Windham preparing for Memorial Day activities

By David Tanguay

Memorial Day conjures up interesting memories. For some reason I remember Dr Sidney Branson of South Windham, the school doctor, that gave us shots when we were growing up in Windham. A more recent, but still distant memory was of Dr. Branson in his World War II Army uniform as the Grand Marshall of the Memorial Day Parade in Windham.

American Legion Field-Allen Post 148 commander Tom
Theriault welcomes those attending last year's Memorial
Day observance at Windham High School. This year's
activities include a Memorial Day parade, an observance 
and a picnic lunch at the Windham Veterans Center.
PHOTO BY ED PIERCE    

I was fresh out of retirement from the U.S. Navy and put on my uniform to join in the celebration. When meeting him again, he looked smaller, and frail. I recall other parades with Don Rogers and Wayne Rogers, and, after Wayne’s passing, Don as the Grand Marshall riding in Gary Plummer’s red 1965 Mustang convertible. Later still, South Windham’s Bob Miele, followed by World War II P-51 pilot Carroll McDonald as the Grand Marshall in the red Mustang. Oh, what memories.

For the 2025 Memorial Day parade on Monday, May 26, the Grand Marshall will be Korean War veteran Don Swander, a longtime supporter of the veterans’ community in Windham and who served for many years as the president of the Windham Veterans Association.

The Memorial Day parade in the past was a town-sponsored celebration of our veterans with dozens of entries from the Windham High School marching band in full uniform to a bevy of antique tractors and other antique vehicles, floats honoring veterans, military vehicles, Shriners with their mini-cars, area team mascots, local and state politicians walking in unity, the town’s Public Works vehicles and Windham Fire Trucks all decorated in Red, White-and Blue banners and flags. Then there were the veterans, some still fitting in their uniforms, others in civilian garb, but all marching proud behind the American Legion colors and Old Glory.

The Memorial Day parade over the past few years has been more modest with maybe two dozen floats and entries. Many previous supporters now have entries in the Summerfest parade and other celebrations.

But the Memorial Day activities, although more modest, still recognize the sacrifice of our fallen Windham veterans with a parade, a ceremony and the placement of flags on the graves in local cemeteries of our departed. We still remember.

There are opportunities for the community to join the American Legion Field-Allen Post 148 and the Town of Windham to honor our lost comrades.

On Saturday, May 17 at Arlington Cemetery and Smith Cemetery, local veterans will start at 9 a.m. to place flags on the graves of our veterans. Community groups and the public are welcome to join in this simple remembrance.

Those wishing to join in the Windham Memorial Day parade as a walking unit or with a vehicle or float may do so by contacting the parade coordinator at 207-892-1306. The parade will depart at 9 a.m. on Monday, May 26 leaving from the Windham Town Hall, continuing down School Street, turning south onto Gray Road and ending at the Windham High School’s lower parking lot.

Following the parade there will be a Memorial Day Ceremony at the Flagpole and Town’s Veteran Memorial with this year’s guest speaker, Lee Humiston, the funder and curator to the Maine Military Museum in South Portland. During the ceremony there will be the traditional tolling of the bell for each of the Windham veterans who have passed this year followed by a ceremonial burning of the flags removed from the veteran’s graves and a wreath ceremony, rifle salute and taps.

At noon, at the Windham Veterans Center there will be a ceremony in the Memorial Garden to dedicate a granite bench in memory of our beloved Korean War veteran, Walter Braley, who passed last year. Following the dedication there will be the traditional wreath-laying ceremony and rifle salute. The community is welcome at an open house and picnic luncheon at the Windham Veterans Center, 35 Veterans Memorial Drive in Windham, sponsored by the Legion Family.

Please join the American Legion as we honor our town’s heroes at one or more of the scheduled Memorial Day events this year. <

Windham educator reflects on Costa Rica experience

By Lorraine Glowczak

"We are excited to share that you have been selected to participate in the Educator Invitational in Costa Rica in April 2025. Educate Maine and the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School are thrilled to host you for this program."

RSU 14's Lorraine Glowczak was one of 10
Maine educators selected for the 2025
Educator Invitational in Costa Rica,
hosted by Educate Maine and the Hurricane
Island Outward Bound School. Here she
joins a group taking a break from a hike
and enjoying the view from a hill.
COURTESY PHOTO 

This message popped into my inbox the morning of Jan. 16 like a golden ticket to a grand adventure. The email was from Jason Judd, the Executive Director of Educate Maine. I think that if it wasn’t for the computer screen to protect him, my squeal of excitement might’ve shattered his eardrums and my elated hug would’ve left him with a bruise or two.

