Small but mighty Lutheran church in North Windham never loses faith

By Lorraine Glowczak

There have been many times over its 40 years of existence that the doors of Faith Lutheran, located at 988 Roosevelt Trail in Windham, were about to close. But then, as if by some miracle, its membership would increase, or the coffers would be filled to financially sustain operations.

After facing many challenges in the past couple of years,
Faith Lutheran Chruch at 988 Roosevelt Trail in Windham
is experiencing a renewal of energy and excitement as
attendance increases and additional activities ignite
new breath. SUBMITTED PHOTO  

Lovingly referred to by its members as the small but mighty church on the hill, Faith Lutheran once again faced a certain level of uncertainty a little over a year ago as they dealt with several challenges. They have recently felt the blows that come with the deaths of a few long-time members; their part-time pastor accepted a full-time position, the music minister retired from his position at the church, and membership slowly declined to include about 10 to 15 active members.

But this is where church members keep their faith, and things have begun to turn around once again.

“There have been so many times in the past when we thought we would have to close our doors,” Marilyn Walsh, one of the founding members of Faith Lutheran, said. “But we never gave up. We all were determined to keep it going - come hell or high water. We feel very strongly that this is our church, and we will do all we can to keep it going. And this time is no different.”

Their ‘hang in there’ faith has kept their doors open again as attendance increases and new energy comes alive, breathing new life into the small but mighty church.

“In addition to the increase of attendance, we are bringing back and adding new events and activities,” the President of Faith Lutheran’s Church Council, David Guiseley, said. “One event that the members are especially looking forward to is bringing back bible study.”

Faith Lutheran will begin a midweek Lenten bible study in conjunction with St. Ann’s Episcopal Church. It will be held at Faith Lutheran on Wednesdays, starting on March 1 and at St. Ann’s on Thursdays beginning March 2. The bible study will include the viewing of the drama series “The Chosen,” a 22-episode program about the life of Jesus. The evenings will also include soup.

“We are also looking forward to other ‘faith in action’ ministry work as well as new fundraising events,” Guiseley said.

The small church gives back to the community in significant ways. They are one of the founding members of the Sebago Lakes Region Fuller Center for Housing, they assist and contribute financially to St. Ann’s Essentials Pantry, donate items to communities in need through the Lutheran World Relief organization, and have assisted a homeless Congolese refugee family in Lewiston find an apartment. Recently, a team of four traveled to Englewood, Florida, to help with disaster relief due to one of the latest hurricanes.

“We are also excited to bring back the ecumenical weekly community meal programs that were very successful and popular before the pandemic,” Guiseley said.

Along with Faith Lutheran, other area churches, including St. Ann’s Episcopal Church, Windham Hill United Church of Christ, and St. Anthony of Padua Parish (formerly known as Our Lady of Perpetual Help) will be bringing back the weekly free ‘food and fellowship’ meal program that will occur every Thursday.

The first weekly meal will be Thursday, Feb. 2, at Windham Hill United Church of Christ, 140 Windham Center Road, from 5:30 to 6:30 pm. Flyers that will include the lists of dates and locations for these weekly meals will be available at every participating church. Also, check out each church’s Facebook page for updated information.

Since the departure of the former pastor, Rev. Tim Higgins, the Rector of St. Ann’s Episcopal Church was approached by the Lutheran New England Synod (the governing entity for Faith Lutheran Church) to serve in a temporary capacity until the foreseeable future.

“Since Faith Lutheran and St. Ann’s have always worked closely together, the Synod asked me to be a Contact Priest for Faith,” Higgins said. “This entails attending church council meetings, providing hospital visits, being there for emergency calls, and other situations in which a clergy person is needed.”

The church has been grateful to retired Pastor Nancy Foran, Pastor Pam Brouker, and Lutheran Lay Minister Pam Chabora for their weekly communion celebrations and the leading of Sunday services. They also welcome their new Music Minister, Betty McIntyre, who has successfully reignited a choir.

Chabora and McIntyre have worked closely together to create various fundraising opportunities and special events. A Murder Mystery fundraising dinner will be coming soon during February. For more details on this event, contact Chabora at pamela.chabora@gmail.com

The renewed energy and increased attendance may be just a fluke, or perhaps the members of this small but mighty church that carry big and unending faith are where the true power lies.

“Faith is what brought us here, and faith is what keeps us going,” Walsh said.

