Gardening with Dave Nadeau at the Community Garden, Windham - By Michelle Libby

Dave Nadeau is well into his third crop of vegetables from his plot at the Windham Community Garden located on Route 202 near the public safety building. For three years, he has been planting tomatoes, beans, cabbage and more in his double lot garden. Nadeau is on the Windham Town Council and spent 10 years on the planning board. He’s been gardening for 10 years. 

The community garden started four years ago, and although no one thought it would take off the way it did, the garden was expanded this year due to its popularity. Each year there is a waiting list for garden plots and the garden doles them out as they become available, Nadeau said. 

The organic garden is a great place for like-minded gardeners to grow their vegetables in an enclosed area where they don’t have to worry about deer or trees blocking the sun, said Nadeau, who had a garden at his home, but once the pine trees grew too much, he needed another option. 

Nadeau likes color in his garden. “I like the color when it comes,” he said. He grows all of his plants from seed, so he knows exactly what he’ll grow. This year he’s growing white cucumbers, tomatoes in white, black and striped and different colored peppers. He does sell his plants at the beginning of the season and his reputation has grown. This year a man from “up state” bought all of the plants for his own garden that Nadeau had grown.

Being an organic garden provides challenges for Nadeau, who is an electronic engineer by trade. Solving problems is his forte, he said. He uses the compost provided by the garden and he uses neem oil as a spray and surround to keep the bugs down.

“It’s a big bug fight down here and has always been. I spend a lot of time picking them off,” Nadeau said. “Give me a problem and I’ll give you a few solutions.” 

To help his squash crop, he wraps the bottom of the plant with aluminum foil so the bugs can’t bore into the root. For cut worms, Nadeau buys Styrofoam pipe insulation and cuts it into five inch strips and plants the tomatoes with the Styrofoam wrapped around the stem.

“The Internet is a wonderful tool for finding all these little tips,” he said.  

Nadeau also has some tricks to help his produce grow. He has homemade miniature hoop houses for some of his plants and for his beans he made a large box with a cover to insulate them and keep the bugs out. On Tuesday, he removed the box to get ready for beans. 

He’s been harvesting cabbage, Swiss chard and broccoli. When he plants he uses trellises and other tricks to make harvesting easier on his back. 

“This year has been awesome,” he said of the growing season. He spends almost two hours of his mornings at the garden harvesting, weeding and killing bugs, he said. He also visits with the other gardeners. 

 

His favorite thing to grow is tomatoes. “I like tomatoes. The different variety of tomatoes,” he said. He’ll use the white tomatoes to make a white tomato sauce with other ingredients from his garden, he said. 

This year Nadeau is looking for a good sour pickle recipe. He freezes and pickles a lot of the extra produce.  

“You don’t need a whole lot of space for a whole lot of food,” said Marge Govoni, Nadeau’s wife, who spends her mornings helping in the garden watering and weeding. Govoni was one of the initial members who petitioned the town for the garden.  

For new gardeners, Nadeau recommends beginning with growing beans, Swiss chard and tomatoes.

Looking to start gardening at the Windham Community Garden? Find them on Facebook or on the website www.windhamcommunitygarden.org.

Local gymnast places first at Nationals - By Michelle Libby

Sam Roach is only 13 years old, but already he holds a National Championship title in the all-around gymnastics category, which he earned in May during the meet held in California. 
 

Sam will be in the eighth grade at Greater Portland Christian School is South Portland. Sam and his mom, Renee, and father Gary and his two brothers Ben and Josiah, live in Windham.

Sam has been involved in gymnastics since he was 3 years old. 

“He was active from the time he was born,” said Renee. “At 2 years old he was doing somersaults on the floor and climbing on things.” She decided to take him to an open gym in Westbrook to climb on things that would be safe. When he was five, Sam was asked to join the boys’ team, but Renee said “no”. The following year, she said “yes” and Sam never looked back. 

He competes in all six mens events: Floor event, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars and the high bar. “I do all the events. I like the rings the most. I came in second in rings at Nationals and second in vault,” Sam said. 