As a former participant in Educate Maine’s year-long program known as the Education Leadership Experience, I was invited for a chance at this Central American experience. I’m told about 100 Maine educators applied for the coveted 10 free spots. By some stroke of luck, I was selected to be one of those 10. (I will bow to the person who declined the offer, opening a space for me.)

But let me be clear: this wasn’t a relaxing Spring break with flip-flops, fruity pool-side drinks, or stays at seaside hotels. Instead, it was a week-long plunge into bold adventures with complete strangers, an experience that ignited both personal growth and a sense of wonder.

There were far too many unforgettable moments to capture in just a few lines – and honestly, I hardly know where to begin. Each day brought long, often steep treks through the lush rainforest, starting under sweltering, humid skies and ending with sheets of pouring rain. Along the way, we crossed roaring rivers – not by bridges, but in narrow cable cars that held just two or three of us at a time. I squealed with a mix of excitement and fear, thrilled by the adventure yet nervously hoping the fast-moving cable wouldn’t leave me with rope burns.

We spent our nights in “homestays” – the homes of welcoming farmers and shamans who offered us shelter, nourishment, and a glimpse into their way of life. Their houses, open to the rainforest with half walls, allowed the breeze to drift in as we ate or journaled. At night, the sounds of the jungle lulled us to sleep, only to be gently stirred awake by the sound of quiet rain.

Looking back, I remember the afternoon we wandered through the forest, being shown the medicinal plants directly beneath our feet, or spotting a toucan for the first time, or embarking on a nighttime frog hunt – carefully watching our step in hopes of avoiding snakes.

I fondly recall one evening as we were quietly preparing for our nighttime routine, the spontaneous eruption of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” was led by the more musically gifted among us, until the rest of us couldn’t help but join in. We were no longer strangers but friends for a lifetime.

There was also the breathtaking moment as I bathed under a pounding cool waterfall, and the joy of learning to make cheese, empanadas, and sugar cane treats.

Yes, I experienced all these things – and more. While this journey was an adventure, it was equally an educational experience on both a professional and personal level.

Here are a few lessons I took away.

LESSON 1

“The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of filling a vacuum, it makes one.”
– Benjamin Franklin

If I had mentioned the phrase “retail therapy” or an addiction to cell phones and social media to any member of our host families, I’m certain they would question our culture’s approach to mental and spiritual well-being.

I witnessed the truth that very little is needed to make a happy life. In a language I could not understand, I heard them sharing laughter, stories, and warmth in their open-air kitchen while baking bread and our meal atop a wood-burning stove.

They had everything they needed: food from the land, fresh water from a nearby spring, wood for the fire, and a home with half walls, where the forest itself became their living artwork. They lived hours from the nearest city, yet what I witnessed was pure content.

Simplicity can be incredibly rich. This idea isn't new or groundbreaking—but at that moment, I didn’t just understand it. I felt it.

LESSON 2

"The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet."
– Aristotle

As educators, learning and growing is an innate part of who we are. We understand that the journey to knowledge looks different for everyone – and that each path, no matter how winding or unconventional, holds its own truth and value.

One powerful reminder of this came during a tour of a farmer’s land, where the farmer who taught us how to make cheese and sugar cane treats explained how he had diverted fresh spring water to supply his home.

One of our group members remarked, “You’re not only a farmer – you’re also a plumber, an architect, a builder, and an electrician.” They then asked, “How did you learn to do all of this?”

“A traves del fracaso,” the farmer answered.

Henry, our Outward Bound Costa Rican guide, translated it as: “Through failure.”

The farmer continued through Henry. “We don’t have enough money to go to college, so we must learn by doing. The Universe is our university.”

LESSON 3

“I don't have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness - it's right in front of me if I'm paying attention and practicing gratitude.”

– Brene Brown

After experiencing the Pura Vida of Costa Rica, I’ve begun questioning my own approach to living. Although the direct interpretation of Pura Vida is “Pure Life,” Costa Ricans live the phrase as a mindset – gratitude, simplicity, and presence.

