Project Christmas Love fills a niche in holiday giving - By Michelle Libby

The holidays can be a stressful time. Some families struggle to provide special gifts for their children and many organizations work to help them with those needs. Jennifer White, owner of A Joyful Noise Christian Daycare and Learning Center, saw a different segment of the population that was being missed and she decided to fill that niche with what she is calling Project Christmas Love.
 

Project Christmas Love started last year as a way to bring unwrapped toys and gifts to patients at Maine Medical Center who are terminally ill or very ill and can’t leave the hospital to buy gifts for their children or grandchildren. This is a way for them to pick out gifts for those loved ones. 

“We then wrap each gift for them and put name tags on them. The gifts are left in the patient's room so they can surprise their loved ones for Christmas. The doctors and nurses were so appreciative and supportive of us doing this and really wanted us to continue the tradition this year,” said White. 

This year White and her squad will be going to Maine Medical Center on December 21, to provide the chance for patients to pick out presents. 

“For the last decade Peter Kneeland from Edward Jones in Windham has had a company party where people bring in a toy. They started to bring them to us to find families in need,” White said. Sometimes she found families in her daycare center and other times, she found them in the community. 

The idea came to her to take the unwrapped gifts to the terminally ill patients. The doctors and nurses helped steer her to see the right people. They started on the Gibson floor and then moved on to others who were planning to be in the hospital until Christmas or after. 

“This year we are in need of collecting more toys and gifts along with Christmas wrapping paper, tape, bows and name tags so that we can help bring Christmas love and cheer to even more ill people. For some, this is their last Christmas. To be able to give their children a special gift means a lot to them,” White added. 

Last year White and Barbara Lewis of Maine Real Estate Network went room to room at the hospital. People were so overwhelmed and appreciative, White said. 

One woman told them that she was praying that God would provide a gift for her daughters and granddaughter. Project Christmas Love was the answer to her prayer. 

“Sometimes they are not terminal, but are really having a hard time in life. The doctors know this person needs a pick me up,” she said. 

“I know there are a lot of charities,” White said. She just asks that people think of this project as well.

The project is very special to White. When she was younger her grandmother died of cancer on Christmas Day. “Just before she died, she made my aunt promise she would buy presents for all of her children,” White said. “It’s near and dear to my heart. This makes it even more significant.” 

Global Harvest Outreach is the non-profit organization started by White to help with the community service projects she was doing. “A lot of different projects are through that,” she said. With the non-profit status, she can also provide receipts for businesses and people who donate. 

Project Christmas Love is looking for new toys for kids of all ages, teens, young adults, young kids. Monetary donations and gift cards are great as well. There is also a need for wrapping paper, bows and gift tags. The most popular items are books, Tonka Trucks, construction vehicles, animals, dolls and craft kits. For gift cards, $10 or $15 to Bull Moose, Subway, Game Stop or iTunes are big hits with teens.  

One hundred percent of donations go toward the project. “We ran out of toys last year and could have spent another day at the hospital,” White said. “It makes them feel so good that they can leave something behind.” 

Items can be dropped off at A Joyful Noise, 679 Roosevelt Trail, at the intersection of Route 302 and River Road until Friday, December 18. Businesses are encouraged to be a collection spot or to collect items for this cause. For more information or to speak with White directly, call 712-7371, visit www.projectchristmaslove.org or find them also on Facebook.

Windham's new shooting range draws large crowd for open house - By Anne Libby

The Windham Indoor Shooting Range and Retail Store (WISR) had a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house to mark the official opening of the store and range at 999 Roosevelt Trail. This was an opportunity for the community to come into the new space and explore what the company had to offer in terms of the fully stocked store, the twelve shooting bays, the training sessions and the programs it offers. WISR is planning on staying involved in the community with classes for women, letting the youth from the Scarborough Fish and Game Club use their space, and allowing local law enforcement agencies to train in the “largest commercial indoor shooting range in Southern Maine.”

People in attendance were able to see and speak with the highly qualified staff, ask questions and the whole event put emphasis on education and safety. 

 

“We really scoured the state to look for staff that was at the highest caliber out there for the kind of interactions that we need to have at an indoor shooting range,” Warren Dyke, president of WISR. The goal of WISR is to help the community learn safe firearm habits and use that knowledge every time someone handles a gun. The company has a long list of trainings it offers, from introduction to modern handgun and practical handgun to practical rifle, and even an interactive home defense and trauma first aid course. 