For more information about Faith Lutheran Church, reach out to their Contact Priest, Rev. Tim Higgins at 207-892-8447 or revtimhiggins@gmail.com. <

A matter of historical record: Windham’s old neighborhoods – relinquished names, lost history

(Part two)

By Walter Lunt

Windham’s many and varied neighborhoods of the 19th century all had original and revealing names, their origins driven by personalities, unique geographical features or significant events. Some were archetypical, like Land of Nod and Tattleville (as explored in Part one The Windham Eagle - Jan. 6, 2023). This time, we’ll discuss the self-styled identities of what would later become North, South and East Windham, as well as earlier names for Windham Hill, Newhall and the Mallison Falls area.

Mallison Falls was the site of Windham's first saw mill. While
under construction, workers made an unfortunate discovery
while preparing dinner, leading to it being called Horsebeef
Falls for the next half-century. PHOTO BY WALTER LUNT  

Separated by a distance of only seven miles, North and South Windham were once named according to their location within the community. North Windham, from the 1820s and into the 1850s, was called Upper Corner; South Windham was Lower Corner, later to be known as Little Falls. At one point in the history of the town (it is not known exactly when), North Windham was referred to as Poverty Corner, the origin of which is self-explanatory. Certain sections of North Windham were once called Quebec and Scratch Gravel.

Scottish and Irish immigrants to Windham settled in the eastern part of town, the area we know today simply as East Windham, principally along the Falmouth Road. Their settlements were sometimes referred to as Little Scotland and Little Ireland. The Scottish neighborhood (first settled by Jane and Duncan McIntosh) was along the shores of Highland Lake; farther north on Falmouth Road near the intersection with Nash Road was Ireland Corner.

Highland Lake used to be called Duck Pond. According to Westbrook historians Mike Sanphy and Ken Moody, it was first named in the 1720s when a man followed a thick flock of ducks flying from Falmouth (Portland) five miles north to a pristine lake that spanned present day Windham, Westbrook and Falmouth. Future settlers continued to call it Duck Pond until around 1900 when government maps changed it to Highland Lake. No one knows how or why the name got changed.

Windham Hill once bore the name of Zions Hill. History is silent regarding the origin of this earlier name.

For about a century before it was called Newhall, the neighborhood was known as Gambo, which today retains the name of a road at its crossing with River Road. The origin of this earlier name is unusual, but fascinating. In his 1935 book A History of Windham, Maine, historian Frederick Dole reported that a sea captain from Gorham “brought home from the West Indies a (Black) man named Gambo…he was an excellent performer on the violin, and his music attracted the young people to his homely dwelling (in Windham), so that it soon became a common saying, “Let go to Gambo’s.” The name was later changed to Newhall who was an owner of the nearby gun powder mill.

The former name for Mallison Falls, located near the South Windham Correctional Center, is equally compelling. In 1739 or ’40 it was given the peculiar name Horse Beef Falls. It was here that the very first mill, a saw mill, was built in New Marblehead (early Windham). During its construction the workmen were provided with temporary housing and food. One unlucky day they were given a barrel of beef and assured that it was “of the finest quality.” However, the cook is said to have found the hoofs of a horse at the bottom of the barrel. The angry workers returned the hoofs to the barrel and rolled it over the falls. Then and there the site would be known as Horsebeef. The name stuck until 1866 when a new owner named Mallison took over the falls.

The tiny village of Popeville was born well over 200 years ago. Its namesake began with the arrival of Elijah Pope before the dawn of the 19th century. He was a blacksmith and a Quaker. He and his sons were highly respected citizens, known for their industry and honesty. The Pope brothers established a prosperous set of mills on the site where Pleasant River crosses Pope Road at Windham Center. They built a dam on the east side of the bridge and over a number of years successfully operated a store, sawmill, wool carding mill, grist mill and later engaged in the manufacture of clothing, including embossed felt table and piano covers, felt skirts, horse blankets and boot and glove linings. Their various businesses thrived for nearly five decades.

As to that perennial question, “what’s in a name?” – one possible answer could be…a whole lot of history. <

Landmark ‘The Venice’ was a sightseer’s dream at Jordan’s Bay

By Ernest H. Knight

In any community there may be places of interest, significant sites and examples of outstanding architecture, but none of these qualities guarantee that they be considered landmarks. However, there is a spot in Raymond that has little to recommend except that it is a landmark.

The now-demolished landmark 'The Venice" sat on Jordan
Bay on Sebago Lake in Raymond and was created in the 
late 1800s by Sumner Plummer. COURTESY PHOTO 

Long known as “The Venice” on Sebago Lake in Jordan’s Bay, people passing through Raymond Village have for more than a century, looked across the waters of the bay and thought or spoken of the building that once perched on the bar rocks that themselves have never had a name. It’s enough that what is there above and below the water is just called “The Venice.”