As a result, I’ve become hyper-aware of my personal pura vida. I’ve noticed that when I chop vegetables for dinner, I do it more slowly, without rushing it or feeling like it is a burden because my to-do list never ends. When I go on my morning walks, I have noticed my pace has changed. Yes, it is also slower, but it feels like I’m more aware of the walk itself and my thoughts are less demanding and scattered.

Still, I’m beginning to feel the Costa Rican Pura Vida slowly drifting away into the folds of memories to be cherished. But I hold on to one enduring hope: that I will continue to notice the seemingly ordinary moments right in front of me – moments that, when fully appreciated, offer a truly pure life. And as I move forward, I hope to help my students discover their own Pura Vida – a life shaped by presence, simplicity, and authentic gratitude. <

Before the Memory Fades: Windham Historical Society offers students a look at town’s past

By Walter Lunt
Special to The Windham Eagle

Windham Historical Society’s Village Green opens its season of history tours to students who experience an old-fashioned school day, shop in a country store and dance around the long-forgotten Maypole.

Students visiting the Windham Historical
Society's Village Green revive the tradition
of a Maypole dance during their May 1
history tours. PHOTO BY SUE SIMONSON 

Maypoles and May baskets have gone the way of the typewriter, the encyclopedia and phone books. But not for the group of home-schooled students who visited Windham Historical Society’s Village Green site on May 1, May Day.

The eclectic assembly of about 20 elementary aged scholars hailed from several Cumberland County communities including Gorham, Poland, New Gloucester and South Portland. Their two-hour visit included tours of four museum buildings that place an emphasis on the history of Windham and the way people lived in the 19th century.

Dividing into small groups, the children and their chaperones toured each building and listened to volunteer docents who showcased the archives and told stories of the town’s past.

The Old Grocery Museum is presented as the Walmart of the 19th century. Patrons bought cooking ingredients like molasses and flour by the pound, and picked over fresh, locally sourced vegetables and fruits. Some produce, it was pointed out, was bartered. A farmer, for example, might bring in eggs to be traded for sugar or apples.

Tucked away in a back room or a corner of the building was the village cobbler who made and repaired boots and shoes, or the telephone switchboard where an operator flipped switches and plugged in patch cords while nasally inquiring “number please?”

Also featured in this building is a re-creation of an old farm kitchen. The centerpiece is a stately, antiquated woodstove with overhead warming ovens; beside the tea kettle are several irons that will be heated for pressing clothes. Hanging within easy reach are colorful quilted potholders. Mounted on a nearby counter is a hand pump that draws water into a metal sink. Also handy are flour sifters and hand grinders for processing meat; and various sizes of crocks to store liquids such as cooking oils and molasses. Some country stores even accommodated a post office – patrons would access their mail through a corner window.

A particular favorite building for the young visitors on the Village Green is the one-room schoolhouse. Schoolmarm Hawkes puts her scholars through their paces, lining them up in girl-boy lines, exchanging bows and curtsies. Upon entering she demands, in a respectful manner, tight discipline. One girl is wearing trousers, which is unacceptable. “Are you wearing your brother’s britches today, Mary? barks Miss Hawkes.

The 45-star American flag hangs next to a chalkboard at the front of the room; it is saluted with a pledge slightly different from the one we recite today. The scholars are reminded that wood for the school’s pot-bellied stove and the water in a large wooden bucket was supplied earlier by an older student. Each student has a personalized metal cup hanging near the water bucket.

Miss Hawkes is upset today. She eyes the scholars warily while announcing that someone has pilfered the ink used for handwriting lessons. She checks everyone’s fingers for telltale smudges.

Next is arithmetic. The students are not allowed to use their slates – this is a mental exercise. “If Arthur picks 3 bushels of apples and Molly picks 5 bushels, then they give away 2 bushels, how many bushels are left? The scholar who responds with the answer is instructed to repeat the problem while supplying the correct answer. A bell sounds, the school day is over, and Miss Hawkes dismisses the girls first.

The children are next escorted to the replica South Windham railroad depot where they wait on a platform for an imaginary passenger train to arrive. Inside the building is a scale model of Cumberland & Oxford Canal boat that once traversed lake, river, and canal waters between Long Lake and the Portland waterfront. That the canal was hand-dug astonishes the young visitors.

