Annie Jr. arrives on stage this weekend - By Michelle Llibby

With a week left until the curtain goes up, actors from Windham Middle School are blocking, singing, emoting and getting ready to perform Annie Jr. under the direction of Mary Wassick. Wassick has been directing Windham Middle School plays for seven years and she is just as proud of her actors this year as she has been every year she directs. 

“All of them are stars,” she said. “Watching students perform is kind of magical. Are they perfect and polished perfectly? Nope, but they are proud and excited to be a part of something, especially when the curtain goes up. When the curtain goes up everyone knows they are a star. No one comes to a curtain call sad.” 

The play is a condensed version of the smash hit “Annie” that is well known. In this play the songs are shorter and the show is shorter, Wassick said. There’s no shortness of actors, however. There are 70 students on stage and another five or six doing tech work behind the scenes. 

Wassick is helped by assistant director Anthony DeRice, choreographer Nikki Taiani and producer Angela Cyr. 

The actors chose the show they wanted to perform, Wassick said. “It’s timeless and classic and they know all the songs. It’s also female heavy, so it’s a great fit for us.”

The cast held auditions in October and started rehearsals in November. The cast had the Christmas break free from rehearsals and have been hit by a few snow days that have hindered their practice times. “It’s an awful lot of work. We’ve become accustomed to it,” said Wassick. The play will only have three performances, Friday night, January 23 at 7 p.m., Saturday, January 24 at 2 p.m. and again at 7 p.m.    

We wouldn’t be able to do this without parents, at least 30 of them this year, helping backstage with costuming, sets and food, said Wassick. 

The principle actors are: Sixth grader Denali Dieumegard plays Annie and her voice is amazing for one so young. 

“I cry every time she opens her mouth,” said Wassick. 

Miss Hannigan is played by Makayla Malloy. In the movie Miss Hannigan has a drinking problem, but in this play she’s not a drinker. “She’s mean, haggy and ugly and doesn’t know how to use makeup,” said Wassick.

Other principle actors are Davin Farinella as “Daddy” Oliver Warbucks. Annie Stevens as Grace, Austin Norcia as Rooster and Cordelia Inman as Lily St. Regis. 

Studies have shown that fortune 500 companies like to hire theater kids because they “perform under pressure, make quick decisions and act on them and speak well in front of people,” said Wassick. For all of those reasons, being in a production is important to the growth of students. This also includes the backstage crew. They are all working as part of a team, said Wassick. 

Tickets are on sale at the door. Adults are $10, seniors, students and WMS staff with school ID are only $5. The show is at the Windham High School Performing Arts Center, 406 Gray Road.

Toby Pennels' dream - By Michelle Libby

Last September, Windham and many all over the country grieved the loss of Stuart “Toby” Pennels. From being an RSU14 school board member to his work with the Sebago Lake Rotary Club, Pennels gave his all to the community, especially to the Veterans in Windham as the president of the Windham Veterans Association. Monday, the Windham Veterans Association held a press conference to announce the beginning of “Toby’s Dream”, a plan to raise $50,000 to have the driveway and parking lot at the center paved. The campaign will last for five months, concluding on Memorial Day 2015. 

Two weeks before Toby’s motorcycle accident that led to his death, he and Don Swander, the coordinator of the “Toby’s Dream” project and a veteran himself, stood at the start of the Veterans Memorial Drive discussing the paving plan. 

Don Swander

“We need to pave right here,” Toby told Swander. “If we pave it they will come,” Toby said.

Cyndy Bell sings "God Bless the USA"

“While president of the Windham Veterans Association from June of 2012 until his death in September 2014, “Toby’s Dream” plan was to pave the Windham Veteran Center parking lot and access road to connect with the parking lot pavement behind the Windham Mall as a way to move the Windham Veterans Center ‘into a better position’,” said Swander. 

Paving the road and parking lot would help the Veterans’ Hall be self-sustaining. At present, the Veteran’s hall is supported by hall rentals and by generous donations from veterans throughout the year, said Swander. Pennels and Swander agree that the hall rentals must pay the bills. In order to get the rentals, they parking lot needs to be paved. Having wedding receptions and showers at the hall is no fun when it’s raining and the parking lot is muddy. Former state senator Gary Plummer just got married at the Veterans’ Center and reiterated how much this project is needed. 

Ken Murch

Taylor Pennels spoke first after telling her mother, Brenda, that she would not be speaking. “Thanks for being here. Every time I’m in this building, I feel my dad,” she said, encouraging people to donate to the project. And, they did. Brenda Pennels started the donations off with a $1,000 check, followed by Deb Pennels, Toby’s mother. 

“It’s overwhelming,” Deb said about the outpouring of support for her son, who she described as a shy child. 

The event raised $6,620 from private citizens, businesses and veteran organizations. 

“Toby talked about this all the time,” Brenda said. “I can’t get enough of Toby’s projects.” 

John from Shelterman donated $500 and challenged any other business owners in Windham to match or do what they can to support the project. Ron Perrault challenged his brothers and sisters in the Vet Association to contribute at least $50. 

“Help us to prove that Toby’s plan was right,” Swander said. 

When the project is completed, the road will be renamed Toby Pennels Veterans Memorial Drive in his honor. 

 “We miss Toby in a huge way,” said Swander. Donations can be sent to WVA PO Box 1776, Windham, Maine, 04062, made out to WVA PAVING and in the notation line write “Toby’s Dream”. Anyone donating $1,000 or more will be given a 20 percent discount on all future rentals of the hall for the next 20 years.

