Windham resident places fifth in the Disney World Marathon by Matt Pascarella

Julian Gazzelloni crosses finish line

Julian Gazzelloni is not your typical 25-year-old. He is an athlete and has run in many races and marathons, all over New England, New York and Iowa. He is also a participant in the Beach to Beacon, where he is considered an elite, one of the top 100 runners. He recently finished running in the Disney World Marathon earlier this month.
 

A graduate of Windham High School in 2010, he has been a runner since he was little.

His mom, Allison, explains, “Julian is driven. He started running in sixth grade. He started as a sprinter where he did really well. He transitioned to middle or distance running his junior year of high school. Following high school, Julian ran for the University of Southern Maine in both cross country and track and field.”  

Gazzelloni decided to run the half Maine Marathon last year, which is 13.1 miles. The half marathon was easier to run than he had expected. He wanted to test himself and see what an actual marathon felt like. So, he ran the full Maine Marathon and although he struggled with it, came in eighth place.

From there he and his girlfriend, who lives in Florida, decided to run the Disney World Marathon.

In order to prepare for the Disney World marathon, Gazzelloni trained by running between 50 and 60 miles a week.

The Disney World Marathon is a 26.2-mile run through all four Disney World theme parks and the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. As Gazzelloni began running the marathon, he had benchmarks laid out in his head. 

Thanks to his training, he was able to meet all his benchmarks. However, after he hit mile 20, Gazzelloni was hurting, but he powered through and finished with a time of 2 hours 38 minutes and 16 hundredths of a second. Fifth place! He said he felt better finishing the Disney World Marathon, than he did after he finished the Maine Marathon. 

His family is very supportive and they have seen Gazzelloni run in many races. He has his very own cheer section everywhere he runs. His mom says she would watch any race he ran even if it was only to the refrigerator.    

What’s next for him? His Disney World Marathon time qualified him to run in the New York Marathon this year, and the Boston Marathon next year. Gazzelloni plans to run the Philadelphia Marathon in November and then the New York Marathon in March of 2019. In order to train for these marathons, he is working to up his mileage by running 85-90 miles a week. He also trains with marathon pace workouts, as his goal is to get his time below 2 hours and 30 minutes for future marathons.

Gazzelloni was happy about placing fifth in the Disney World Marathon. “I knew I had an outside shot at the top five, but my goal was to finish in the top ten,” he explained. “It felt good to finish top five out of roughly 20,000 runners.”

“Libby’s Ouchie Box Toy Drive” – Helping to fill an ongoing need at Maine Children’s Cancer Program by Elizabeth Richards

Libby with her "Ouchie Box" donations

The “Ouchie Box” at the Maine Children’s Cancer Program (MCCP) is something Libby Rulman looks forward to every time she has an appointment at the facility. But last fall, she went to choose a prize and found the box sadly depleted. That’s when her mother, Sarah Adams Rulman, decided to spread the word.

Libby was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called Langerhan Cell Histipcystosis, (LCH) at age 2 ½, and in the two years since has been to MCCP for countless treatments and follow up appointments. She is currently in remission and February 27^th will mark one cancer-free year. But that doesn’t mean her journey is over; she still has follow up appointments, including an MRI and full body scan, every three months. And at 4 ½, Sarah said, her attitude has shifted somewhat. “Now that she’s older and she’s been going through this for so long, it’s a little bit harder to get her to cooperate like she did before.”  Libby is more aware of what will happen, which is a lot to endure, Sarah said. 

That’s why the “Ouchie Box” is so important.  

The box at the center is filled with donations of small toys, activity books, and other treasures that children, who visit the facility, get to choose from when their treatment or appointment is over. “It’s pretty awesome because some of those kids are in there all day for chemo treatments, and to have something to look forward to when they are done is really important to them,” Sarah said.

She and Libby had been collecting donations on their own to add to the box, but when they had the experience of finding it nearly empty after an appointment, Sarah decided to try to do something on a larger scale and get the community involved. 