Windham’s first public lending library was located across from Corsetti’s store on Windham Center Road. The building was eventually moved to the Village Green and is now open as a museum and displays early book collections and the histories of past clubs, civic and fraternal organizations. The young visitors learned that the first library was in a closet in the home of a farm family. This was, of course, inconvenient for both the family and the borrower. A group of lady librarians raised the funds needed to buy the building at Windham Center where it served the community and the schools for many years.

Library docent Rebecca Delaware showed the group a set of encyclopedias. Most of the group knew how to find information online but had never heard of or seen an encyclopedia. One youngster wanted to know, “Does it tell about Minecraft?” The library also introduced the kids to a typewriter, a rotary phone (“How does this work?) and a telephone book.

Now their tour of Village Green was over, but since it was May Day (unfamiliar to most of the group), volunteer docent Paula Sparks decided to resurrect the tradition of the Maypole. With the help of her husband, David, the pole was put up next to the schoolhouse with brightly colored ribbons extending from the top. Students and chaperones each held a ribbon fully extended and on cue from a recording of bouncy Celtic music began to “go-round” the pole, keeping time with the tune. The movement soon turned into a dance, of sorts, with Sparks directing the participants to weave over and under until the pole was transformed into a colorful braid; an exercise that will be conducted only one day a year.

It was a day for history tours that concluded with an even more historical tradition. <

Riding To The Top participating in 2025 Seen Through Horses Campaign

Riding To The Top (RTT) in Windham will participate in Seen Through Horses 2025 – a nationwide public awareness and fundraising campaign promoting the mental health benefits of working with horses. See Through Horses is a peer-to-peer campaign that will run through the month of May and coincides with Mental Health Awareness Month, a time when conversations around mental health will be elevated around the country.

Riding To The Top in Windham will 
participate in Seen Through Horses
2025, a nationwide pubic awareness
and fundraising campaign promoting
the health benefits of working with
horses during the month of May.
SUBMITTED PHOTO    

Mental health does not discriminate, and statistics show that one in five people in the U.S. will be affected by mental illness, with depression being the number one cause of disability worldwide. Two-thirds of people with mental illness never seek help, and of those who do, only about 50 percent find traditional talk therapy successful, according to the National Alliance on Mental illness (NAMI).

What staff and volunteers at Riding To The Top we have seen, however, is that experiential work with horses can bring about profound changes in people who struggle with mental health issues. This can be through direct therapy services (Equine Assisted Psychotherapy), or can be through equine-assisted learning and therapeutic riding – services that are not direct mental health therapy, but can improve one’s overall health and wellness by making connections with these powerful, sentient beings.

“We are thrilled to be part of this campaign that will bring awareness and as well as important funds to organizations who seek to improve access to equine-assisted services. Riding To The Top is a PATH International Premier Accredited Center, and while we do not provide direct mental health services, we witness daily the changes that happen when people and horses work together, from physical well-being to social-emotional connections and improved self-confidence, to overall enhanced mental health and wellness,” said Sarah Bronson, RTT Executive Director. “Our volunteers also frequently comment on how much better they feel after working with our amazing equine partners. We are grateful to be part of the Seen Through Horses campaign.”

Riding To The Top’s mission is to enhance health and wellness through equine assisted services. As it joins the equine and mental health sectors around one message, shared together during the month of May, RTT encourages the public to help them spread awareness of our services.

You can support Riding To The Top leading up to and during the campaign, by visiting https://sth2025.raiselysite.com/riding-to-the-top-therapeutic-riding-center and making a donation.

The Riding To The Top Therapeutic Riding Center (RTT) was founded in 1993. Located in Windham, RTT is the state’s only PATH International Premier Accredited Center (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International) solely dedicated to equine-assisted services.

More than 250 participants are impacted annually, assisted by certified instructors, a herd of 16 horses and 100-plus volunteers, all specially trained to assist with therapeutic riding, carriage driving, equine-assisted learning, and Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy services using equine movement. Riding To The Top is a community-based nonprofit, receives no federal or state funding and provides scholarships to more than 60 percent of its clients. For more information about RTT’s client services, volunteering, or making a gift, please visit www.ridingtothetop.org or call 207-892-2813.

Seen Through Horses is a peer-to-peer campaign composed of individuals, nonprofits, mental health professionals, influencers, and businesses to increase awareness, public engagement, and raise funds to improve access to programs incorporating horses for mental health and personal growth. Horses can make a much-needed difference for the mental health challenges so many in our world face. Seen Through Horses aims to convene a community, empower nonprofits, and share stories of transformation to illustrate the positive impacts of incorporating horses into mental health services and programs.