Before the level of Sebago Lake was raised by 11 feet in the mid-1880s, the ground on which the building rests would have been of sufficient height, area, and soil to support trees and other vegetation. At that time there was dense forest growing along Route 302 where now only cattails flourish.

But in the late 1800s, the building was erected by Sumner Plummer of Raymond Village as a summer school for girls. Plummer was an ingenious individual of many talents. He was a craftsman, artist, inventor, undertaker, carriage and sign painter, temperance worker and practitioner of the “laying on of hands” to soothe illness.

“The Venice” reflects his handiwork in substantial construction, small stateroom-like rooms with hidden drawers and fold-away conveniences, kitchens with many utilitarian gadgets and bins, a massive stone fireplace with colorful mineral inserts spelling VENICE and wide porches around the outside for those who might imagine a nautical situation while “walking on deck.”

On the outside of the building at second floor level facing the village was a large “VENICE” name board. Attached to the building by a wooden gangway was a square-ended flat-bottomed barge on which there was an auxiliary building for needed activity or dormitory space, and the bottom of this barge may still be seen on the lake bottom on the shore side of the present building.

For their shore-based activities there was a two-story building on the point of land at the entrance to Deep Cove, now a garage apartment that had originally been a dwelling in the village, and then moved to its present location over the ice. This is an example of the passion of Raymond residents in the last century to move buildings from one part of town to another.

While Sumner Plummer was the proprietor and guiding light of the enterprise, he had an educator to supervise the activities of this school for girls. Little or nothing is known of the curriculum or activities but it was advertised in at least one national magazine of the day and brochures stressed the scenic aspects of the area, the healthful activity and the companionable advantages of the school population.

As this setting was in the heyday of steamboat travel on Sebago Lake and Long Lake, there was substantial landing of cribbed logs for the docking of large watercraft nearby. Much of the passenger travel as well as freight to local resorts and towns around the lakes was by steamboat from Sebago Lake Station, which operated on schedules that included rendezvous in mid-lake between the small local steamboats and the larger vessels operating express service between Sebago Lake Station and the end of the route in Harrison.

But with the changing pattern of summer visitors and the ecological limitations on accommodations without adequate septic waste disposal, the school ceased operations by the start of World War I. Use as a private summer residence became impossible due to regulations of the Portland Water District.

“The Venice” continued, however, to be referred to as a landmark by both residents and vacationers. Denied use by its various owners in the 20th century, it fell into disrepair, followed by assaults by vandals until it is now, little more than a pile of rocks after being burned as an eyesore after being acquired by the town for back taxes. <

This article was written by the late Ernest H. Knight, one of the founders of the Raymond-Casco Historical Society and contained in his book “Historical Gems of Raymond and Casco.” It was submitted by the Raymond-Casco Historical Society and articles about Raymond history from the historical society will appear regularly in The Windham Eagle newspaper. To find out more about the Raymond-Casco Historical Society, call Frank McDermott at 207-655-4646.

A matter of historic record: Revisiting Tattleville, and Windham’s other neighborhoods of the 19th century – ‘many and marvelous’

By Walter Lunt

One hundred eighty-five years ago, a traveler seeking directions in Windham might have been told, “A-yuh, that’s located ovah in Tattleville.” In olden times, Windham had many named sections of town, or neighborhoods. Some remain with us today; many have long been abandoned. Most were named for families living in the area (Popeville, Dolley’s Corner), for prominent geographic features (Duck Pond, Pike’s Hill), or even unusual and memorable events (Horsebeef Falls).

A view of the Land of Nod in Yorkshire, England with a 
poppy field in the foreground is shown. COURTESY PHOTO

The origins of nearly all these place names are obvious or easily traceable through Windham history books or records kept at the Windham Historical Society. But the one called Tattleville remains a mystery. A deeper dive into the unusual name may reveal an answer that would take us slightly beyond conjecture.

At the historical society, a photocopy of a newspaper article in the Portland Sunday Telegram, dated 1908, was headlined ‘Nicknames for different sections of Windham – many and marvelous.’ It appeared to be one of a series of installments on greater Portland communities. The article discussed long abandoned names for the various villages around Windham and identified Tattleville as the nickname for Windham Center, an area surrounding the intersection of Gray Road (Route 202) and Windham Center Road but failed to say why it was given that name.

