Lodge’s ‘Charity Dinner’ event to fund several college scholarships

By Ed Pierce

The underlying belief of Masons from Presumpscot Lodge 70 in Windham is to practice charity and to care, not only for their own but also for the community through charitable giving and volunteer efforts to become better men and to forge a better world. To that end, the lodge’s upcoming Charity Dinner promises laughs, great music and an awesome meal while raising money to fund two scholarships for Windham High School students

Masons from Presumpscot Lodge 70 in Windham are hosting
a Charity Dinner at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 21 at Erik's
Church, 824 Roosevelt Trail in Windham to fund 
scholarships for Windham High School students. The event
features appetizers, an Italian buffet and desserts, with
entertainment by comedians Nick Gordon and Mark 
Turcotte and music by the 43 Degrees North band.
PHOTO BY ED PIERCE   

The Charity Dinner will take place at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 21 at Erik’s Church, 824 Roosevelt Trail in Windham and features delicious appetizers, and Italian buffet and desserts, comedians Nick Gordon and Mark Turcotte, and music by the 43 Degrees North band. There will also be a silent auction, and tickets are priced at $65 per person.

According to Gaige Hamilton of Raymond, a member of the lodge, planning for the Charity Dinner began earlier this year and the event was created for the purpose of offering college scholarships to deserving students from the area.

“Everything we do revolves around charity and to benefit the community,” Hamilton said.

Besides comedy and music, guests at the Charity Dinner will be able to enjoy Hor D'oeuvres; Antipasto Skewers; Spanakopita; Chicken Marsala; Garlic Bread; Caesar Salad; Chicken Broccoli Alfredo; Bolognese; Buttered Pasta; and Dessert with cookies and pastries.

The 43 Degrees North band is donating their time to entertain at the Charity Dinner, Hamilton said. It was created by three members of the band “Wednesday Night Project.”

The goal of this acoustic group is to share their love of music and performance with others in the community. Before forming this group all three members had various levels of performance experience and amalgamated their talents to create a very fun and entertaining trio. The music is an eclectic mix of country and classic rock songs that lend themselves to the sound and harmonies of the three performers.

Nick Gordon is a writer, podcaster, and voice actor. He is a founding member of Great Falls Comedy Club and a regular at the Woolen Mill Comedy Club, McCue's Comedy Club, and Empire Comedy Club.

Mark Turcotte is the founder of Maine Event Comedy and the Bricks & Bridges Comedy Fest. He was a finalist in the Funniest Comic on the East Coast Contest and has performed for the Gotham All-Stars Show in New York City.

The Presumpscot Lodge at 964 River Road in Windham is the gathering place for Masons from Windham, Standish and Raymond.

Currently the lodge has 280 members and is proud of its long history and charitable works for the community.

Formed in 1864, the first lodge building was located at Windham Hill and took its name after the Presumpscot River which played a prominent part in the town’s early formation. In 1887, the original Masonic building was dismantled and reconstructed at a location near 725 Roosevelt Trail in North Windham. That lodge remained at that location until 1970 when the current lodge building at 964 River Road was built. 

The history of Masonry in Maine goes back even further. In 1762, the Provincial Grand Lodge of the Grand Lodge of England (now the United Grand Lodge of England) issued a charter to form a Lodge in Falmouth, which eventually became Portland, at the request of several Masons living in the area.

In 1819, the people of Maine voted to withdraw from Massachusetts and form a separate state. There were 31 Maine Lodges at the time, active and thriving, who then met in convention and voted to follow suit and form their own Grand Lodge of Maine when the separation took place.

Hamilton says that Windham’s Masonic Lodge is made up of men who share similar values for their own well-being, and for the overall health and welfare of the inhabitants of their community. He said that Masons contribute time and resources to charity and participate in many outreach programs designed to better their community.

He said the Charity Dinner is yet another demonstration of Presumpscot Lodge 70’s commitment to making the community a better place to live.

“We also changed the scholarship requirements to give more students an opportunity,” Hamilton said. “We lowered the GPA required to 2.7 overall. Many top students will receive multiple scholarships when awarded on Scholarship Night, but academics are only one component to student success. Our scholarships will be based on many factors, including community involvement, athletics and more. We’ve opened it up to make these two scholarships available to even more deserving students.”