The Seen Through Horses Campaign is made possible by Title Sponsor, Zoetis, and is produced by Horses for Mental Health. In addition, premier partners supporting the campaign also include The American Horse Council, American Psychological Association’s Section on Human-Animal Interaction (APA/HAI), Arenas For Change (ARCH), Black in the Saddle, Equine Network, EQUUS Films & Arts, EQUUS Foundation, EQUUS Television Network, Horses & Humans Research Foundation​​, Institute for Human-Animal Connection, Natural Lifemanship, New Trails Learning Systems, PATH International, Polyvagal Equine Institute, Rescued Hearts, Rural Minds, Temple Grandin Equine Center (CSU), The HERD Institute, and US Equestrian. As the organization galvanizes the equine and mental health sectors around one message, espoused at the same time, donation to support Seen Through Horses will be accepted from May 1 to May 31, 2025 at horsesformentalhealth.org/campaign

Rewilding saves money and time while also increasing biodiversity

By Abby Wilson

As we look forward to the long days of summer, you might be thinking that your backyard needs restoration. But what if you don’t have the time or funds to address it? Or perhaps you’re interested in rewilding – a hands-off approach to increase biodiversity that creates habitat for native species like plants, pollinators, and birds.

Turning an 'ego-system' into an ecosystem happens by
reducing your lawn and expanding the space into a
biodiversity garden filled with native plants and
species all while requiring less maintenance.
PHOTO BY DEBORAH PERKINS  

Well, the good news is, you can do less work in your yard while doing more for the entire ecology of it.

“A pollinator garden is a bird garden is a biodiversity garden,” says Deborah Perkins, the owner of First Light Wildlife Habitats.

Perkins has provided recommendations, plans, and designs for over 14,000 acres of habitat since 2010. She is known as “The Personal Ecologist” because she works closely with her clients to co-create biodiversity, beauty, and thriving habitats – from gardens to forestlands.

Plants and insects are the foundation of an ecosystem. Many insects, plants, and wildlife species have been in the same place at the same time for so long that they co-evolved.

Monarch butterflies cannot reproduce without their host plant milkweed because the caterpillars evolve to consume their foliage and now rely on it to complete their life cycle.

Building healthy food webs starts with native plants. Native plants feed insects and then insects feed birds and other wildlife. Insects also need leaf litter, native perennials and shrubs for food and shelter.

Unfortunately, the typical yard is turfgrass.

“It’s just habitat for people” says Perkins.

Thousands of blades of one species of grass where there could be many species is a serious example of lack of biodiversity.

In fact, one of the first steps for turning your ‘ego-system’ into an ecosystem is to reduce your lawn.

“See what grows,” says Perkins. You might just find that a highbush blueberry was waiting to show itself.

Step two is to identify and replace invasive species with native plants. Invasive species reduce biodiversity because they out-compete with the native ones. Those co-evolved native insects will not be able to use them as food or shelter.

Burning bush foliage turns a bright pinkish red which is strikingly beautiful. Once popular horticultural shrub, it is now illegal to sell. It is invasive and outcompetes the native species. Native wildlife does not derive the appropriate nutrition needed from its berries.

Replace your burning bushes with something equally as beautiful yet much more beneficial for birds and insects. Native Red chokeberry is a great substitute with its bright fall foliage.

“It will also be part of the food web,” says Perkins.

Another efficient way to grow biodiversity in your backyard is to stop using chemicals and pesticides.

While mosquitos and ticks are a nuisance to humans, the chemicals that remove them from our yards are detrimental to many other insects too.

“Getting rid of mosquitos and ticks require substances and most of those are broad spectrum,” says Perkins. “They are not killing just mosquitoes and ticks, but everything else, too.”

Lastly, Perkins suggests planting a native tree. You don’t have to buy a tree. You can simply let an acorn germinate in your lawn or yard.

Trees capture carbon, reducing CO2 in the atmosphere but also provide shelter for wildlife. Tree roots store water to reduce runoff and erosion. The benefits are endless.

“It does not have to be expensive,” says Perkins.

Increasing biodiversity can reduce your landscaping budget. Save by cutting back on gas for the grass cutter, line for your weed whacker, or chemicals for insect treatment.