As explained by WISR General Manager Peter Joyce, “the way the shooting drills are designed is to educate the students on how to run the gun safely, and be accurate with that, use the proper techniques when their body is under stress or when they're stressed out.”

 

 WISRs Women Shooting Club is another program WISR is running, that stresses the involvement of any women, younger or older, with no experience up to sharp shooters. The women’s club as of Saturday had 32 shooters show up to the handgun class that was offered. They expect upwards of 60 at the next meeting, and safety is stressed there as well. They plan on meeting every Tuesday at WISR. Joyce is also planning on getting a co-ed shooting league up and running to have “competitions, socialization, and fun in a safe environment.”

Theresa Sampson spoke about her relative inexperience with handguns, and her gradual progress and enjoyment of target practicing at WISR. Her daughter-in-law Corinne Sampson wanted to learn more about handguns and how to use them safely.

The range has state of the art equipment to keep the air clean, the lead down range, and the targets just where a shooter wants them. The total containment trap or TCT consists of steel plates at the end of the range that captures the bullet and brings it to a stop, then drops it into a bucket for recycling. 

The air system is known as a HEPA air filtration system. Vents at the far side of the range suck the contaminated air into filters to become purified before being released back into the environment. A blowing system against the wall behind the shooters pushes the air down the range. WISR also plans on recycling the brass casings that are left when someone is done shooting.

WISR offers memberships, classes and open shooting times seven days a week. To find out more, visit www.WindhamIndoorShootingRange.com, find them on Facebook or call 892-0274. 

Boston Post Cane awarded to oldest person in Windham - By Michelle Libby

Isabel Taylor is the latest recipient of the Boston Post Cane. At 101 years old, she is the oldest living person in Windham. She was honored on Friday by town clerk Linda Morrell, with her daughter and son and their spouses in attendance. 

 

The Boston Post Cane is a tradition that began in 1909. Canes were given to 431 towns in the State of Maine to be awarded to their oldest citizens. When the holder passes, the cane is given to the next in line. The cane that is now passed along in Windham is a replica. There is also a display holder for the cane, which moves from person to person.  The original is on display in the town hall with the name of each person who has held the cane engraved on a plaque. 

Taylor, born in July of 1914, doesn’t like a lot of attention. She sat and admired the certificate and cane and waited patiently for her picture to be taken. 

 

“I can’t possibly be the oldest,” she said. “I can’t see any reason for it.” 

Taylor moved to Windham in 1951, when she and her husband bought a farm on Route 302 and moved there with their four children. She taught in Windham at Arlington School and Manchester School until she retired in 1975 after 24 years of teaching. 

“I loved to teach,” she said. 

Taylor was a long time member of the Crossroads Garden Club and the Windham Historical Society. She loves time with her family, walks to the mailbox and watching the birds outside her window. 

“I never expected to be this age. I do pretty well,” she said. “I probably eat too much.” She admitted that she likes breakfast and her children said she also likes ice cream. 

Her children are Barbara Taylor from Massachusetts, Elaine Libby from Windham, Alberta Peavey from Massachusetts and John Jr., who helps care for her, also lives in Windham. Taylor has six grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren. 

When Taylor was told her would be getting the award, she told her children that “she didn’t really need a cane.” 

She still lives in her own home. For her 100^th birthday she was given children’s books that she donated to the Windham Public Library. 

If any of her former students or friends would like to send a congratulations card to Taylor it can be sent to Isabel Taylor, 10 Taylor Lane, Windham, Maine 04062.

                                                                                                                     

Taylor Dyke captures Reserve World Championship Title in team penning - By Elizabeth Richards

Taylor Dyke, daughter of Jeffrey and Gail Dyke of Windham, has only been riding horses for approximately four years. Despite her late start, the 18-year-old and her teammates took the reserve World Championship title in team penning at the in the American Quarter Horse Association’s 2015 Build Ford Tough American Quarter Horse Youth Association World Championship Show earlier this year. 

Dyke began riding in Charleston, Maine. Her grandfather was into team penning, an event where a riding team identifies, moves and pens specific cattle from a herd in a limited amount of time. He brought the sport to Maine, and when Dyke and her mother watched, she said they decided they’d like to try it. 

After a couple of years of doing shows in Maine, Dyke said she began to travel to out of state shows with her mom. Finally, they decided to move to Texas, where there was a lot bigger environment for team penning. “There was a show every weekend, there was more competition,” Dyke said. 