The internet can sometimes be instructive when researching questions like this. An article dated Dec. 7, 1837 in a Hamilton County, Indiana newspaper titled ‘Scenes at Tattleville Inn’ observed, “…being situated…a considerable distance from any of the principal towns, and with no water privileges beyond a small stream sufficient for a grist-mill, its growth has been gradual. Consequently, the worthy inhabitants had a much better opportunity of prying into the concerns of their neighbors, and of gratifying their curiosity (about) respected strangers.” The article further stated that with little else to do in the tiny hamlet, the local sewing circle often engaged in gossip and rumors. Window curtains were frequently pulled aside to observe the comings and goings of neighbors and of visitors arriving on the stage. “The moment the steps were let down,” the titillation and the conjectures would begin regarding any new arrivals – “he looked handsome! Is that his wife? Where are they from? What did the stage driver say?” If a new couple moved into town, “…a new piece of scandal was broached.”

There were similar occurrences right here in Windham. An amusing story that’s been passed down through the generations about Windham Center concerned a barn that was inconveniently located close to the roadway. At one time, the barn sat between where today’s Corsetti’s store is and the white farmhouse next door on Windham Center Road. Long ago the dwelling was owned by the Fred Hawkes family; the barn used to sit just a few feet off the road, and it blocked Mrs. Hawkes’ view of the four corners, which was a stage stop and a very busy intersection. Tradition says that Mrs. Hawkes had the barn moved back (where it sits today) so she could view activity on the corner.

Another curious neighborhood nickname is an area located near Highland Cliff – Land of Nod. Today, it’s the name of a road; but in the past it identified a whole section of town. What was its origin? Was it named from the Bible? Or, as some local historians suggest, farmers in the area were Quakers and when passing each other in their buggies did not speak, only nodded. There may be another explanation, however, as many of Maine’s early settlers brought place names over from England. Land of Nod is the name of a picturesque 3,000-acre hamlet in East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Perhaps that is a more likely origin of the name.

Windham’s boundary villages were not always known as North, South or East Windham. And what about the part of town named for dead horses? They’re all part of the historical record, and we’ll examine those…next time. <

WHS art program prepares students for creative futures

By Masha Yurkevich

In today’s world, career options have expanded to just about anything and everything and at Windham High School, the art program is helping students to see their full potential and rise in whatever they choose to do in the art world.

Great Paulding works on a painting during
an art class taught by Jeffrey Bell at
Windham High School. 
SUBMITTED PHOTO

The three art teachers at WHS, Joseph McLaughlin, Jeffery Bell and Alisa James, work hard to help their students aim for the stars.

McLaughlin teaches two-dimensional studio art courses, including Painting I and II, Drawing I and II, Printmaking, and Street Art. He also helps students in developing art portfolios and in preparing for college.

As the department head, it is his responsibility for representing the visual and performing arts teachers in school-wide matters. He has been teaching art for 20 years, including nine years at WHS.

“I love working with young artists as they explore new subject matter, techniques, and their own artistic processes,” says McLaughlin. “I really enjoy seeing their life experiences and perspectives expressed through their artwork. Another great part of the job is witnessing them gain confidence and establishing a voice. They also inspire and motivate me in my own artwork.”

Since McLaughlin arrived, the digital art program has flourished under James. There are now two sections of Bell's AP/advanced art instead of one. McLaughlin has also designed a Street Art course which now runs each semester.

Elyzabeth (Libbi) Pike is a senior at WHS and has taken Digital Art I and II as well as Street Art and Advanced Art throughout her high school career. She originally took Digital Art 1 because she needed an art credit, but after taking it, she realized that she genuinely enjoys digital and graphic arts.

“I took Digital Art II since I liked the first class so much and then learning all the new types of stuff in that class is what made me try for Advanced Art,” says Pike. “Since I want to go to art school, I thought Advanced Art would be a good experience for me. As for Street Art, I wanted to do it as a fun, creative element. I wanted to broaden out my artistic abilities.”

James is the Media Arts teacher and teaches Photography I and II, Digital Art and Design I and II and Film Making. Prior to teaching at WHS, James also taught at Sacopee Valley High School for four years as well as teaching Saturday School at the Maine College of Art — a program for high school students, where she taught Photography. All in all, she has taught art for about 15 years, and this is her fifth year at WHS.

“I have not been at WHS for very long, and much of the time has been affected by COVID,” says James. “Windham has always had a strong art program and I am happy to be a part of it! All the changes I have seen, have been continued, amazing growth.”