You’re also saving time by allowing nature to rewild your yard. The major theme of rewilding is doing less and letting nature regenerate.

“Having a lighter touch … leaving trees to die and fall,” says Perkins.

Woodpeckers nest in standing dead trees and mammals live in fallen logs. Insects nourish themselves in the detritus allowing for balanced soil through the nitrogen cycle.

“We are part of nature. We’ve been removed from it for a long time, but we are part of nature,” says Perkins. “Our conventional cookie-cutter lawns are based on a very old standard that goes back to Victorian times when only the rich had lawns and opens spaces. Today we can use our open spaces for good.”

Of course, we might still care about public image and opinion. If you’re looking to rewild your property but don’t want others to think you’re cutting back on expenses or be viewed as a lazy landowner, there are ways to make rewilding look intentional.

You can place a bench or add small paths of turf grass along your wildflowers and growing areas. You can include “Do not mow” or “Pollinator habitat” signage to edges of your property so that neighbors can acknowledge what you’re doing.

Reach out to neighbors directly or contact your neighborhood association. Educate others on the beauty and benefits of rewilding. It can cost less – for you and the environment. But it’s all voluntary. You must educate yourself before beginning the process.

“The first step is connecting to nature. If you don’t have an emotional relationship to something, you won’t reap the full rewards, like seeing Monarch butterflies, fireflies, and flocks of birds using your landscape,” says Perkins.

Perkins offers many educational opportunities as “The Personal Ecologist”, from generational walks on family farms to consulting services and presentations.

You can access Perkins’ blog with information on rewilding your property at: www.firstlighthabitats.com. <

Earth Day activities show concern for environment

By Elle Curtis

With Earth Day approaching on April 22, it’s a day when the community comes together through engaging activities to raise awareness and demonstrate support for the environment.

To help preserve the natural environment, ensure safe passage for outdoor enthusiasts, and help maintain the overall quality of the ecosystem, the newly founded JAR Co. Eco team will be doing their first clean-up on Earth Day at 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 22 and again at 2 p.m. that same day. Participants will be cleaning the side of Route 302 and the trail that leads up to Storm Drive.

“Clean-ups provide a tangible way for residents to come together and work toward a common objective,” said JAR Co store manager Maci Libby. “Seeing the positive impact of a clean-up brings pride and develops a sense of belonging.”

Through its clean-up activity, JAR Co. strives to lead by example by prioritizing environmental sustainability and making small changes with hopes of leaving a lasting impact.

“We hope to foster social bonds, encourage participation, promote environmental awareness, and increase a sense of pride in our community,” said Libby.

Community engagement supports both short and long-term efforts to protect the environment in addition to providing an opportunity for individuals with a passion for the outdoors to come together and get younger members of the community excited about Earth Day.

This year Windham Primary School had a team of First Grade classes reach out to EcoMaine and coordinated a visit from them to the school to talk about the importance of caring for our planet and discuss with students the differences between recyclables and trash. Later this spring, WPS First Grade teacher Crystal Turner plans to take her students on a nature walk on the trails behind the school to enjoy the beautiful nature that surrounds us.

Engaging in new and unique activities assists in growing the interest to learn. After a previous clean-up around Windham Primary last year, students were eager to take part in the project again this year.

Through reading stories like “If Polar Bears Disappeared” and “Give Bees a Chance,” WPS Second Grade teacher Evanthia Daukopulos said that she strives to encourage and foster the love of all living and breathing things. In her classroom, plants and animals are talked about, prompting discussions about activities students can complete in the community and best practices at home to reduce, reuse, and recycle. On Earth Day, students will talk about what it means to make compost, how greenhouse gases warm the planet and how this affects our ecosystems.

“We have discussions around the idea "it only takes one person,” said Daukopulos. “The idea here is it takes one person to spread the message, practice the steps, and prolong our communities. Then that one person gives another person the knowledge and resources to combat climate change, then soon, many ‘one’ of us, becomes a whole community.”

She said there is much positivity to be seen in how students want to learn and want to help protect this extraordinary planet we call home as they explore the effects of just one location or population, and how that then in turn affects other populations from around the world.

Earth Day is a day to raise global awareness on environmental issues while bringing the community together to make changes through opportunities to learn about and appreciate our planet, Daukopulos said. <

In Ye Olden Times: The Steamer Fawn

By Mike Davis
Special to The Windham Eagle

Howdy Neighbor!

