Windham residents create heartfelt homemade Christmas treasures

By Daniel Gray

Living in Windham means being connected to your neighbors and having a connection that not many towns know. There are so many wonderful, talented community members that work with their hands every day, creating to make our lives easier or brightly colored to drown out the tones of this year. 

Because of the virus, many missed out on the yearly tradition of going to the craft fair at the local high school to marvel at all the glorious creations of our tight-knit community. As a result, we’re shining a small spotlight on some local creators who would be a happy addition for the festive holiday season. 

Nicole Keniston of Windham mixes
paints that will be used for mixed 
media designs she creates by hand
for Christmas gifts. These burnt
wood creations will be painted
and shaped into the state of
Maine. SUBMITTED PHOTO

New Windham resident Nicole Keniston creates mixed-media wood burnings and paintings. Her business name is “Nicole's Burnt Kitchen” due to "not being super accurate in the kitchen" and her wood-burning pieces.

Keniston just recently moved to Windham from South Portland with her husband and three children and is an undergraduate in college studying for a degree in early childhood education. She loves bringing two different mediums together to create different pieces of art, and it shows with her colorful Maine paintings on wood with burning details etched into it.

 

She creates with elements of nature and has nature in mind with what she makes.

 

"I’ve always loved creating art with the different elements of nature. Especially in the classroom, or on a budget, and kids love it,” Keniston said. “My husband and kids came home with a wood-burning kit one afternoon, and we all just got hooked on all the options and possibilities there were." 

 

Keeping in line with crafting, there's Ashley Riley Caswell, who places wonderful designs on glasses.

 

She’s lived in Windham her whole life and only left to attend college in New Hampshire, currently living with her husband and her two young boys. Growing up a crafter with her grandmothers, Caswell said that she learned how to paint and how to sew.

 

She's always enjoyed crafting, and to her, it isn't just “'crafting,” but more artistry.

 

“Crafting, for me, has never been "one thing,” Caswell said. “I tend to mix it up and be more of a ‘maker,’ diving into different creations along the way."

 

Her creative beautiful and oftentimes hilarious painted glass pieces are made using a computer and a machine that creates the custom-made design. A couple designs in her collection of hilarious 21+ 'Quarantine Survival Kits' includes a picture of a hammer stating 'hammered' and a bumble bee that says “buzzed,” perfect for those days to pop open a bottle of wine at home and just unwind.

 

Caswell also has made glasses and tumblers with a stencil of the state of Maine on them, quite simple, but a very nice statement piece to show off Maine pride. She has a Facebook dedicated to her glasses called the Crafty Girls Co-Op.

Nicole Warner is a local candy maker and baker who loves making sweet treats for folks and their families, especially around the holiday season. She creates cakes, cupcakes, cookies, whoopie pies, and
amazing “hot cocoa bombs,” among various other goodies.

When not baking and decorating, Nicole loves to spend time with her husband and two children, Caleb and Eliana. Another Portland native gone Windham, Nicole enjoys the community and connections she has made here, and especially loves sharing her sweets as well.

To Nicole, dessert is everyone's favorite part of any meal and she would be happy to make her treats part of a family's dinner.

 

“I have always been making cakes, cupcakes, and baked goods for family parties, but never really advertised. Decorating is a huge stress reliever for me,” Warner said. “I just started actually selling my creations a couple years ago with a bigger push on social media this past spring. I am genuinely so surprised at how well it has taken off."

 

Warner also has a Facebook page to order goodies called Nicole's Sweet Treats. <

Meters add up to marathon for Windham runner

Mike Parker, a 78-year-old South
Windham runner and a former 
president of the Presumpscot 
Regional Land Trust, completed
a marathon run on Dec. 4 at 
Windham High School that he 
began in September and
accomplished by running 
100-meter segments at a time.
SUBMITTED PHOTO

By Ed Pierce

Persistence has paid off for a 78-year-old South Windham runner who completed a marathon run 100 meters at a time at Windham High School earlier this month.

Mike Parker, a devoted runner and former president of the Presumpscot Regional Land Trust, had been walking on Portland Water District trails to escape cabin fever heading into the fall, but with hunting season in full swing, he says he came up with an activity a little safer and perhaps a bit more challenging. 

“Like most 78-year-olds, I can barely recall the glory days when I was running four or five marathons a year,” Parker said. “But like any aging runner, I measure my well-being by how well my legs are functioning. One quiet afternoon, I calculated from my best marathon speed that it would take 23 seconds to run 100 meters.”

