A blind date in 1950 leads to Windham couple celebrating 75th anniversary

By Ed Pierce

It takes a special type of loving relationship for married couples to reach their 75th wedding anniversary, but whatever it is, Arthur and Joan Wickham of Windham found it and have reached that important milestone.

Arthur and Joan Wickham of Windham are celebrating
their 75th wedding anniversary during a party with
their family on Sunday. They were married on Aug. 
18, 1951 at Holy cross Church in South Portland and
have five children, eight grandchildren, 10 great-
grandchildren and a great-great grandchild.
SUBMITTED PHOTO 

The couple will celebrate 75 years of marriage with a party with their family on Sunday afternoon and remain together living in their home on Collinwood Circle in Windham. Arthur is 94 and shows no signs of slowing down. Joan will turn 94 in December and has trouble seeing and hearing. One thing is certain though – their deep and lasting love and commitment to each other is still there despite the passing of time.

Arthur Wickham was born in Portland and a graduate of Cheverus High School when by chance went out on a blind date with a girl named Joan Sincyr who had just moved to South Portland from Skowhegan in 1950. Something clicked on that blind date between the two teenagers, and as they continued to date over the next year-and-a-half they fell in love and Arthur decided he was going to propose marriage to Joan, who attended South Portland High School.

She accepted his proposal and the couple were married on Aug. 18, 1951, at Holy Cross Catholic Church in South Portland, and are still happily together today.

Arthur worked as a medical supply and medical devices salesman and later as an executive for the George C. Frye Company in Portland, and he also served in the U.S. Army Reserves, rising to the rank of Colonel before retiring in 1992.

He attended Casco Bay College and graduated with a degree in business administration and management and has been active in many fraternal and veterans’ organizations through the years. He served as a department commander for the American Veterans in Maine (AMVETS), as the state president of the Association of the United States Army and the Reserve Officer’s Association, and he also completed studies at the U.S. Army Command and General College and the Air War College.

Yard work and gardening occupy much of Arthur’s time these days and he still mows his own grass and maintains the couple’s property as he has done for all the years that the couple has lived in Windham. He’s still interested in issues that affect military veterans.

Joan worked for the Portland Housing Authority as a secretary before her retirement. At home, she has always been a baker and loves to cook. She used to make her own quilts and enjoyed going out to play bingo whenever she could find the time to do so. She was also active when her children were young in the Campfire Girls organization.

The couple purchased a home on Collinwood Circle in Windham decades ago, and they raised a family there of five children including Rick, Deb, Bobbi, Cindi and Mike. Over the decades the Wickham family has grown and prospered and now includes additional generations including eight grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and a new great-great-grandchild.

To mark the occasion of their 75th wedding anniversary, the entire family will gather in Windham for a special meal on Sunday and possibly a surprise pontoon boat cruise on Sebago Lake. A lake cruise has become a cherished summer tradition for the Wickham Family and an annual way for family members to get together and celebrate Arthur and Joan’s wedding anniversary.

For many years Arthur and Joan Wickham would take the entire family to Bradbury Mountain State Park near Pownal for a fun-filled summer getaway and that gathering included a huge cookout, but that annual event has now shifted to the pontoon boat excursions on the lake.

Christmas celebrations at the couple’s Windham home were always meaningful for Arthur and Joan and their children because Joan’s birthday is Dec. 23, so they combine events and throw a huge holiday party every year because of the proximity of Christmas to Joan’s birthday.

Both Arthur and Joan Wickham say that the secret to sustaining a long and happy marriage isn’t complicated and is as important today as when they first said their vows in 1951.

“It’s all about communication and listening to each other,” they said. <   

Retired Raymond Town manager proud of devoted service to community

By Ed Pierce

Don Willard wants to set the record straight regarding the rumors circulating about his departure as Raymond’s Town Manager.