My name is Mike Davis, the history columnist for the Bridgton News, and today I’m so pleased the Editor of The Windham Eagle has given me room as a guest this week to tell you all about the Steamer Fawn, the first steamboat ever to run on Sebago Lake, built at North Bridgton in 1847.

That spring the Fawn was built by the Sebago and Long Pond Steam Navigation Company. Since the 1830s there had been efforts considered to launch an inland steamer upon the Sebago Lakes Route, running from Bridgton down Long Lake, Brandy Pond and the Songo River to Sebago Lake, but it was not until 1846 that a company of Bridgton and Harrison men organized and began selling stock to residents up and down the lakes as far as Standish.

The S&LPSN Co. sold some $10,000 in stock at $25 a share, raising funds sufficient enough to lay the keel in late March of 1847. They had hired the New York boatbuilding firm Lawrence & Sneden to build for them a sidewheel steamboat, 25 feet wide and 90 long – just narrow enough to pass within the 26-foot wide Songo Lock, and theoretically short enough to negotiate the Songo’s many meandering gooseneck turns; twenty-seven turns in only six miles!

She was launched on June 5, 1847, captained by C.C.W Sampson of Harrison, and ran a thrice-weekly route, which became daily by 1849, from her terminus at Harrison Village down the lakes to Standish, stopping at North Bridgton, Plummers Landing, and Naples along the way.

At Standish she docked at the wharf opposite Chadbourne’s Lake House, which stood almost exactly at the terminus of what are now Routes 35 and 237 on Standish Neck, where the Portland Water District pumping station now stands. Here passengers were served by a line of stagecoaches running south to Portland, the southern half of the Portland to Waterford stage line which, from Harrison, took travelers off the boat up to Waterford and beyond.

The company had invested in this stage line, and it also bought out another running from Bridgton through Fryeburg to the White Mountains. This was the key to the Fawn’s financial success, for in those days before railroads any tourist up from Boston looking to access the White Mountains, landing at the wharf in Portland, had to take a bumpy, uncomfortable stagecoach ride over several days all the way to Conway New Hampshire.

But with the steamer Fawn running upon the lakes, they could instead ride inland as far as Standish, zip up the picturesque lakes route to Bridgton in less than four hours, and then go by stage as far as Fryeburg border by nightfall, to stay at the Pleasant Mountain House. From there they could strike off the next morning by stage and reach Conway faster, in far greater comfort and having enjoyed far better scenery, than anything the old stage line up the Saco River Valley could provide.

With the opportunities clearly shown, the eager tourist public of antebellum America responded. The Fawn ran for almost a decade, until 1856, and in that time, she attracted the patronage of some of the most famous tourists to come to Maine in this era. Among her many noteworthy passengers in this time we may count John Jacob Astor, the first American multi-millionaire; Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who surely needs no introduction here, and famed Transcendentalist Mary Emerson, aunt and tutor of Ralph Waldo Emerson. So many are the humorous and fascinating stories of this time, so many the difficulties whose solutions proved novel or exciting, that I could well serialize the Fawn’s history across ten dozen newspaper columns – but in this I will spare you, for it will make a better book, and I do intend to properly publish this story sometime soon.

Initially the Fawn was a success, but ultimately the same driving forces that led to her creation, those of technological innovation and the eager tourist market, are the same which led to her collapse. Eventually steam-power was turned to locomotion, and the coming of the railroads at once robbed the Fawn of her twin advantages of speed and comfort.

While still just as beautiful, the prospect of reaching the White Mountains in a matter of hours by rail from Portland cut out nearly all her tourist traffic by 1853 – struggling on until 1854, she was put up for auction in 1855 and eventually sold to George Pierce of Otisfield. He kept her going a few years more in a highly diminished capacity until 1856, but in 1857 she was torn to pieces at North Bridgton, her boiler and engine works sold to steamboat builders in Greenville, Maine, and her wooden hull left to rot on the shore of the lake.

There are no photographs of the Fawn, there are no known engravings, and while it appears she was once painted, I have yet to find any copy of the portrait. I’m told she was once pictured on the china plates of the Lake House hotel on Standish Neck, which continued to exist until the early 1900s, but that hotel burned long ago and no one now living can tell me if even a single plate survived. If any Readers out there have seen any pictures of her, please write in and contact me via oldentimesmike@gmail.com.

Thanks, and until next time! <