They launched “Libby’s Ouchie Box Toy Drive” and met with great success, collecting five large boxes of toys. “I posted that we were doing it and we’d love help and people just came out of the woodwork. It was great,” Sarah said.

Sarah’s employer, Amigo’s, also got involved, collecting toy and cash donations with raffle prizes as incentives. Chris Rulman’s employer, Nappi Distributors, also participated by making posters to advertise the drive and donating some of the prizes.

With each toy or $5 donation, people received a raffle ticket for a drawing that included a Rossignol

Snowboard, Pabst Blue Ribbon aluminum cooler, and other prizes. Donations were collected until the drawing, which was held on Sunday, December 17.  

In addition to quite a few toys, the drive brought in enough money to purchase fifty-two gas gift cards worth $10 each. These were donated to families that have to travel from a distance to MCCP, which is the only cancer program in Maine. The raffle items were a nice incentive, Sarah said, but she found they weren’t what drove people to donate. “Most people didn’t want to put their name on a ticket. They just wanted to help,” she said.

MCCP is a full medical facility, where children often receive their chemo treatments or see their oncologists.  Until Libby was diagnosed, Sarah said, they didn’t know it existed. “Maine Children’s Cancer Program is just an amazing, amazing place,” Sarah said.  

Although the official drive is complete, the need will not end. Because the Ouchie Box is filled by donations, items are always welcome.  

“They are always looking for help,” Sarah said, including toys, knit hats, or any other comfort item that children or families might need to help them in the difficult time they are going through.

Indoor Beach Party full of fun and prizes by Lorraine Glowczak

Lilly Steel having fun

Although the sub-zero temperatures kept most people home on Saturday evening, January 6, it didn’t prevent the 50 or so individuals who joined in on the fun at the Indoor Beach Party at the Windham Middle School for this year’s Winterfest 2018.
 

The event, hosted collaboratively by the Windham Parks and Recreation Department and the Windham PTA, consisted of free beach grub as well as enjoyable entertainment provided by Flamin’ Raymin’ and Sizzlin’ Suzzin’.

The evening also consisted of a multitude of giveaways. The following is a list of individuals and the gifts they won from the participating organizations:

2 One-Day Passes to Evo Rock & Fitness	Mary Jane Goodell
2 Tickets to a Windham Center Stage Theater Production	Heidi (last name not given)
Picnic Basket of Local Gift Cards	Dominic Cataldi
$25 Gift Card to Subway Restaurants	Brian Butler, Hayleigh Moody
$50 Gift Card to Buck’s Naked BBQ	Liza Libby
2 Tickets to a Maine Red Claws game	Ronan Mace
2 One Hour Jump Passes to Get Air	Brock York, Bella (last name not given)
2 Day Passes to Kahuna Laguna Indoor Water Park	Gavin (last name not given)
2 Day/Night Passes to Shawnee Peak	Matt (last name not given)
$120 towards an exam at Moore Chiropractic & Wellness Center	Heidi (last name not given)
2 Free Race Passes at Maine Indoor Karting	Cassie Fleek
Professional Take Home Whitening Kit from Armstrong Advanced Dental	Megan York
2 Public Skating Punch Cards from Family Ice Center	Bria Mills
Small Angle Grinder from Lowe’s	Waylon McDonald
$50 Gift Card to Rustler’s Steak House	Brayden Bean
2 Free Admissions to Happy Wheels Skate Center	Corey McDonald, Lilly Steel, Abby Patenaude

The evening also included a Winterfest Photo Contest that officially opened on Saturday evening. Entries are accepted through Wednesday, January 31. 

Requirements for the photos: They should be taken from January 2017 until the current day, they must be originals, and they must have been taken in Maine. The Parks and Recreation Department is looking for photos that capture the fun and beauty of winter in Maine, which could include photos of friends and family, children or pets frolicking in the snow, or stunning scenery. There is no fee to enter, and prizes will be awarded to the top photographs as chosen by our judges. Prizes include passes for snow tubing and cross-country skiing, tickets to a WCST production, and other activities that will help families enjoy these winter months.