Scoring in gymnastics takes some practice to understand, but the family has it down and knows what moves earn an athlete extra points and what moves deduct points. An A-skill is the easiest, like a backflip with no hands. A G-skill is the hardest, like a round off, back handspring, an Arabian, half turn, two flips laid out with a full twist. 

Sam was competing at a level eight for this past season. Next year he will move up and compete with 13- and 14-year-olds at level nine. Although he has to compete in his age division, he trains five times a week three and a half hours a day with juniors and seniors in high school at Kennebunk’s gymNation. Twice a week he travels to Massachusetts with his team to use equipment that his gym doesn’t have. His coach, Steve Randall, is friends with the Massachusetts coach, Sam said, giving the team the ability to workout with them.  

To qualify for the national meet, Sam had to do well at the state level, since he was the only one competing in his level he moved on to regionals. At the regional meet in Braintree, Massachusetts, he completed against 60 to 70 guys from New England, placing second in the all-around. 

Going into Nationals, he had one goal. “I wanted to hit all my routines without falling,” he said. Nerves were not a factor. “Nobody expects anything from me because I’m from Maine.” 

Sam’s routines are generally 45 seconds to 1 minute long and he designs them himself. He knows the element groups and what skills are in them and what he is good at. When he learns a new skill, he tries to put it into his routine.  

After the first day of national competition, Sam was in fourth place, one point behind the leader.

“We talk tenths of points and hundredths of points in these competitions,” said Renee. 

 Sam does each routine one step at a time, he said. “If think ‘hmmm, this stadium is really nice’, you’re not going to be focused on your routine.” 

After the fifth rotation, he was still in fourth place. “I hit all my routines. It was the best I’ve ever done,” he said. His last event was the pommel horse. He nailed his routine and won by .75. 

“A tenth of a point could be two or three places,” said Renee. Sam earned a gold medal for his efforts and he brought it home to his closet full of medals, trophies and ribbons from his other competitions He plans to add to those in the future. 

Sam is a year-round gymnast. He competes from December to May. And already has one special meet on his calendar. “I would really like to go to the Olympics in 2020,” he said. He also plans to go again when he’s 23 years old. Sam has thought about colleges and has picked out a few with good gymnastics programs. However, he’s not sure what he wants to study.

“Gymnastics is my commitment,” he said. 

“Sam doesn’t have a lot of time for other stuff,” said Renee. “Gymnastics is definitely an all body sport. Not just muscle. It’s flexibility, coordination and mind. All these have to come together. Gymnastics is his choice, not ours. There are a lot less expensive sports.” 

The best part of gymnastics for Sam is “Being on a team with all my friends and being able to workout with them and have a good time.”

Windham resident, Adam Johnston, first maine Maritime Academy graduate with disability - By Elizabeth Richard

Adam Johnston has faced his share of challenges, but never let them slow him down. 

When Johnston was two and a half he was run over by a lawnmower while playing in the yard at daycare. He was taken to Shriner’s Hospital for Children by helicopter, where they had to remove the lower part of his leg. Early on, he showed incredible strength, said his mother, Sue Johnston. Three months after the accident, he got a prosthetic leg, and was walking on it within 24 hours.

 The care Adam received at Shriner’s Hospital for Children was amazing, said Sue. They treated him with the upmost respect from the beginning. There he was, scared to death and sitting on the floor, and the doctor told everyone else to get down on the floor with him, bringing everything down to his level, said Sue. “They told me to treat him like any other kid,” she said. That advice turned out to be just what Adam needed. “We have never told him you can’t do something, and he has never asked for any special treatment,” she said.

Adam said he doesn’t remember a lot about the accident or the early surgeries, though he does remember having surgery the summer before his freshman year in high school. The end of his leg basically needed to be remodeled, he said, since his skin had stopped growing but the bone had not. He spent that very hot summer in a cast, and began high school on crutches due to the tenderness in his leg. But, he said, he didn’t make a big deal of it. This is an attitude he’s had all along, said Sue, recalling that he chose to have the surgery in the summer so he would be able to snowmobile in the winter.       

             

“I had no idea what I wanted to do,” said Adam of life after high school, until Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) in Castine caught his attention. He and his father visited the campus for an open house and tour, and he was hooked. “The ship was really what sold me,” he said. 