The Presumpscot Lodge 70 scholarships will be presented for the first time on Scholarship Night at Windham High School in June and Hamilton said that the Masons expect to present two scholarships annually thereafter.

To obtain tickets for the Charity Dinner event, call 207-318-4056 or 207-245-0234. <

Windham pitcher earns bullpen spot for Florida State League’s Daytona Beach Tortugas

By Ed Pierce

Windham’s Brady Afthim is yet another step closer in his quest to play Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Reds.

Brady Afthim of Windham pitches for the Daytona
Beach Tortugas during a Florida State League game
against Jupiter on April 2. Afthim was drafted by the
Cincinnati Reds last summer and is in his first full
season of playing professional baseball.  
PHOTO BY NADIA ZOMORODIAN/
DAYTONA BEAVCH NEWS-JOURNAL

After a solid showing during the Reds’ spring training in Arizona, Afthim, 23, was assigned to the Reds’ minor league team, the Daytona Beach Tortugas in the Florida State League, and appeared in the Tortugas’ first game of the season last week against Jupiter. He faced five batters and struck out two as the Tortugas defeated the Jupiter Hammerheads, 4-2.

A right-handed pitcher, Afthim signed with the Reds last summer for a $150,000 bonus after Cincinnati selected him in the 13th round of the 2025 MLB Draft last July. He graduated from Windham High School in 2021 and went on to a stellar career serving as the closer for the University of Connecticut Huskies.

While playing for Windham High under then WHS coach Cody Dube, Afthim racked up honors as Maine Gatorade Player of the Year, USA Today Player of the Year in Maine, and First Team All-Southern Maine Athletic Association as both a pitcher and a catcher. He also won the John Winkin Award designating him as the top senior high school baseball player in Maine in 2021 and he was named as the recipient of the 2021 Mr. Baseball in Maine Award.

The son of Shelly and Phil Afthim, Brady started playing baseball in the Windham Little League and his older brother Bryce, also pitched for Windham High School and played in college for the University of Southern Maine.

Throwing a fastball between 93 to 95 mph and touching 97 mph at times, Afthim can mix in a changeup when needed and he also keeps batters guessing by throwing a slider effectively.

He says he’s found playing professional baseball is different from college.

“The biggest adjustment for me, being someone who came out of college, has been the approach to pitching in games,” Afthim said. “In college the goal is to win. And priority number one for pitchers is to throw strikes, try to walk as little batters as possible, and be efficient. All things that make sense when you’re trying to win games. In the minor leagues, especially at the lower levels, it’s all development based.”

Afthim said he’s found that in minor league baseball, results come second to player development.

“So, for me, an example would be throwing my slider above 87 mph,” he said. “In college if I was throwing my slider above 87 mph and it was all over the place and my fastball was getting hit off the wall, that wouldn’t be seen as good. Seems pretty obvious. Here my goal is to throw that slider above 87 mph and it’s hit all over the place that would be seen as a step in the right direction. The mindset is eventually I’ll learn to throw that 87 mph slider in good spots, and then I’ll have a really good pitch to go to. So just understanding the process of developing into a better pitcher is the top priority and not necessarily my Earned Run Average or winning games is definitely a change for me.” 

Becoming an even better pitcher is something Afthim started working on after hearing his name called by the Reds in the draft. He initially spent time at Cincinnati’s training complex in Goodyear, Arizona last summer before being assigned to Daytona Beach in late August. Afthim appeared in two games near the end of the 2025 season for Daytona Beach, pitching 3 innings, striking out two and posting an EAR of 3.00.

The 2026 season started for Afthim in February, joining the Reds for spring training in Arizona and he even appeared in a spring training game for Cincinnati against the Cleveland Guardians on March 22. During that game, he faced five batters, throwing 23 pitches, 13 of which were strikes, and only allowing one hit – a home run by Cleveland’s Kyle Manzardo on a 93.1 mph fastball.