Information regarding contest guidelines and how to enter can be found on the Parks and Recreation website at www.windhamrecreation.com.

Raymond Arts Alliance presents first musical event of 2018 by Sheila Bourque

David Young

The Raymond Art Alliance (RAA) will provide an evening of musical talent on Saturday, January 20 at 7 p.m. hosted at the Raymond Village Community Church located at located at 27 Main Street in Raymond. The cost of the event is on a donation basis.

 

RAA’s mission is to reach out to the community to bring residents together, through opportunities for enjoyment and enlightenment. There are many different programs that will be offered to the community and our first is the appreciation of music. 

RAA is pleased to present three different musical groups to kick off this year’s events.

David Young is a vocalist/acoustic guitarist and native of Raymond. He has performed extensively in local venues including last summer's “Everybody Loves Raymond” and the Great Falls Balloon Festival in Lewiston. His covers of folk classics, the music of Bob Dylan and original singer/songwriter tunes, combined with his easy-going stage presence, are always a big hit.  

 

The group, Top Brahmen, led by guitarist Thomas Brown, features singer Katie Oberholtzer, who is a vocal jazz major at the University of Southern Maine School of Music. The group plays smooth, groove based modern R&B/soul music in the Portland Area and their blend of contemporary and traditional styling has become an audience favorite. For more about the band, please visit topbrahmenband.wixsite.com/music

The musical team, Canoso y Otros, consist of Gary Wittner (guitar/vocals) and Rafael Freyre (bass/vocals) who have been performing Latin music together for over a decade. Freyre (a native of Raymond) is a busy freelance musician, performing with many groups throughout Northern New England. 

Canoso y Otros

Wittner’s musical career spans five decades and five continents. He lives in Raymond and has represented the USA overseas as a Kennedy Center Jazz Ambassador, a Fulbright Specialist and a U.S. Embassy Outreach Artist. This group, featuring singer/percussionist Eric Winter, will perform high energy Latin music in the son/salsa tradition.

The sanctuary of Raymond Village Community Church offers a delightful acoustical setting for music of all kinds. This will be presented in three sets and light refreshments will be available. This event is open to the community. An entrance fee is suggested but not required. There is no advanced seating and doors will open at 6:30 p.m. for the 7 p.m. show.  

Come on out of the hills and enjoy the show! The RAA is a program of the Raymond Village Library.

The twist and turns of “Building a Life”; a memoir of unexpected discoveries by Lorraine Glowczak

Memoir writing is becoming a popular way to share challenging life lessons that evoke a change in the author. As a result, it can be therapeutic not only for the writer, but for the reader as well.

 

Although Julie Brown never originally intended to write a memoir, once she realized that was the path she would take, she found herself on an unanticipated journey of reflection, self-discovery and validation of a life that included making difficult choices. Through the evolution of the writing process, Brown’s memoir, “Building a Life” was born.

It’s true that writing a memoir was not always on Brown’s bucket list but that’s how the twist and turns of unexpected discoveries began.

It all started as an average, typical day performing routine life activities. While preparing a meal for the evening, Brown received a phone call. It was her adult daughter. The news her daughter shared collapsed any notion of a routine, ordinary day. “Mom, I have a brain tumor.” 

Although those six words took Brown’s breath away and paralyzed her temporarily, she moved forward in an unexpected way and wrote a memoir as part of her healing process.

Yet, the memoir is not where the healing began.

Initially, Brown intended to write a children’s book about the experience. “About six years ago I had the idea to write a children’s book about dealing with a loved one who is sick in an effort to help my grandchildren cope with their mother’s illness,” Brown said. 

“As I researched further, I was finding it difficult to put together,” Brown continued. “I met two writers while participating in “Head to the Hill” in Washington D.C. This is organized by the National Brain Tumor Society (braintumor.org) and advocates for research funding and support for families of brain tumor patients. Both of these writers had self-published and I looked into it. One of them had recommended their co-writer, Angel Logan. When she and I met, we hit it off and things moved along easily.”