His first year of college was a difficult one, he said. There was a lot of strenuous physical activity at the beginning, and his prosthetic leg caused a lot of blisters and chafing, making walking difficult. 

Sue said that in those early days, she worried about him at school. “It was difficult for us,” she said. “It’s hard to let him go. I want to keep him safe,” she added. Though there were some bumps that first year, Adam came through them and thrived. “We are really proud of him,” Sue said. 

Adam acknowledged how important his family support system was for him when he began school. “I don’t think I would have made it through school without my parents,” he said. 

In the end, he did more than just make it. In his sophomore year, he had joined the school’s training program, working with incoming freshman as a mentor. He continued with this program in his junior year, and in his senior year he landed the Senior Mentor position, an officer position. This meant working hand in hand with the regiment operations officer, organizing and running the training operation. This position, he said, helped him understand himself a little better. “It really felt good to pass on what I learned,” he added. 

During his time at MMA, Adam switched from the type of prosthetic he’d always had to a different style. The newer technology alleviated some of the issues the previous prosthetic caused. Though he said the transition between styles was a little difficult, MMA made accommodations when necessary, giving him rides up and down the hill when walking was too hard. 

Most of the time, however, accommodations weren’t really something he needed. “I didn’t really struggle. I was the same as everyone else. It was just one more step. I had to put on my prosthetic,” he said, adding that it really only added 30 seconds to his routine.

After graduating, Adam took his final trip with the school, spending two months travelling to Italy, Iceland and Germany on the State of Maine. This week, he leaves for New York to do an internship with the company, where he will once again spend two months at sea.

“When I look back at what I’ve done, I’ve surprised myself sometimes. I didn’t think I’d be doing any of this. I’m glad this is where I’ve ended up,” he said.

Lippman Park takes shape and seeks additional funds - By Michelle Libby

The changes to Donnabeth Lippman Park in a year are staggering. The road has been improved and a parking lot has been added. A new clearing made space for a playground and picnic area to be added in 2015/16. This weekend a Boy Scout Eagle project added a raised walkway over a marshy patch of trail around Chaffin Pond. 

 

The park, located behind Sherwin Williams in North Windham, is an unspoiled slice of nature in the center of North Windham. The town owns the property after purchasing it from the Portland Water District. Local resident and businessman Martin Lippman reimbursed the town the $400,000 it paid and asked that the park be named after his late wife.

Parks and recreation director Brian Ross plans to go before the Windham Town Council on July 22 to ask for approval of $36,000 for more improvements to the 123 acre property. The recreational revenue fund will add $8,811 to the grant. In addition to that money a $4,300 grant from the Recreational Trails Program through the State of Maine will go to pay for the Conservation Corps of Maine to build two bridges and a boardwalk at Donnabeth Lippman Park 

 

The park is intended to be used by families, pet owners and active members of the community, said Ross.

The 10-acre pond is not for swimming, however Sebago Trails Paddling Company is using one of the existing building to store kayaks that can be rented by the hour. Community members are invited to use their own non-motorized boats as well. 

The improvements are only helping the public access the park and the over 60 species of birds, which was counted by Ben Smith, the Town of Windham planning director. 

There is a well on site that could be used eventually for drinking and the buildings are wired for electricity.  Arrangements just need to be made with the utility company, said Ross. 

The first part of the improvements like the road, parking lot and open area cost approximately $150,000, Ross said. 

Ross hopes to encourage more Scouts looking for Eagle projects to consider creating more raised walkways, add fishing docks and possiblely work on the playground and picnic areas. There is a section of the park that is earmarked for a Boy Scout camping area and will need work. There is a plan to also add benches along the trails. 

A trail that leads away from the pond is being readied to add an interactive picture book, where children can read one page of the book every 20 feet or so. The book, according to Ross, takes the children on a bug safari. That is being paid for with a grant from Opportunity Alliance.  

In addition to the birds, other wildlife includes snapping turtles, deer, beavers, pickerel, bass and trout. Fishing during the summer is allowed as long as live bait is not used. 

The park is available for use in the winter as well for snowshoeing and cross country skiing. No ice fishing is allowed on the pond. 

Ross encourages the community to stop by for a walk and to see the progress.