Now into the regular season, he’s been working with Tortugas’ pitching coach Jason Immekus to come up with some solid goals for him for the year.

“Obviously my goal is to stay healthy and just enjoy this whole process,” Afthim said. “It can be pretty challenging, but it’s been a blast so far and hopefully that continues.” <

'SpongeBob Musical’ makes a splash with Raymond audiences

By Briana Bizier

Over the weekend, the gymnasium at Jordan-Small Middle School in Raymond was transformed into a quiet corner of the ocean floor named Bikini Bottom as students performed the SpongeBob Musical. Returning director Tyler Costigan, along with choreographer Patricia Valley and music director Andrew Sawyer, had spent the past months leading the young cast and crew through blocking, dancing, singing, and the occasional forgotten line or cue.

Students at Jordan-Small Middle School in Raymond had fun
presenting the 'SpongeBob Musical' last weekend at the 
school. The production was a humorous song-filled visit
to Bikini Bottom and both Friday and Saturday's  
performances ended with standing ovations from
the audience. PHOTO BY BRIANA BIZIER 

On Friday night, the excitement was palpable as the cast pulled on colorful costumes designed by Cloey Osborne of Clover’s Home Creations, complete with tights, wigs, and even a massive burger costume and an inflatable pufferfish outfit. “I feel like I’m wearing one big sock,” one actor said after struggling into his bright red tights.

Backstage, the young crew sorted through a vast array of props, from a remote-controlled snail to an Avalanche Maker 3000. Led by stage managers Rosa and Sabby Shamaoun and crew manager Stella Redmond, students Olivia Beal, Eli Dulude, Myra Hammond, Joel Mbayagu, Jordyn Morris, Molly Redmond, Cash Salazar, Eva Salazar, Elyse Silvia, Madison Smith, and Grayson Valente somehow managed to keep everything organized, even completing backstage costume repairs with a hot glue gun and tracking down an ice pack after a cast member suffered a minor injury. Tech director CJ Payne and a team of volunteers from Windham High School, including Erica Lin and JSMS alumni Ari Green and Lucy Payne, checked microphones and prepared to run the lights for the show.

When Costigan announced the audience was arriving on Friday night, several cast members screamed. “How many of you are nervous?” Costigan asked. Almost every hand went up. Costigan told them not to worry. “You have a fantastic show,” he said. “It’s very you. And it’s going to be the same show you did yesterday, and the day before. Maybe even a bit better.”

With a last-minute reminder to make sure they knew where their props and costumes were, not to peek through the curtains, and not to eat cupcakes while in costume, the directors and choreographer joined the audience, leaving the play in the hands of the young actors and stage crew.

As the curtain rose on a beautiful Bikini Bottom day, narrator Ian Bizier introduced the titular yellow sponge, played by an enthusiastic Alison Largay, his best friend Patrick Star, played by Rian Borella to great comedic effect, and SpongeBob’s gloomy, artistic coworker Squidward, played by a fantastically morose Allie Lebourdais. 

SpongeBob and Patrick greeted their friend Sandy Cheeks the squirrel, played by a cheerful Ashling Feeney with a very convincing Texas accent and her cowfish friends, played by Ariel Sampson, Grace Gillies, Olivia Gurney, Rylee Odom, and Ella Jacobson. After singing a catchy song about being BFFs with Patrick, SpongeBob headed to work at the Krusty Krab.

Played by a very convincing Marley Hebert wearing custom-made crab claws, the owner of the Krusty Krab, Mr. Krabs, told his adopted daughter Pearl, played with fantastic adolescent angst by Acadia Vingers, that she’ll be the manager of the Krusty Krab once she graduates. But Pearl announced through their powerful duet, “Daddy Knows Best,” that she has dreams of her own.

This Bikini Bottom day was suddenly interrupted by red lights and rumbling. Perch Perkins, a reporter fish played by a very dramatic Zoe Decker, announced that Mount Humongous the volcano is about to erupt. The end was nigh and the plot was set in motion.