New equipment

James has added a lot of new equipment to the media program, including a large format printer, DSLRs and Photoshop.

“I love seeing kids realize their own potential. Because I teach an art form that is created using digital media and cameras, many kids who never knew they were artists find their voice,” she says. “That is the best. I love helping students understand how to communicate their own ideas visually.”

James does a practical logo project in her Digital Art and Design II class where students create a logo for someone in the community. The current SACC (Student Aged Child Care) logo was created by one of her students, Libbi Pike, and is the current logo.

Allona Popov has taken a variety of art programs during her high school years, including Painting I, Painting II, Photography, Digital Art, Advanced Art, Photography II, Ceramics II, Printmaking, AP Art.

“At the beginning of my high school career I didn't know what kind of person I was, or what was I good at,” says Popov. “The main question for me was: what classes do I take to get a good and sustainable job after graduation? I began to take different electives and I loved all of the experience that I got from all of those classes, but I never felt like it was something that I would be able to do for the rest of my life.”

In her junior year she decided to take Painting I, and something clicked.

“The atmosphere that Mr. Mclaughlin created in the art room, felt like home,” Popov says. “I was drawn to that room. I felt inspired, open to exploration, free, and supported by my friends. It is such a privilege that we have three art teachers.”

As a senior of WHS now, she continues to take art classes in preparation for what she plans to do in the future.

Bell has been an art teacher at WHS for 36 years and teaches fine arts studio classes that includes sculpture, ceramics, Advanced Art and Advanced Placement Studio Art. In addition to teaching at WHS, he has also been an adjunct teacher at Southern Maine Community College for over 12 years and as of three years ago, left that position to become an adjunct professor at USM where he teaches ceramics year-round.

He also teaches a summer class at USM for young artists called “ArtLab,” where he helps train the art education majors to become art educators.

Class offerings

“I think the art programs have changed quite a bit over the years,” said Bell. “Our class offerings have really expanded through the years, bringing in many new classes to include AP Studio Art, Digital Art, Street Art among many other upper-level offerings like Painting II and Ceramics II. I have also had firsthand experience in hiring some of the most talented and child-centered art teachers in the state who love what they do both as studio artists and teachers, and very committed to inspiring young people to find their passions in life.”

Like the other art teachers, Bell has had students enter many contests in the past. One in particular was through the Maine Region Scholastic Arts Award where one of his students won the Silver Key Medal in the Congressional Art Competition and had their work hung in the Halls of Congress. Another award was given at the Maine Student Film and Video Festival in Waterville when he was teaching the Video Production class. His video students entered and won the Jurors Awards (second place) for best short video.

“I personally think both the visually and performing arts should be at the core of our academics at the high school just like English, Math and Science,” says Bell. “The arts are fundamental to truly learning what it is to be human. It develops our creative and problem-solving abilities, fosters true respect for one another’s uniqueness and gives us a way to process who we are in the world.”

James sees how important their classes are for kids at WHS.

“It gives them a true chance to explore their own identity and skill. It also provides an environment that is void of right and wrong answers.”

All the art classes are 100 percent project based and hands-on; many of the students need that in their day,” she said. “I love teaching an art form that is also a very lucrative profession. I feel that I am helping some students find a career interest. Many of my students go on to be Digital Communications majors or minors and I am seeing a growing interest in kids seeking a creative career.”

McLaughlin’s hope is that students develop art skills as well as interpersonal skills, which will serve them well beyond high school.

“Regarding their artistic processes, I want them to take risks and work outside their comfort zones. I also want them to be able to view and respond to art intelligently,” he says.

For Bell, he wants to get the message across to his students not to accept mediocrity.

“Instead, strive to become loving, accepting and intelligent individuals who want to go out into the world and explore everything they can,” he says. “Life is short and so precious.” <

Wonder into the New Year

By Gail Hamilton
For The Windham Eagle

What better time to talk about wonder than during the holiday season and to start a fresh new year!

Gail Hamilton created a new
driveway for an accessory
apartment to be attached to her
home and a stone wall alongside
it became a functioning piece of art
for her. SUBMITTED PHOTO 

Where do you feel wonder? Is it when you’re wandering in the woods, enjoying the fresh air and mother nature surrounding you? Is it when you’re welcoming a newborn baby into the world or watching a cat finally come flying out from under a bag to grab a dangling shoelace?

I love that feeling and started noticing what’s shifting in me when I feel that way. Openness. Beingness. Presence to the moment. Innocence really. So now I’m choosing it more deliberately.