The press conference held Monday was planned for the entrance to Veterans Memorial Drive, but was moved inside thanks to the blustering wind and cold.

Windham's first new fire chief in decades is sworn in - By Michelle Libby

Monday morning, new Fire Chief Brent Libby was sworn in at the Windham Town Hall. 
 

“It’s a fresh start. We’re moving forward, it’s out first new chief in 30 years,” said Captain Ken Thorpe. “There are guys who have only known one chief.” 

The firefighters in attendance agree that it’s a good opportunity for the department and for the town.

Town manager Tony Plante told the small audience that it’s been a long time more than just a decade since swearing in a new chief. “Take a moment to think about the department and a new chapter,” said Plante, who also thanked the search committee. 

Town clerk Linda Morrell swore in Libby, officially making him Windham’s chief. 

“I’m ready to get going,” he said. “It’s a good adventure.” He plans to do a lot of listening at first. “There’s a lot of tradition and history,” he added. “People are looking forward to some change.”

With the town’s growth over the last three decades, one of the department’s challenges is to keep up, giving top level service all the time when someone calls, said Libby. He knows he has big shoes to fill, those of Charlie Hammond, who just retired, but he’s looking forward to it, he said.

Community steps up to help local family in need - By Elizabeth Richards

Craig Dyer faces great challenges over the next few months. He will be travelling to Raleigh, North Carolina for testing and, he hopes, a double lung transplant. He would like to face these challenges with his wife, Karla, at his side, and the community is stepping up to help.              
       

Dyer has a rare genetic lung disease called Alpha 1 trypsin deficiency. The disease went untreated for 42 years, until Dyer caught pneumonia and was diagnosed with emphysema. After being referred to a pulmonologist, he was diagnosed with the rare condition, which only has 3,500 registered cases in the United States, Dyer said.

After his diagnosis, Dyer began receiving IV treatments to slow the degeneration of his lungs. The drugs he receives cost $8,000 for a one-hour IV treatment, and he is receiving treatments weekly. The Dyer’s insurance through Medicaid and a supplemental AARP policy cover the costs entirely, and will also cover the medical costs in North Carolina. 

One glitch, however, has arisen. The Dyers have received assistance from a private foundation, Patient Services, Inc. to pay the cost of the supplemental policy premiums. In November, Dyer received a letter notifying him that that assistance will end as of June 2015. Although they are exploring another foundation for funding, it seems likely that they will need to pick up the cost of that premium, adding another couple hundred dollars per month to an already tight budget. 

In July, Dyer was told that if he didn’t receive the transplant he had no more than two years to live. Breathing tests in the last couple of weeks showed that his lung capacity has dropped from 24 percent to 18 to 19 percent. His doctor was putting in a call to Duke University, where it has been recommended he have the procedure, to request an appointment as soon as possible, Dyer said. “I anticipate correspondence from Duke University in January and we’ll go from there. It could be a slow or a fast process, we just don’t know,” he said. 

Once in Raleigh, Dyer will go through required testing to see if he is strong enough to handle the transplant surgery, do intensive preparatory work, and wait for a pair of lungs to become available. The Dyers were told to anticipate being in Raleigh for at least eight months for the testing, surgery and recovery. This means setting up another household in North Carolina, a difficult challenge for the Dyers. Karla, who was run over by a car when she was five years old, is also disabled, requiring the Dyers live on a fixed Social Security income.

That’s where the community comes in. The North Windham Union Church, where the Dyers are members, has set up the Dyer Fund to assist with travel and living expenses in North Carolina. They have collected donations from the congregation, including two matching challenge donations of $1,000 each. The church has also hosted a variety of fundraising activities including thrift shop sales, and a pie and dessert sale to benefit the fund. “Our church has been wonderful,” Karla said. 

In addition to the church support, the Dyers son, Matthew, set up a gofundme page, which has raised $3,115 of a $10,000 goal since its creation in mid-November. Through social media, the word spread rapidly, and donations came quickly in the beginning, but have stagnated, the Dyers said. 

Matthew also connected with Comedian Bob Marley to arrange for a benefit show on January 22, 2015. The show will be at Keeley’s Banquet Center in Portland. Keeley’s donated the space for the benefit.

The Dyers have lived in Windham since 1988, and raised two children, Matthew and Lindsey. Matthew is now an active duty specialist in the US Army and Lindsey recently graduated from University of Maine as a microbiologist. 

Both of the Dyers are extremely grateful for the assistance they have received. Craig said an emotional and emphatic thank you to the community for their support in this difficult time. 

Karla added that she is worried, particularly if the surgery happens after June, when they will need to pay for the supplementary insurance policy. “I feel like the funding is going to stop at a certain point, and we’re not going to have enough and I will have to come back and leave him down there alone,” she said.

Though his challenges are ongoing, Dyer maintains a positive outlook. “Every day is a party and every meal is a feast,” he said. Living for the moment is important to him, he added, because tomorrow might not come. 

“He is amazing,” said Karla. “He is such a positive man. It rubs off on me.” 

Donations to the Dyer Fund can be sent to North Windham Union Church, UCC at 723 Roosevelt Trail, Windham, ME 04062. Tickets to the benefit show are $20, and are available at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/comedian-bob-marley-benefit-for-craig-dyers-lung-transplant-tickets-14953587583. Donations can also be made at the gofundme page, http://www.gofundme.com/hn07bs.