He said that Windham High Coach Jeff Riddle showed him where he could find start and finish lines on both straightaways of the track and wished him well.

“For three months I have become something of a fixture on the oval,” he said.

Parker decided to try and run a marathon, completing 100 meters each time on the track, doing 10 segments at a time. 

“He figured out from his past personal record marathon time what time he would need to run many 100-meter dashes in, repeatedly over time, and then use many months and days heading to the track and run 10 one-hundred meter dashes on that day, and matching it in that time, as eventually it will add up and he will have run a full marathon, and his time will match his past best time ever,” Riddle said. 

In early September, Parker had his first timed trial run.

“I finished within the requisite time, but only by going all-out, which is scary business at my brittle age,” Parker said. “My stride was short because my hamstrings had so little stretch, and I had very little time per stride because most of my muscle mass has taken leave. But I had discovered a distance, however short, in which I could equal my marathon pace.”

Running has always come easy for Parker, who graduated from Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield and attended Dartmouth on an NROTC scholarship. He served 30 years in the Navy, first as a line officer, then as a Navy dentist.

In the year before he entered Tufts University Dental School, Parker worked in Saigon on the staff of Vice Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, who went on to become Chief of Naval Operations. After retiring from Navy dentistry, he practiced with Dr. Dan Armstrong in South Portland for a dozen years.

He said that a marathon distance is 26.2 miles, but in metric terms, it is 42.2 kilometers, or 422 dashes of 100 meters.

“There was a way I might be able to run a marathon in my best-ever pace, 23 seconds at a time,” Parker said.

He only ran two dashes in the first session in September.

“I noted a delicate balance between what was fast enough and what my hamstrings would tolerate. Ten
dashes per session seemed tolerable, but I made the mistake of experimenting higher,” Parker said. “After two consecutive sessions of 20 dashes in late September, I had to spend a couple weeks recovering.”

He continued the effort through October and in November, he was able to settle into a pattern of completing fairly comfortable 10 dashes, or one kilometer per session, icing his hamstrings after most of them.

One day while walking from the finish line back to the start along the home stadium, Parker said that he noticed another man about his age apparently also running dashes on a grass playing field closer to the high school.

“I intercepted him as he was leaving and learned that he was keeping himself in condition for the USTFA Masters competition, which had been canceled this year by the pandemic,” Parker said. “He said he had done well in past years and wanted to stay competitive with his contemporaries. He declined to join me on the track, saying he needed the grass to cushion his sore knees. We all have our weaknesses.”

During November. Parker completed one kilometer per session and then dodging rainy days, he was able to schedule his final kilometer of the marathon on Dec. 4.

“I dedicated this challenge to the memory of my college ski coach, Al Merrill, an Andover, Maine, native,” he said. “In his memory, I wore a 56-year-old letter sweater for the final dash, thinking that I would be back on Nordic skis with substantial snow in the next couple days.” 

He and his wife, Carolyn, have raised three children in 56 years of marriage and Parker has plenty of time to run and stay active, having retired in 2007. <

Help available as need for local heating assistance increases

The nonprofit organization Windham Neighbors
Helping Neighbors provides one-time emergency
heating fuel assistance to Windham and Raymond
residents, and to direct residents to available
long term resources while promoting a culture
of neighbors helping neighbors locally.
COURTESY PHOTO   

By Lorraine Glowczak

At a recent Windham Neighbors Helping Neighbors board meeting, it came to the members’ attention that they have had several new requests this year for heating assistance. Their concern for and offer to those individuals, and others who are facing financial challenges, is to provide more information to the community that help is available in various ways.

“Several new people who made request from us had no idea about applying for LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program),” said Deb McAfee, WNHN Board and Community Service Committee member. “Some people who had reached out to never had to pay the bills before and were unaware where and how to begin.”

McAfee said that WNHN can help individuals who request heating needs while they apply for LIHEAP or are waiting for their appointment for LIHEAP approval. 

Briefly, Windham Neighbors Helping Neighbors, a 501c3 nonprofit, provides one-time emergency heating fuel assistance to Windham and Raymond residents, and help direct individuals to appropriate long-term resources and promote a culture of neighbors helping neighbors.