Here’s an example of wonder that I’ve found. I live in the woods of Windham and enjoy that nourishing beauty, so when I created a new driveway for an accessory apartment to be attached to my home, it cut sharply into a big banking.

I wanted to heal that disruption in the land, with rocks of course because I love all that granite in my yard, and I stashed all sizes of rock in piles off to the side as the drive was formed through the woods.

What grew is a wonderous functional artwork, self-expression with loved materials. And it grew and it grew, and it grew.

After a sizable chunk of wall had formed, I was really enjoying the wavy shape of the current highest edge, so chose to build in a narrow ledge which I could line with pieces of slate topped with moss, preserving the wonder of that line. About 75 feet later, I had a wall that looked like a riverbed on its side with a beautiful wavy line through it.

What a wonder to see the wholeness.

As this new year dawns upon us, would you resolve with me to see and hear with new eyes and ears and enjoy the wonder of our creation? <

Raymond’s hockey history of dubious distinction

By Ernest H. Knight

In the early days of this century most country towns had hometown baseball teams which gave players and fans the enjoyment of competition. But Raymond and Casco once, for a short while, had a unique sporting activity, though of limited and long forgotten impact, in its “Down East Hockey” teams of the first part of the 20th century.

The depression years of the 1930s were difficult ones for most people, work and wages being minimal with pleasures being limited to inexpensive and spontaneous events. Inspired by “Squire” Hussey of Raymond and recruited from Raymond, Casco, and Windham, 30 or 40 men and older boys were divided, whenever and whoever present, into two groups, for their play.

The central location for these hockey games was Saddlebag Pond, locally called “The Bog,” behind the Horsin’ Around saddlery shop on Route 302. It was a small body of landlocked water which froze early in the fall and was sheltered from wind and weather.

Hockey uniforms were limited to work boots and street clothes, while hockey sticks were fashioned from odd-shaped saplings or branches to suit the maker’s fancy, almost anything could serve as a puck and skates were considered as an unnecessary nuisance.

Organized hockey rules not being known or followed, there was no need to do other than “what came naturally” to afford a good time for all.

Fun on the ice soon expanded to enjoyment for any spectators and rough approximations of teams developed. They picked names for no good reason, such as the “Skowhegan Yokels” and the “Bucksport Pointers.”

While their first motive was for something to do in the winter months, it had escalated in response to public interest into the possibility of fame or fortune, or both. Its unorthodox nature soon caught the attention and imagination of the promoters of professional hockey, then as now with the followers of that sport, as a stimulant to ticket sales, and the teams were off to such places as the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, and the Municipal Auditorium in Providence, Rhode Island.

Enthusiasm ran wild, and the more ridiculous the antics, the greater the public response. Fallen players sprawled on the ice were unceremoniously dragged off by their heels.

Chasing another player, from one’s own or the other team, with upraised sticks and Indian war whoops, created favorites or scoundrels, especially if one played the giant bully and the other the wimpy shrimp.

Referees were an endangered species with little influence on the players or respect from the crowd, and scoring depended more on subterfuge than skill. A contest typically ended with both players and spectators in a state of exhaustion ready for the relative peace and quiet of the scheduled game of the day or night.

Herman Verrill of Raymond was captain of the Yokels and B. Merrill of Windham captained the Pointers. Players hailing from Raymond included Will, Merton and Donald Foster, Squire Hussey, George Knight, and Leslie Foss. From Casco came Ernest and Bela Edwards, Donald Hanscomb, Mark Leach, and Bill Webb.

Windham supplied Paul Manchester, Charlie Smith, “Big Boy” Wescott, Merrill Frank, Ron Shaw, Hank Emerson, and Eben Lamb.

Travel to their engagements was by auto and train, and some wives went along to protect their menfolk from the hazards of the cities, with some degree of success, and also to enjoy some of the fun themselves.

For the moment the cares of the times could be forgotten in the interlude of enjoyment. Raymond and Casco outlived the flurry, possibly of their names being kept out of the publicity surrounding the teams. Fame, being elusive, did not follow them.

By the start of World War II in 1941, these impromptu hockey teams ceased to exist and the uproar about the games were long forgotten in the Lakes Region. < 

This article was written by the late Ernest H. Knight, one of the founders of the Raymond-Casco Historical Society and contained in his book “Historical Gems of Raymond and Casco.” It was submitted by the Raymond-Casco Historical Society and articles about Raymond history from the historical society will appear regularly in The Windham Eagle newspaper. To find out more about the Raymond-Casco Historical Society, call Frank McDermott at 207-655-4646.