude and magic it always was.”

She said Morton’s deep care for each of her students is what brought her to save the well and inspired her to help.

“The magic of the well gave me a happy visit back to fourth grade that I am so thankful for,” Conant said. “We hope you join us in making a wish in this special well brought back to its former glory through love and kindness.”

Windham Police Captain Jason Burke told students that on 9/11 that firefighters, police officers and everyday people worked together to save lives and clean up the damage.

“This is a good reminder that violence is never the answer to a disagreement, a different opinion or a dislike for someone,” Burke said. “Choosing to work together and talk through our problems is always the right choice. As you go through school, you’ll be learning how to be a good citizen and a problem solver. You’ll learn how to work with others even when you don’t agree.”

He said thinking about the events of Sept. 11 reminds us that the way we treat each other everyday matters.

“By being kind, understanding, and respectful to everyone, you can make the world a better place,” Burke said. <

Fuller Center brings much-needed housing rehab services to Sebago Lakes Region seniors

This fall, the Sebago Lakes Region Fuller Center
for Housing helped four older adult families stay
safely in their homes. Shown from left are Fuller
Center Board Member Steve McFarland, 
Community Volunteer Wayne Jones, Board
Member Karen Swasey Jones and homeowner
Ellen Huber as they worked to prepare Huber's
yard for the winter. SUBMITTED PHOTO

Only recently founded by a group of six local churches and organizations, the Sebago Lakes Region Fuller Center for Housing has gotten off to a remarkable start, already completing four projects for area seniors in spite of the challenges of COVID and a cold, rainy fall.

The local Fuller Center’s first project involved repairing and replacing window trim and siding for an elderly Windham couple.  That was quickly followed by rehabbing a much-used deck and steps for another older homeowner, and then completely clearing leaves, acorns, and gutter debris for two others in order to make their yards safer to walk in and to keep them off ladders themselves. 

The four projects involved 37 volunteers, local Fuller Center Board members and community residents. 

“Getting these jobs done was not deterred in any way by the need to wear masks and socially distance. The volunteers approached it all with energy and good humor, staying safe and being really productive,” said Steve McFarland, a Fuller Center Board member who worked on all four projects.

An affiliate of the non-profit national Fuller Center for Housing, the local Fuller Center was founded by representatives from Faith Lutheran Church, the Unity Church for Spiritual Growth, the North Windham Union Church (UCC), Windham Hill United Church of Christ, Raymond Village Community Church (UCC) and St. Joseph’s College, and serves the towns of Windham, Raymond and Standish.  The group’s mission is to provide a broad spectrum of home repair, clean-up, and rehabilitation services to qualified senior homeowners. 

Local Fuller Center services can include trim and siding repair, painting, property clean-up, light demolition, weatherization, door and window repair, handicapped access structures such as ramps, etc., all with the aim of supporting “aging in place.” 

“Studies demonstrate that when people can comfortably stay in their own homes as they get older, they lead better, healthier lives,” said Diane Dunton Bruni, local Fuller Center Board President.  “Our program helps to make that happen by assisting aging homeowners to keep their houses in good repair.”

Basic criteria to be eligible to receive local Fuller Center services include financial need, and a willingness to be involved in some way as health and finances allow. This is in keeping with the philosophy of paying it forward. 

The local Fuller Center is already gearing up for what it hopes will be a busy 2021 and is asking for
community support. 

“In preparing for next year, we would be very grateful to receive three things from our local communities; help in identifying senior homeowners who may have a need, involvement as volunteers for our rehab crews, and financial support through donations to the organization,” Bruni said. 

Suggestions for projects and expressions of interest in volunteering can be sent to the website at www.sebagofullerhousing.org or by emailing the Fuller Center at sebagofullerhousinginfo@gmail.com.  Tax-deductible financial contributions can be made online at the website.  For more information about the work of the local Fuller Center, please contact the Fuller Center through the website or by email.

The national Fuller Center (an IRS 501(c)(3) non-profit organization) was founded by Millard Fuller and his wife, Linda.  The Fullers were long-time friends of former President Jimmy Carter.  The Fullers had initially founded Habitat for Humanity in 1976 and led that organization for 29 years.  They parted ways with Habitat and created the Fuller Center in 2005 as a way to continue to pursue their original vision of ending “housing poverty”.  Millard Fuller died in 2009.  Linda Fuller is still very much involved in the work of the organization.  For more information about the national Fuller Center, see: www.fullercenter.org. <