LIHEAP is a federally funded program through the Department of Health and Human Services. The program provides money to help low-income homeowners and renters pay for heating costs and they assist in paying the heating bills. There are income guidelines for eligibility, and applications are accepted from Aug. 1 through April 30 each year. Contact information for LIHEAP is 1-800-452-4668.

Residents in need can also contact local Windham officials for a LIHEAP application including Rene Daniel, Windham’s General Assistance Administrator. He is available to help with the application process and to answer any questions one may have. He can be reached at 207-892-1906.

Daniel, who also oversees the Windham Food and Clothes Pantries located at 377 Gray Road in Windham, said they have seen a minor spike with the need for services since the pandemic began, including the need for LIHEAP applications

“We’ve seen a small uptick in recent months,” Daniel said. “And we are there to provide the gaps and carryovers from local, state and federal aid. All people need to do is to make an appointment with me and I will help walk them through the LIHEAP application process and we will support everyone who walks through the door. Even if they are not eligible for receiving LIHEAP funding, we will find a way to help in some form.”

Daniel said he is very grateful for local organizations and individuals who give so that others may live in a healthy way and keep warm for the winter.

“I am so lucky to be a part of Windham,” Daniel said. “People in this community are just so giving. I
am especially thankful for Windham Neighbors Helping Neighbors. Once a person applies for federal heating assistance, there is a waiting period, and it is possible their heat may be turned off until they get approved. To prevent this from happening, all I have to do is call Neighbors Helping Neighbors, and they are there to help us fill in the gaps between services.”

The services provided by the Windham General Assistance Program also include food and clothes. Currently, because of the pandemic, the food and clothes pantries are open by appointment only.  

“We ask that people call in and we will prepare the bags of groceries they need,” Daniel said. “Once they arrive, we require people to remain in their vehicles with masks on and we bring out the bags of food and place them in the trunk of their cars. We are getting pretty fast at this drive-up service. In fact, I think we can do it in less than a minute or two – all the while adhering to CDC guidelines for social distancing.”

The eligibility requirements at the Windham Food and Clothes pantries are quite simple.

“We are only one of two food pantries in Maine whose only requirement is proof of Windham residency,” Daniel said. “That is all we ask. We do not ask for anything else.”

The Windham Food Pantry also offers a once-a-month drive through program for older citizens in the area. The next drive thru program for those 60 and older is from 10 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, Jan. 6.

The following is list of resources available for those who are facing financial challenges in the Raymond and Windham communities (heating assistance or otherwise).

Town of Windham:

·         Rene Daniel/Windham Food and Clothes Pantries and heating assistance: 207-892-1906

·         Windham Town Clerk, Linda Morrell: 207-892-3507

·         Judy Vance of Windham Neighbors Helping Neighbors: 207-892-1900. windhamneighbors.com

·         St. Ann’s Essentials Pantry, St. Ann’s Episcopal Church located at 40 Windham Center Road in Windham: Serves families by providing personal and household items that cannot be purchased by an EBT debit card. For more information, call Deacon Wendy Rozene at 207-232-0841.

Town of Raymond:

·         General Assistance Administrator Jennie Silverblade: (207) 655-4742 x 124

·         Raymond Food Pantry: Lake Region Baptist Church, 1273 Roosevelt Trail in Raymond, call 207-428-3637.

·         Town Manager’s Office: Don Willard at (207) 655-4742 x131

·         Raymond Village Community Church at 207-655-7749.

Towns of Raymond, Windham and Standish;

·         Sebago Lakes Region Fuller Center for Housing: Although unable to assist directly with heating needs, they collaborate with Window Dressers – an organization that improves the warmth and comfort of homes, lowering heating costs that reduces CO2 emissions by producing low-cost insulating window inserts that function as interior-mounted storm windows. The local Fuller Center’s mission is to serve older adults who wish to remain in their home by providing home repairs or renovations and yard work with a “pay it forward” mindset. For more information, call 207-838-8378 or send an email to [email protected]. <

Windham student to serve on Maine Association of Student Councils

Windham High School sophomore Brooklynn Hennigar
has been named as the Southern Maine Representative 
to the Maine Association of Students Council's
executive board. PHOTO BY HOLDEN ANDERSON   

By Elizabeth Richards

Brooklynn Hennigar has been part of the Windham High School student council since her freshman year. This year, the WHS sophomore will expand her involvement to the state level by serving as the Southern Maine Representative to the Maine Association of Student Council's executive board.