Bikini Bottom’s mayor, played by a stately Mikel Gilbert, called an emergency town meeting and asked for ideas about how to prevent the catastrophe. Patrick suggested that everyone just close their eyes, winning him the admiration of a school of sardines, played by Araia Peterson, Ella Moreau, and several ensemble members doing quick costume changes.

On the other side of the stage, Plankton, the owner of the Krusty Krab’s rival restaurant Chum Bucket, played with a perfect evil laugh by Lauren Inman and his computer wife Karen, played by Alexa Largay with a lot of digital attitude, plotted to find a way to turn this threat to their advantage. After discrediting Sandy’s plan to use science to stop the volcano and turning the fish against her, especially Old Man Jenkins, played with an excellent hobble by Haylee Irish and a belligerent Larry the Lobster, played by Alice Thibodeau in a muscle shirt, Plankton announced his dastardly scheme in a catchy song and dance called “When the Going Gets Tough” that featured the entire cast and is probably still running through audience members’ heads.

With the villagers either filled with terror, including a screaming fish in a crabby patty costume played by a perfectly panicked Grayson Waisanen, or preparing for the upcoming fundraiser concert featuring the Electric Skates, SpongeBob decided it was up to him, Patrick, and Sandy to save Bikini Bottom, singing the song “Hero is my Middle Name,” although the adoring sardines pulled Patrick away by singing that he was their “Super Sea Star Savior.”

Meanwhile, the Electric Skates arrived in town to practice the “Bikini Bottom Boogie.” Played by Aiden Carroll, Arlo Keane, and Ben LeBel, these rock stars placed ridiculous demands on Squidward, smashed their instruments, and got some huge laughs from the audience. When one of the Skates told Squidward he can’t play on stage with them, Squidward chased the band away and then sang the hilarious and surprisingly moving “I’m Not a Loser.” 

On Mount Humongous, SpongeBob and Sandy sang “Chop to the Top” as crew members moved blocks for them to climb, creating authentic suspense. Plankton and Karen attempted to interrupt their progress by firing the Avalanche Maker 3000 from deep within the audience, but Patrick came to their rescue. SpongeBob dropped Sandy’s Eruption Interruptor into the volcano, the volcano erupted in bubbles instead of lava, and the entire ensemble gathered once more to sing “Best Day Ever” and perform a final rendition of “Bikini Bottom Day.”

Both Friday and Saturday’s performances ended with standing ovations and several surprised comments from fellow audience members about how professional the Jordan-Small students looked on stage. Backstage, as the curtains fell, the young actors ran into the cafeteria screaming and hugging. “We did it,” they shouted as their friends and family gathered in the hallway to congratulate them. “We actually did it!”

SpongeBob might even say it was the best day ever. <

Katahdin students present veterans’ interviews to Library of Congress

By Ed Pierce

Historian David McCullough believed that studying America’s military history and those involved in the service of our nation can be a guide to surviving perilous times and shows us who we are and why we are the way we are. It’s a valuable lesson that students in Windham High School’s Katahdin Program have taken to heart.

Students and teachers from Windham High School's Katahdin
Program met with U.S. Senator Angus King during a visit
to Washington, D.C. in March. The Katahdin students
interviewed local U.S. military veterans and presented
videos of those interviews to be included in the Veterans
History Project at the Library of Congress. From left are
Justin London, Brandon Feyler, Senator Angus King,
McKenzie Harris, Ava Blanchard and Katahdin teachers
Richard Meserve and Marie Reidman. COURTESY PHOTO   

Katahdin students McKenzie Harris, Justin London, Ava Blanchard, and Brandon Feyler traveled with several Katahdin staff members to Washington, D.C. to present several veteran’s history videos they worked on to the Library of Congress for permanent enshrinement in March. 

The students interviewed local veterans in February at Windham High School as part of the Veterans History Project, which collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans in the Library of Congress.

Along with stopping at the Library of Congress, the students met with U.S. Senator Angus King of Maine and toured some of the memorials and museums while in Washington.

The student’s work was part of an ongoing effort for the past 14 years by the Katahdin program to meet local veterans and record their stories for the Veterans History Project.