Dyke met a trainer from Gainesville at a show, and wound up buying a horse from them. A month later, she ran into them at another big show, and they began to give her some pointers. The trainers had two girls living with them, and Dyke asked her dad to talk to them about her moving in as well.  She ended up rooming with Samantha Struhall, who was part of her winning team this year.

The first year Dyke rode in the AQHA show was while she was still penning in Maine. It did not go well, she said, and she did not compete in the AQHA show in 2014. Struhall rode, and won the 2014 Team Penning title. Struhall convinced Dyke to give it another try this year.    

Dyke said she didn’t expect to do so well, particularly since many of the competitors have been riding for much longer than she has. 

“All these kids have grown up doing it their whole lives. The competition is tough, the cows are tough. To be able to do it just for four years and accomplish that…I never thought I would. It was awesome,” said Dyke.

Dyke is homeschooled, and finishing up her senior year of high school. She is currently working on qualifying for next year’s world show, the last year she can ride as a youth. 

“After that, it will be a while, probably, until I ride the adult AQHA. Their competitions are a lot tougher.” 

             

Jeff Smith retires from Windham Police Department - By Michelle Libby

With 27 years of experience and 23 continuous years at Windham Police Department, School Resource Officer Jeff Smith will officially retire from Windham this fall. His last official day at Windham High School is November 23, but he will stay on part time to help train the next officer until the end of the year. 
 

“I love this job,” Smith said. Smith has been the SRO for 11 years at WHS. “It’s very difficult for me to leave this place.” He will continue on as the radio consultant at the school and will be back for sporting events, he said.

“He’s been a very important component to the police department. He is the first and only school resource officer we’ve ever had,” said Police Chief Kevin Schofield. “There will be big shoes to fill.”

“Jeff had impacted the high school in so many ways over the years.  First, in his role as police officer, he has improved the level of security of our building and has bridged the gap between students in our community and the Windham Police Department,” said Principal Christopher Howell. “Beyond his role as officer, Jeff has served as a mentor, a social worker, a voice of reason, a referee, and as a friend of students.  He has been willing to try most anything to support students as they made their journey through Windham High School.  Jeff has also impacted the building in regards to the safety that he provides us on a daily basis.  I am absolute confident that Jeff would head into harm’s way to protect the staff and students at our school.” 

When Smith applied to be the first SRO he knew that there was a need for someone to be in the school. His life experiences have given him a perspective that not all officers have. 

“I’m a behind the scene’s guy,” Smith said. He has done many things out of the spotlight to keep students and their families comforted and safe. He has provided his cell phone number so he can be reached at any time by parents or students. He’s the first person to respond in a crisis and has been a shoulder to cry on during tragedies, said Howell. Smith is straight forward and honest when addressing students. He doesn’t mince words. 

“Jeff’s greatest contributions to Windham High School have been through the relationships that he has built during the time in his position,” Howell said. Smith still hears from students he has counseled and worked with over the years. 

The culture of the school has changed in the last 11 years. When Smith first began at the high school, there was a lot of police work, mostly around theft in the cafeteria. “Hungry kids were stealing food,” he said. In 2007, he started a lunch fund and thefts decreased from two or three a week to one a month.

“Now a lot less of my job has to do with law enforcement. Ninety-eight percent has nothing to do with it,” he added. He credits a lot of the culture change to having the Rachel’s Challenge speakers come to the school. Rachel was one of the first victims in the Columbine shootings. The first time the auditorium was packed with parents and students to hear the night time presentation. Students became more kind and filled with compassion. They are turning in money they find, from $4 to $40. “That’s how much this thing has evolved,” Smith said. “My biggest accomplishment is being there for these kids when they need me. I’m still hearing from kids that graduated when I first started.” 

Smith earns their respect by helping whenever he can. He’s like an extra parent often helping kids get home to pick up computers, projects, homework and whatever else they might need. 

His success according to Schofield has been, “The ability to become ingrained in the school community in general. He’s a natural at knowing the kids and dealing with them on a personal level, supporting them through scholastic needs and dealing with issues in and out of school. He’s approachable.” 

Smith’s retirement job will be with Falmouth Police Department where he has worked part time for many years.  

“I’m thankful I’ve had the opportunity to help raise these kids because it takes a village to raise kids,” Smith said. 

Interviews for the new SRO are being held on Friday. Students should be informed soon after.

Photo: SRO Jeff Smith sits with seniors Andrew Lawyer and Rachel Cushman before he retires from Windham Police Department on November 23.