Don Willard served as the Raymond Town
Manager for more than 23 years until his
retirement on Jan. 2. A party in his honor
will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday,
April 7 at the Boy Scouts of America's
Messer center at Camp Hinds in Raymond
and the public is invited to attend.
COURTESY PHOTO   

Willard says he’s not dying of a terminal illness or was fired from his position, the simple truth is that he spent some time last fall recovering from an illness and then decided to retire after 23 years of working for the Town of Raymond. His retirement became official Jan. 2 and from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 7, the public is invited to a special party at the Boy Scouts of America’s Messer Center at Camp Hinds in Raymond to say goodbye and wish Willard and his family well in retirement.

“Living and working in Raymond has been a great experience and a wonderful place for my wife Megan and I to raise our son Holden,” Willard said. “I always thought, and often expressed my belief that the Town of Raymond has the capacity to achieve any and all desired goals.”

He said that with a new comprehensive plan on the horizon, a new universe of possibilities will be envisioned and ultimately approved by the voters in Raymond.

“I am certain this will include a continued commitment to environmental protection, as well as a range of quality-of-life issues,” Willard said. “In that regard, I am looking forward to staying actively involved in the community to help realize a new way forward and to see the town reach its full potential.”

Originally from Scarborough, Willard graduated from high school there and spent his first year of college at the University of Maine at Portland-Gorham before transferring to the University of Maine at Orono. He launched his career in municipal government as a paid intern in Scarborough, and then as an intern in Cape Elizabeth in 1981 while still an undergraduate in college.

After earning a college degree in Public Management, Willard served as a congressional intern in Washington, D.C. before being chosen as first Town Manager of the Town of Dixfield in 1983. Then in 1986, he became Town Manager of Rockport, a position he held until December 2000 when he joined the Town of Raymond as Town Manager.

“I have been quite fortunate to work with great elected officials in the past,” Willard said. “The early 2000s were a high watermark for community improvement. The town received an Economic Development Infrastructure Community Development Block Grant to extend the Portland Water District waterline from Windham to Raymond. In so doing, Raymond became the first new member town in 50 years.”

He said that achievement was a result of transformative and visionary elected leadership.

“Selectmen Betty McDermott, Ada Brown, and Christine McClellan also envisioned and supported the Route 302 improvement project, the new public safety building, and the town’s first major road rebuilding program which transformed the appearance of the town's main business area while improving both pedestrian and motor vehicle safety,” Willard said.

According to Willard, he will miss working for the town and says that he always sought to make myself visible and accessible to the townspeople.

“I made my cell phone publicly available and took calls 24/7 and 365 days a year over my tenure,” he said. “One time, I answered a citizen phone inquiry from the back of an ambulance, after a serious personal injury, while being treated on the way to the emergency room. I think people appreciated the fact that they could reach out and share their concerns with me at any time. I was committed to resolving issues and concerns efficiently and comprehensively, so they didn’t become problems for the Board of Selectmen.”

Being a town manager can be a difficult job, but Willard said what he liked best about it was that no two days were ever the same.

“Although the challenges were sometimes unpredictable, one commonality was that I always felt a great sense of satisfaction, making a difference in the communities that I served,” he said. “Having a job like that makes for a pretty good life. The town received extremely high citizen satisfaction ratings across the range of municipal services, while maintaining one of the lowest property tax rates in the region.”

Many employees for the Town of Raymond stayed in their jobs for years as Willard says he sought to create and maintain a positive work environment for his fellow employees, resulting in a sense of esprit de corps and extraordinarily low turnover.

“It was a pleasure to mentor and see many younger employees realize their career dreams,” Willard said “Treating those in need with respect and kindness, while providing guidance and support was a big part of the job and something I particularly enjoyed. If you approach the job of town manager with a dedication to service, commitment to upholding the law and standing for ethical behavior, that is really everything. You can never go wrong by doing the right thing. While I am proud of all the accomplishments over my 40-year career, none of them would have been possible without the support and assistance of others. If Raymond has been successful over my time here, it is because we have always had engaged and committed local government officials and a team of dedicated hardworking staff members.”

As in life, not everything went his way as Town Manager though.

“My greatest disappointment was the failure to achieve a modern and adequately sized municipal office,” Willard said. “Hopefully, when the middle school is vacated and turned over to the town, that goal, which was the top one when I was hired 24 years ago, will finally be realized.”<