“I am not sure how I originally heard about the Veterans History Project, but it seemed such an obvious way to connect our students with members of the community that had experiences which included many of the things we are learning about in our humanities classes,” said Richard Meserve, who is the Katahdin Program’s head of school. “We also like to pair our students with adults who can share their knowledge whenever possible.”

He said this was the third time that videotaped Katahdin interviews with veterans have been delivered in person to the Library of Congress with the remainder having been mailed there in completed packets.

The Katahdin group drove from Windham to Washington on Monday, March 16 and walked to the Library of Congress the following day where they met with a representative from the Veterans History Project. 

“She showed us around their offices and shared information about the program's history,” Meserve said. “We handed in our completed forms and videos, and they checked to make sure everything was in order.”

According to Meserve, having Katahdin students participate in the project has been valuable for several reasons.

“It is important to preserve the stories of our veterans and what better way to do that than to share those stories with students from the community in which they live,” he said. “It is a win-win scenario for all.”

The Katahdin Program provides alternative education programming for students in grades 9 to 12 enrolled in the RSU 14 school district. It is a small, community-focused school dedicated to addressing the social, emotional and academic needs of all students.

Incorporating the Veterans History Project for Katahdin students has not been without challenges, Meserve said.

“The Katahdin Program is flexible in its ability to introduce, integrate, and execute an idea or unit. Teachers collaborate often to allow for new projects to occur,” he said. “The Veterans History Project was just a part of the trip to Washington. Students also created a budget for our four-day trip, raised money, made meal plans, shopped and packed food, developed our trip agenda and explored and navigated the different monuments and museums we visited.”

Meserve and teacher Marie Reidman accompanied the students on the trip and say the feedback they received from the group was positive.

“The students enjoyed the project for many reasons: meeting community members, facilitating the interview process, transcribing the interviews, and then delivering them to the Library of Congress,” Meserve said. “The students felt this project was authentic, important and should be continued.”

Senior McKenzie Harris said until interviewing area veterans and hearing their stories, she didn't realize how much the military does.

“I knew about the things that the military does in wars but did not know about the things they do in their everyday duties that impact the lives of ordinary people,” Harris said. “Hearing the veterans explain their experiences, stories and lives was very touching. It was nice that they could share that with us and show us what their lives were like. I learned a lot of great things. It made me more appreciative of veterans, and I was able to see a side of veterans that you don't see on the surface.”

She said the trip to Washington was a very positive experience. 

“I learned a great deal more about the world than I would have otherwise, both from the Veterans History Project as well as our trip to Washington. Seeing all the people working in government, and the city in general, really opened my eyes to all that is going on in the world. We sometimes don't see that living in Windham and Raymond. All these people are in the environment together walking, taking public transportation and interacting professionally. I was very grateful to have gone on the trip and to see and do all the things that we did.”

Meserve said these Katahdin students are aware that there are veterans all around us every day and deserve our appreciation in helping to preserve our freedom.

“These are regular people who serve their country in numerous ways and deserve to be recognized and remembered for all that they have done. <

Women's four-part a capella chorus set to launch in Windham

By Erin Rose

Harmony is coming to Windham. Standish resident Denise “D” Dyer is forming Harmony 207, a women’s four-part acapella chorus, and will be hosting the inaugural meeting of the group at the Windham Hill United Church of Christ from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, May 5.

A  new four-part a capella women's chorus called 
Harmony 207 will have its inaugural meeting from
6:30 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, May 5 at Windham Hill
United Church of Christ, 140 Windham Center
Road in Windham. SUBMITTED PHOTO

“The meeting will be an introduction to our parent organization, Harmony, Incorporated, and to the genre,” she said. “People can feel what it’s like to experience those harmonies.”

The chorus is the realization of a longtime goal for Dyer, as in the past, she has had to travel more than an hour north or south to participate in an affiliated chorus. She is a lifetime member of Harmony, Incorporated and has also served as the organization’s International President from 2010 to 2012.

“The feeling that you get when you lock and ring a chord is absolutely amazing,” she said. “You have people who each sing a different part; they go off and learn their part, and when they come together, it all locks, and it’s magic the way that it fits together. That’s the magic of the seventh chord, the barbershop chord. It is just absolutely amazing when it’s done well and done right.”

