Windham girl achieves cheering dream - By Elizabeth Richards

Making the varsity cheerleading squad can be a tough feat for anyone. For Becca Keenan, it might have seemed like an impossible dream, but with support from the team captain, coach and other students at Windham High School, Keenan’s dream came true in her senior year.

Keenan, who was diagnosed with Autism at the age of 23 months, had talked about wanting to be a cheerleader since ninth grade, when she had friends who were on the cheerleading squad, said her father, Randy Keenan. “She’s always said she wanted to be a cheerleader, but she’s not one to follow through,” said Randy, adding that he and his wife also didn’t follow through because they didn’t know how serious she was. But the topic kept coming up, and this winter, Becca received the encouragement she needed to go for it.

Coach Jamie Gaudreau said that Becca told her last year that wanted to cheer. She was friends with a senior on the squad, but was fearful of trying out, afraid she wouldn’t be able to do the routines. This fall Becca again told Gaudreau that she wanted to be a “cheer girl.” At that time, Gaudreau said, she told Becca that she’d love to have her and encouraged her to try out.

 

Allyson Tibbitts, captain of the squad, said that she was in the cafeteria in the fall when Becca approached her and said she wanted to cheer in the winter. Tibbitts remembered that, and wanted to be sure Becca knew when tryouts were, so she left her a note inviting her to be at the tryouts. 

“It was the push she needed to move forward,” said Randy, adding that Tibbitts also picks up Becca and drops her off after practice. “She’s been a great peer. It’s been unreal,” he said.    

     

This type of group activity is a new experience for Becca, said her mother Kim Keenan. “Being a part of a team and being accepted by her peers is huge,” said Kim. “She’s never participated in a sport before, and never been part of a group with her typical peers before. That’s what makes it special.” 

While the Keenans said Becca has always been social and felt accepted by her peers, she didn’t socialize outside of school time until becoming a cheerleader. Now, she has attended a Christmas party and goes out with the other kids. “For the past few years she didn’t socialize out of school, it just wasn’t there. Now it seems to be coming to the forefront, and it’s a good thing for her,” said Randy.

Kim said cheering has helped Becca’s self-confidence, among other things. Gaudreau has also noticed a change in Becca’s confidence. “She’s been a total inspiration for myself as a coach and I think for a lot of the kids,” she said. Initially, Becca was reluctant to try things like jumps and tumbling, but now she will try it all, and doesn’t need to be asked twice to do something, said Gaudreau. 

 She even helps the coach base a stunt with Tibbitts. While Becca cheers at the games, she doesn’t typically compete. But during a charitable competition for Cheers from the Heart, she will be on the competition floor with her team. The score in that competition isn’t important to Gaudreau. “To me it doesn’t matter if you’re going to lose. To me winning is being able to have her there on the competition floor,” said Gaudreau. “I will take the zero in jumps just to have the ten for myself as a coach, for her, for Allyson, for everybody else just to have her on that mat. That means more to me and I think it’s going to be a nice reward for her as well,” she added. 

Tibbitts agreed. “It’s not like we only have one competition. We have other ones, and I’d rather have her on there than not,” she said.

Gaudreau said she doesn’t treat Becca any differently than anyone else. She expects the same work out of Becca as the rest of the team, and though sometimes she needs some encouragement, she said, Becca steps up and does what she needs to do. “She is the core of the team,” said Gaudreau. “She is what a cheerleader truly represents to me.” Gaudreau added that Becca brings new light to the program, and she wishes she’d had her on the team for more than just this one season. 

Tibbits said, “She’s like our own team’s cheerleader.” When the team is practicing stunts, she said, Becca is there with encouraging words. Her personality and determination to get out there and do it has inspired the team. “She’s truly made us better,” said Tibbits. “Everyone loves her.”

Randy said, “To us, the kids in this community are just unbelievable.” They have helped Becca have an experience she might otherwise never have had, and one that is the highlight of her senior year. “She was just so excited that she was actually going to be a Windham cheerleader,” Randy said. 

Becca, though reluctant to talk, said enthusiastically, “I love being a cheerleader a lot.”

Music with a Mission begins second season with encore performance from Ithacappella - By Elizabeth Richards

On Saturday, January 11, 2014 Ithacappella returned to the North Windham Union Church as part of the popular Music with a Mission concert series. It seems fitting that their encore presentation was the kick off of the second season, since the group’s performance last year was the inspiration behind the series.

Ithacappella is a men’s a cappella group from Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York. Chris Frost, a Windham High School graduate and alumni of the Windham Chamber Singers, is the president of the group. The performance was part of Ithacappella’s winter tour.