Once she discovered it was a memoir that she would write, it wasn’t long until she made another discovery. “I thought I wanted the book to be more about my daughter’s diagnosis and treatment [but] then I realized I had a lot of my own ‘stuff” to work through, so I decided she has her own story to tell,” Brown explained.

In “Building a Life”, co-written with Angel Logan, Brown shares her story of becoming a mother, giving birth at age 16 and the beautiful, yet challenging journey of raising children at such a young age.

While writing her manuscript, she noticed some additional things about herself. “I still held onto ideas and beliefs that I needed to let go of.  I also validated, for myself, the hard work it takes to be a wife and mother.”

 Brown explained that the unfolding of events in the book evolved through the use of old letters and journals. Her memoir involves members of her family, including her mother and father. “My parents were very supportive through the process," Brown said. “They read and re-read drafts of the manuscript. My daughter also read through the manuscript before it went to print and made some suggestions that were helpful in the editing process.”

Brown decided to self-publish her book. After doing her research, she discovered Balboa Press was easy to work with. She stated that the entire self-publishing endeavor took about a year.

If one is interested in publishing a memoir (self-published or otherwise), Brown gives the following advice; “A memoir is very personal. I believe I am a pretty private person and, yet I have a book revealing a lot of details of my life. My advice to others would be that they need to be ok with that.” 

The author lives in Windham and has copies of her book at Sherman’s Bookstore in Portland and will be donating a copy to the Windham Public Library when they begin accepting donations again after their construction project is completed. 

For more information regarding Brown’s book, one can peruse her website at www.lifewithjulie.com.

Raymond Elementary Class wins second place in national contest by Briana Bizier

Dr. Bizier helping the second-graders set up their crystals

A second-grade class at Raymond Elementary School started the new year with some exciting news.

On December 21, Mrs. Aileen Pelletier’s second-grade class won second place in the United States Crystal Growing Competition! Open to U.S. students of all ages, this competition is a STEM Outreach Program designed to encourage scientific literacy for students in kindergarten through high school. Now in its fourth year, the contest is organized by Dr. Jason Benedict at the University of Buffalo.

Mrs. Pelletier’s class began growing their crystal on October 23, when Dr. Bizier, the Honors and AP chemistry teacher at Windham High School, visited Raymond Elementary to help the second-graders set up their own crystal growing experiment.

Many common household items, like sugar and the cleaning solution Borax, will grow crystals under the right conditions. For the United States Crystal Growing Competition, all competitors are required to grow a crystal using alum, a common pickling salt found in most grocery stores.

To grow their crystal, the second-graders first heated water and dissolved the alum. Then they suspended a tiny “seed crystal” from fishing line, and hung it in the alum and water solution to serve as a nucleation site. If the alum solution is left undisturbed at a consistent temperature, the dissolved alum in the water begins to grow a crystal around the nucleation site.

Crystal making, day one

“Think of crystal growing like stacking Legos,” explained Dr. Bizier. 

If the water is heated too quickly, or the solution is disturbed, the alum will fall out of the solution

like a handful of Legos thrown on the floor. Under ideal conditions, however, the alum molecules dissolved in the water will slowly stack together to form a beautiful crystal.

Leaving a solution undisturbed was a challenge for a class full of second graders. 

Same crystal, 26 days later

The students were very careful as they eagerly tracked the growth of their crystal. Mrs. Pelletier added daily photos to the class website so parents were able to follow the experiment as well.

Despite losing power for three days after the late October wind storm, the crystal continued to grow, especially once the class heated the solution again to re-dissolve the alum.

After 26 days in Mrs. Pelletier’s classroom, the crystal was mailed to Buffalo, New York to be judged against crystals from classrooms across the country. The crystals are evaluated for size and quality by a team of experts who judge factors like intact edges, well-formed faces, and clarity.

Out of 160 entries, Mrs. Pelletier’s class won second place! 

The prize comes with a $100 award and the crystal from Raymond Elementary School will be added to the permanent Winner’s Display at the University of Buffalo. If your travels ever bring you to Buffalo, New York, be sure to stop by the University to view Raymond’s prize-winning crystal.