Harmony 207 has been accepted as a prospective member of Harmony, Incorporated, an organization of 2,000 women and more than 65 chapter choruses in the United States and Canada. Founded in 1959, the organization hosts area and international competitions and provides educational resources for its membership.

The dues for membership are less than $100 annually, Dyer said, explaining that it would be little higher for new members. However, no fees will need to be paid until April 2027, as the group’s charter will not be official until the organization’s new year, which begins in April.

The inaugural meeting will include the attendance of two Harmony, Incorporated-affiliated choruses, Maine-ly Harmony, based in Gardiner, and Sounds of the Seacoast, from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Dyer said that their attendance helps show the bond that forms between members of the choruses.

“The women I sang with in Gardiner and in Portsmouth are coming on May 5 because it’s more of a sisterhood than an organization,” she said. “They say, ‘Music brings us together, harmony unites us.’”

While the organization hosts competitions, that is not the immediate goal of Harmony 207, as Dyer is seeking to start by building a community of like-minded women.

“It’s not mandatory to compete or attend conventions,” Dyer said. “My short-term goal is to get a group of women together that like to sing four-part harmony.”

During the inaugural meeting, attendees will be given a welcome packet which will include music for two songs, “Happy Birthday” and “Let There Be Peace on Earth,” written in four-part harmony.

“Everyone knows the words and everyone knows the melody” for Happy Birthday, Dyer said, adding that ensuring everyone can sing along will help “gauge which parts they find most comfortable to sing.”

Dyer explained that the vocal ranges for the chorus will differ from the standard soprano, alto, tenor, and bass parts, to accommodate the female singers.

“It’s tenor, lead, which is mostly melody, the baritone that fills in the chords in the middle, and then the base, which is a low alto,” she said.

While many people think of classic barbershop music in association with older music, Dyer said that the chorus will look at songs from popular Broadway musicals, including “Wicked,” and movies like “The Greatest Showman” and “Pitch Perfect.”

“We have to overcome the idea that barbershop singing is hokey and old fashioned,” she said. “This isn’t the barbershop that people know. It’s the structure of the chords that make it a barbershop song, not the era its written in.”

To start, members of the chorus will be learning holiday music, as the familiarity helps newer singers as they learn to navigate singing in four parts.

“We’re going to try to aim for the holiday music, and make it as much Maine as we can,” she said. “People already know the words and recognize the melody, so it will be easier to memorize over the course of the summer.”

Dyer says that the chorus will perform at the Windham UCC Church during the holiday season, in exchange for the use of their space to rehearse the rest of the year.

A perfect selection for the group is “The Maine Christmas Song,” written by Con Fullam of Windham about Christmastime in Maine. The song was arranged in a four-part harmony at the request of Maine-ly Harmony, and Dyer worked to receive the songwriter’s blessing to use the piece as part of their repertoire.

“He’s thrilled that we would use his arrangement and that we asked permission,” she said.

The Harmony, Incorporated charter requires a minimum of 14 members, so Dyer is hoping to recruit at least that many members from the inaugural meeting. There is no maximum number of members, and Dyer noted that the largest groups are 60 members. In competition, there must be 12 members performing on stage.

“I have no idea what to expect” as far as turnout, she said, “but I have welcome packets prepared for 100 people.”

The group’s Facebook page, Harmony 207 Windham, Maine, is helping to reach interested women, and there are already other local members of Harmony, Incorporated looking to join the chorus.

The Windham Hill UCC Church is located at 140 Windham Center Road. More information about the group or meeting can be found via its Facebook page or by reaching out to Dyer at [email protected]. <

Youth author inspires other children with epilepsy

By Erin Rose

A Raymond youth is using his experience with juvenile epilepsy to help others as they learn to live with the condition.