Hennigar said she joined the WHS student council last year because she enjoys hearing what others have to say. Her involvement is a big aspect of who she is, she said. Being chosen to participate at the state level took her by surprise, she said.

“I’m very excited to see where this takes me. I’m so blessed and overwhelmed that I don’t even know what to say,” she said.

Having a voice is important to Hennigar.

“I feel that everyone should have a voice and they should be heard at all times,” she said. “I feel very honored to be a part of my student council and have a voice for the sophomore [class].”

While becoming involved on the state level is a little overwhelming, she said, “I’m very excited to take on this challenge.” Being part of the executive board will allow her to show leadership and bring others together, she said, “It’s amazing where this whole community can come together and become one,” she said. “I can’t wait to see a change in schools becoming more active.”

Hennigar’s future plans include attending a four-year college and then obtaining a master’s degree in pediatric nursing. This opportunity to serve at the state level is something she feels could help her to reach those goals.

“I am very fortunate to become part of something that could really help me out in the future, with
colleges and jobs,” she said.

The state board will currently meet via Zoom because of the pandemic, Hennigar said. There is typically a state conference in May, and she’s hopeful they’ll be able to meet in person then.

Maine Principals’ Association Executive Director for the Professional Division, Holly Couturier, said that as the Southern Maine Representative, Hennigar will be responsible for reaching out to member schools in Southern Maine to inform them of statewide events the board has planned, as well as organizing regional events as desired by the schools.

“During the regional meetings, schools will have the opportunity to come together – virtually this year of course – and talk about what they are each doing in their individual councils. This sharing of ideas is exceptionally helpful to others so that they can ask questions and then try things to improve student leadership and school spirit in their respective schools,” Couturier said.

Serving on the executive board will also give Hennigar a strong voice in planning the statewide Student Leadership Convention which brings together more than 500 students from all over the state, Couturier said.

The Maine Association of Student Councils is sponsored by the Maine Principals’ Association. According to the Student Council page on the MAP website, the association provides guidance for student councils at the local, regional, state, and national levels.

“Membership provides your school access to workshops, meetings, information, and the opportunity to communicate with fellow student councils,” wrote Couturier in a letter posted to the page.

“I’m very excited to see what the State of Maine has for the next coming year,” Hennigar said. After her first meeting, she said “It looks like it’s going to be a very interesting year. I love all the people who are on the board with me, they’re very nice, positive and respectful. I’m very much looking forward to working with them.

“I feel as a state that we are very special,” Hennigar said. “We should be working as one to become a better state. I feel that it’s very important, going through a pandemic, we should be coming together to work as one,” she said. <

Knights of Columbus grateful for public generosity during pandemic

By Ed Pierce

Real generosity exists and the Windham Knights of Columbus have witnessed it in person.

Over the course of the past seven years, the Knights of Columbus have hosted the popular “Claws for a Cause” Lobster Dinner each October to assist in raising money for the Windham Food Pantry and through that event, the Knights have collected and donated on average about $2,500 to the food pantry since its inception.

But because of COVID-19 restrictions, the Knights of Columbus had to scrub this year’s annual fundraiser when the need for financial assistance for the food pantry was greater than ever.

In late October, the Knights of Columbus appealed to the public to step up and help out by contributing voluntary tax-deductible donations to the organization so that they would be able to offer some help to the food pantry.

According to Dave Spada, District Deputy and Maine Regional Training Director for the Maine State Council of the Knights of Columbus, the help they so desperately sought did indeed arrive.

Spada said that more than 100 people from throughout the Lakes Region made donations to the effort.

“The Knights had an initial goal of $2,500 and we kick-started the goal with a donation of $1,000,” he said.

Because of the significant donations coming in from the public, in November the Knights of Columbus were able to present the Windham Food Pantry with a check in the amount of $4,350, the largest private donation ever received by the food pantry to date.

“The donation enables families in need to receive food throughout the holiday season,” Spada said. We are humbled by the response from the community and we thank you for your support.

The Windham Knights of Columbus is an organization of Catholic men who lead, serve, protect and defend in the community. They share a desire to be better husbands, fathers, sons, neighbors, and role models and to put charity and community first.

The Knights of Columbus organization was founded in 1882 in Connecticut as a fraternal benefit society and remains true to its founding principles of charity, unity, and fraternity to this very day.