The Windham Chamber Singers opened the concert, leading off with a touching rendition of Caledonia, which Frost had requested they sing. Dr. Rick Nickerson, who is both the Minister of Music for the church and conductor of the chamber singers, said “The excitement tonight was more of a homecoming for Chris.” He said it was Frost’s idea to bring the two groups together, and it was an emotional experience for them all. “To see the connection he’s kept with his hometown is really important,” said Nickerson.

 

Frost said the experience was indescribable. “I was introduced to a real true musical tradition by being in the Windham Chamber Singers. That was the first time I felt as though I was part of something a lot larger than myself that spanned a number of years, and had such a connection to alumni.” When he got to Ithaca College, he was amazed to find another musical tradition with supportive alumni and a rich history in Ithacappella. “The opportunity to bring those two together today was completely amazing. There is just no way to describe how great that felt,” he said.

Frost added that Ithacappella has worked with countless school groups, and he could confidently say there is nothing like the chamber singers anywhere else. “It’s just so satisfying knowing that I’ve come from that, and I’m able to bring that energy into this group now, being president,” he said.

When Ithacappella took the stage, its energy and spirit was instantly apparent. The songs spanned a wide variety of styles, from traditional barbershop to Sting to One Republic’s Counting Stars, with plenty in between. There was no doubt the group was having a great time on stage, drawing the audience into the fun. The ensemble worked well together to highlight the strengths of each member and offer a show filled with variety, balance and laughter. 

The show was interspersed with unexpected moments, from an occasional break dance to a chorus of “What does the Fox Say?” in the middle of a barbershop tune. During the second half, the group serenaded the winning member of the audience on stage with a combination ballad/comedy routine rendition of “Fools Fall In”. After Ithacappella’s final song, “Goodbye My Coney Island Baby,” the chamber singers joined them on stage for a final chorus of “Let the Sunshine In,” during which many audience members clapped and sang along. 

Despite icy and foggy weather conditions and a Patriots game, the concert was a huge success, with a full house. 

Jim McBride, chair of the Music with a Mission committee said that in the upcoming season they are bringing back some of the most popular acts from last year, and also some new talent that they are excited to introduce. 

 

The Windham Chamber Singers will be the featured act for the March 29^th concert. Dr. Nickerson said they are excited about the opportunity to give back. “While it would be easy for us to do that concert at the school and just keep all the proceeds ourselves, it was very important that we do something bigger than ourselves,” he said. Their concert will support Windham Neighbors Helping Neighbors. 

As MWAM moves into its second season, there have been some lessons learned from the first year, said Nickerson. “We always assumed that summer time would be a great time for concerts and we’re not convinced that’s necessarily so,” he said. 

McBride agreed, adding that while there were decent crowds at the summer shows, attendance was only about half of what they had expected. Another lesson they learned, said McBride, is that the core audience is older than they originally thought it would be.  Because of that, some of the concerts are targeted to that older audience, but McBride said, “We’re very intentional to mix it up, to bring in lots of different types of music and introduce it to the crowd.”

The performers choose the nonprofit that benefits from each concert, but McBride says they have narrowed the scope to focus on nonprofits that are helping people, as well as keeping it local to the lakes region area.

At the end of the evening, Frost said he was overwhelmed and overjoyed, and impressed with the community. “You forget when you are away for so long at school how amazing the community we have is,” he said.

Maine's early winter wonderland keeps road crews working hard - By Elizabeth Richards

Winter came on fast and furious this year, with a steady stream of storms throughout the month of December and into January. According to Windham director of public works Doug Fortier, there have been four two-day storms, two of which dumped at least 12 inches of snow, as well as two ice storms including one that lasted for three days.

Though there are some obvious challenges when winter begins like this, crews have been prepared to handle the onslaught of storms. “We expect to have a winter every year,” said Raymond public works director Nathan White. “The only real challenge we’ve had this year is a lot of snow this month – we don’t usually have this much snow in December,” he added.

Fortier agreed. “We’ve had half a winter in a month’s time,” he said. “The challenge with a single crew is when the storms go on and on and on,” he said. At some point, the crew needs to stop for rest. But they do what needs to be done, he said, returning as necessary until the roads are cleared.

Don Willard, Raymond town manager said this is more of an “old fashioned Maine winter,” which is planned for, but not seen very often. “We’re certainly seeing it this year,” said Willard. “In general terms you see a greater use of sand and salt, and you wear out cutting edges, that sort of thing, and you can have equipment breakdowns. The more snow you push, the more times you’re out, the more problems you can have. This is very early to be this far into it,” he said.