Weston Quinn. 9, of Raymond has written and
illustrated a book called 'Juvenile Epilepsy
Warrior' describing his experience being
diagnosed with juvenile epilepsy at age 7 and
how he's learned to thrive despite the diagnosis.
He will be on hand to autograph copies of his 
book from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 4 at Play
Warriors, 840 Roosevelt Trail in Windham.
COURTESY PHOTO  

Weston Quinn, 9, is the author and illustrator of “Juvenile Epilepsy Warrior,” a book that details his experience being diagnosed with juvenile epilepsy at age 7 and how he’s learned to thrive despite the diagnosis.

“It’s scary to tell the stories,” Weston said, but says that he “loved the ability to talk through my epilepsy journey.”

His mom, Hannah, said that the book has helped Weston communicate with others about the struggles he’s faced.

“It’s been amazing watching Weston use his story to help others,” she said. “He doesn’t realize how powerful his words are yet. When it comes to even talking to his friends about his experience, it made such a huge impact.”

Weston also completed the illustrations in the book, creating images that represent different stages of his diagnosis. One image shows blood in a needle, which represented the first day he had a seizure, Weston said.

Another image shows Kimberly Leighton, the founder of Play Warriors in Windham, as the pair apply electrodes to a doll to help Weston understand how an Electroencephalogram (EEG) would work.

“The artwork helped work through his fears,” Hannah said.

Leighton explained that the book was a result of Weston’s journey through child life therapy, which takes a different approach to helping children through difficult times in their lives, including medical diagnoses, grief, and trauma by providing medical play and therapeutic interventions, coping strategies and relaxation techniques.

“When working with a kiddo, we catalog their time with session notes and some dialogue, images and projects,” she said, pointing out that once a child is nearing the end of their time with the center, they have a mass of accumulated work that can be used to build a book to help others.

“I ask now that we have all of this information, what would you want people to know about what happened to you and what that might feel like,” Leighton said. “For some kiddos like Weston, they want to go on and help other kids, so this is a great avenue for kids that want that sense of agency and get to a point where they can tell their story.”

“Part of telling their story, there is a lot of healing in that,” she said. “That’s why therapeutic expression, whether it’s through art or telling a story, it helps process what you’re going through.”

Weston is one of several young authors at Play Warriors, as this is the sixth book published by the program’s participants, with another four books in progress currently. Other topics covered include childhood cancer, grief and loss.

The books are published by Books That Heal, a nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting children facing medical or emotional battles to publish their stories. Leighton explained that the book’s proceeds are split between the nonprofit and a charity chosen by the child who penned the book.

“It’s going back to the charity forever and will continue to grow,” she said, explaining that Weston chose the Pediatric Epilepsy Research Foundation to receive the funds from his work. “It’s a great way to have the book be a final capstone to his success and his work that he went through.”

The Play Warriors program also helped Weston discover more self-confidence and work through his anxieties around his condition, including going to school and interacting with his peers and friends.

“He was afraid of having a seizure at school,” Hannah said, “His friends knew he was going through something, but they just didn’t realize quite how hard it was.”

Through his child life therapy, Weston has been able to process his anxieties and fears, enabling him to face school and sports with confidence and joy.

“He carries himself with more confidence and self-esteem,” Leighton said. “He’s not looking at his diagnosis as limiting. It’s about ‘what can I still do’.”

Hannah said that Weston’s new sureness is most evident when he is interacting with the world, especially when he is playing point guard on the basketball court or as a striker and forward on the soccer field.

“We get to see his joy when he is either on the basketball court, on the soccer field, spending time with his friends and his cousins and all of his family,” she said. “We get to see him shine when he goes to school and all of the things he’s doing at school, as he had a hard time going to school for a while. He is shy, but once you get to know him, he is an absolute joy to know.”

Weston is a part of Team Impact, which pairs children who are facing serious illnesses or disability with college sports teams. Saint Joseph’s College of Maine, located in Standish, participates in the program for their men’s baseball, soccer and lacrosse teams and their women’s volleyball, field hockey, and soccer teams.

Weston’s books may be purchased online from Amazon, and he will be signing copies of his book from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 4 at Play Warriors, the sole child life therapy provider in Maine, located at 840 Roosevelt Trail in Windham.

More details can be found at the Play Warriors website, www.playwarriorsinc.com, or on their Facebook page. <