They remain committed to rendering mutual aid and assistance to the sick, disabled and needy members of the community and to promote intellectual fellowship through educational, charitable, religious, social welfare, war relief and public relief work.

Windham’s Knights of Columbus chapter at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church is one of more than 14,000 councils and 1.8 million members throughout America, Canada, the Philippines, Mexico, Poland, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Panama, the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, Cuba, Guatemala, Guam and Saipan.

The Windham Food Pantry, 8 School Road, Windham, is open year-round to Windham residents with proof of residency. It provides food monthly to Windham residents in need of assistance.

For more information about the Windham Food Pantry, call 207-892-1907.<

Windham Chamber Singers adapt to digital holiday performance

Members of the Windham Chamber Singers directed
by Dr. Richard Nickerson perform songs during 'A
Maine Family Holiday' concert on You Tube. The 
group's annual holiday concert has become a tradition
locally but was forced to switch to digital-only
because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
COURTESY PHOTO

By Daniel Gray

It wasn’t easy to shift from performing their popular “An American Family Holiday” Christmas concert live to streaming a You Tube event, but the Windham Chamber Singers are pleased with the result.

 

In early October, ongoing pandemic restrictions Chamber Singers Director Dr. Richard Nickerson announced the change with the first performance available online Dec. 5.

 

To many in the community, "An American Family Holiday," is a traditional Windham Chamber Singers event that happens every year featuring various holiday songs and guest stars in the Windham High School auditorium. But the pandemic couldn’t stop that yearly tradition, it just led to the concert being performed digitally. And for this year, the concert was renamed "A Maine Family Holiday" to celebrate Maine's bicentennial celebration.

Nickerson said that the project was fun and engaging for himself and the singers.

To pull it off, each student filmed their part separately, and then sent the file to Nickerson to splice them all together. When completed, the result turned out to be a spectacular show with other guest stars spliced into the mix of songs.

During the hour-long video, host Kim Block showcased the Windham Chamber Singers along with special guests John Cariani, Con Fullam, and our own U.S. Senator, Angus King. For musical accompaniments, the Chamber Singers were joined with Daniel Strange and his wife Ashley Liberty, Robyn Hurder and Clyde Alves, Travis James Humphrey, and some former WHS Chamber Singers that lent their voices to the concert. Even the beautiful dancers at Maine State Ballet were included making for a gorgeous show for us at home.

According to Nickerson, all around, it was an amazing performance and a wonderful job of everyone who was involved and added their talents and stories.

A personal favorite song during the whole performance for Nickerson was toward the end with the song “O Holy Night,” with the reason being they had Chamber Singer alumni from all over the globe reach out to sing along. There were former graduates all the way back from 1991 to 2019, for which he was very happy to hear from. Other songs featured in the video include “The Maine Christmas Song,” “Jingle Bells,” “Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming,” and many others.

With the video now topping more than 3,800 views on You Tube and steadily climbing, Nickerson said it was originally intended to only have the video up on the Windham Chamber Singers You Tube channel for a limited time, but he had changed his mind when a snowstorm hit Maine and knocked the
power out of many homes.

Nickerson said that not only were Mainers viewing the stream, but he noticed people from all over the globe were tuning in to watch.

 

"I was monitoring the live feed, and we had people from all over the country watching. People from as far away as Mexico and even people in Europe,” Nickerson said. “It was very exciting to be able to interact with people from literally all over the world."

 

Even though the end results were something truly amazing, Nickerson said performing digitally t isn't something that he and the Windham Chamber Singers would like to continue doing. It was a fun process for them, but it just isn't what the Chamber Singers do. They all love the excitement and joy that comes from a live performance on stage, not exactly staying at home and recording on a laptop or phone.

 

Nickerson said he encourages everyone to watch the video and await the return of live performances by the group.

 

“It's a way to bring the joy of the season,” he said. “Even in a time of restrictions of what we can and can't do, this concert was certainly making lemonade out of lemons. I’ve got a couple irons in the fire for things that we might be able to do next spring, but we’ll have to see. The only thing that is predictable is that things are unpredictable right now.”"

With the holiday concert serving as the Windham Chamber Singers only fundraiser for the whole year, things were a bit different with the introduction of an entirely free video on the internet.

If you would like to donate to the Windham Chamber Singers, they have a website where there are several options of donating. Please visit windhamchambersingers.com for more information. <