Though the towns are handling the storms well, with so much snow and ice, there are bound to be some challenges. White said that one issue is not having a chance to restock their supplies. In December, their contractor went through 1,800 yards of sand and the town equipment used close to 700 more. With storage room for only 2,000 yards at a time, and with the storms coming in such quick succession, it’s been a challenge to keep the sand stocked. “We took two days and tried to restock last week, got hit with another snow storm, and we’re about out again,” he said.

Fortier said he has needed to restock sand as well, and much of his sand budget has already been used due to the early storms. “Ice storms eat so much sand,” he said. Often, when it’s so cold and raining, a road will be sanded and by the time they finish the other roads nearby, that first road needs sanding again. “You’re just making circles. You’re going around and around sanding as quick as you can. It doesn’t help people if they don’t happen to come out right after you sand, because it will be frozen over again. Some people have thought roads weren’t being sanded – they are. It’s just that when you’re getting rain they’re going to freeze back over again,” said Fortier.

Willard said the best advice he can give is to stay off the roads whenever possible. “When it’s snowing, if you can possibly do it, stay home, stay safe. Stay off the roads. That used to be the rule of thumb. These days, people want to go, and sometimes have to go, right in the height of a blizzard. That’s always a bad idea,” he said.

Fortier said that traffic is one of the biggest challenges for road clearing. “If you don’t have to be out there, don’t be out there,” he said. He added that people need to be sure to give plow trucks plenty of room, particularly at intersections, where the driver might be planning to dump off the snow and head back down the same road. Sometimes, cars pull up right behind the truck, leaving it nowhere to move. “Give my trucks room – stay back. Let them do their thing to make it better for you,” he said.

As of now, the long range forecast looks as though there might be a break in the action, said Fortier. This will give the towns time to restock supplies and crews an opportunity to rest. But weather is hard to predict. “We’ve probably had about half our storms in a third of a year, but who knows,” said Fortier. “We’re supposed to get a break now and it might not snow another snowflake right through until April. All we can do is take what we get and deal with it. I am sure the town will do whatever we need to do to make sure the roads are safe to travel on, no matter what,” he said.

White said that anyone with a problem in Raymond should give the public works department a call, and they will try to take care of it quickly.

Maine in the Civil War grant brings history to life - By Michelle Libby

History is all around us and now thanks to a two-year grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Windham and Gorham will be doing a community read, a theater production and online exhibits as required by the grant and many other activities inspired by the Civil War era. 
 

Manchester teacher Sabrina Nickerson applied for the grant when her class was raising money to replace 50 to 60 bronze markers, which identify soldiers from the Grand Army of the Republic. This Civil War tie-in was being facilitated by the American Legion chapter 148. Although no money from the grant went into that project, it encouraged the students to learn about the Civil War. 

The Local and legendary: Maine in the Civil War grant needed three entities, according to children’s librarian Laurel Parker, educational (Nickerson), library (Parker) and historical (Linda Griffin) to meet the requirements. 

The Gorham Arts Alliance will produce the play, while Windham and Gorham will do community reads of the book “The Mostly True Adventure of Homer P. Figg” by Rodman Philbrick. Discussions will take place on February 27 at 7 p.m. at the North Gorham Library, March 12 at 1:30 p.m. at Baxter Memorial Library in Gorham and on March 18 at 4 p.m. (child focused) and 7 p.m. (adult focused) at Windham Public Library. The grant was used to purchase books for the library to lend out and 30 copies were purchased for Manchester School’s fifth grade to read and each teacher has a kepi Civil War hat to display. 

Other events are the discussion of the journey to writing “Joseph K. Manchester, Northern Son in the South, 1861 to 1863” by author Carol Manchester on January 12 at 1 p.m. at the Windham Hill UCC Church and a Civil War encampment and re-dedication of the Civil War monument in Gorham Village in May. 

“We’re trying to involve different parts of the community,” said Parker. 

Windham and Gorham were very instrumental in the production of powder used in the Civil War. 

Twenty-five percent of the powder used was generated in the oriental powder mills at Gambo Dam. 

The Maine Memory Network run by Maine Historical Society is an online storehouse of thousands of historical items. Windham will be adding to that site as part of the grant. A scanner was purchased for the Windham Historical Society to preserve their historical information. 

There are more programs and events going on this year. For more information visit www.facebook.com/Gambopowdermills, or call 892-1908 in Windham or 318-0584 in Gorham.