Friday, December 20, 2024

Windham in the '60s: Winter comes to Field-Allen

By Max Millard
Special to The Windham Eagle

From 1961 to 1963, when I attended Field-Allen Junior High in Windham Center, the winter always brought some mornings of drama. That was when we woke up in the midst of a snowstorm or just afterward. My sisters and brother and I gathered in the kitchen, all bundled up and ready for school, ears fine-tuned to the radio, eagerly awaiting the magic words.

The cover of the 1962 yearbook
at Field -Allen School is
shown. The U.S. flag was
raised and lowered at the
school every day, usually
by Stephen 'King Turk'
Turkington.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
  
“No school in Portland, no school in Westbrook, no school in Raymond, no school in Gorham, no school in … Windham!”

Yay! We cheered and laughed as if we'd just won the lottery, then went back to bed for a few more hours. I didn't learn until years later that for every day missed in winter, we got an extra day of school in June.

We loved the snow, especially when it was as fresh and soft as cotton candy. We dug tunnels big enough to crawl in, just under the surface of the snow so that a faint blue light would seep through, and we could keep digging. When the snow was especially thick, we'd go up on the roof of the house and jump off. Sometimes we'd be buried up to our necks, but we never got hurt.

My best friend in the neighborhood was Lloyd Bennett, who lived just up the road. One of his tricks was to bury himself in the snow so that only his face was exposed. Then other boys copied him, so he brought a straw to school and had himself buried completely and breathed through the straw.

Just beyond Lloyd's house was a sharp cliff next to the road which we called the ledge. To get on top, you had to walk way around it, so it was the ideal spot for Lloyd and me to throw snowballs at cars. Even if the driver stopped and chased after us, we could escape in the woods.

Our favorite target was the Windham school bus. We had ridden it for years, so we knew the schedule. We'd stockpile a lot of snowballs in advance, and as soon as the bus approached, we'd pelt it with several direct hits.

The driver was an old man named Arthur Tyler, who was not known for his patience. After a heavy bombardment, he sometimes got so mad that he'd stop the bus and shake his fist at our hiding place. We never threw directly at him because he could have called the police. So, we let him stand there heroically to impress the kids, and he never reported us.

Windham then had fewer than 5000 people, and for most of the year, it had only two places of entertainment – a drive-in movie theater and a bowling alley. In the winter the drive-in was replaced by the high school and junior high basketball teams, which played other schools in the area.

Basketball was by far the most popular sport in Windham. Boys practiced at every recess during the school year. The school furnished the balls, and sometimes a boy would throw one up on the roof, claiming it was an accident. No one was allowed on the roof. But Field-Allen was a squat one-story building, and by standing on another boy's shoulders and shimmying up a pole, a wiry boy could get up there at night and keep the ball.

Our basketball team was captained by my classmate Steve Turkington, the big man on campus. Everyone called him Turk. Once a week, he'd come to school wearing his Boy Scout uniform, which displayed so many merit badges that he resembled a Christmas tree.

The school raised the American flag every morning and pulled it down every afternoon. Turk often was chosen for flag duty because he knew exactly how to fold it. When a teacher showed a movie in class, Turk got to run the projector. He and his girlfriend, Cheryl Gagnon, served on the student council, and were the unquestioned king and queen of the class.

King Turk, as some kids called him, was the absolute master on the basketball court. The school bleachers were always filled with cheering fans. and he was practically a god to them. Turk was so lithe and quick that he could cut through the defenders as if they were frozen in place. Then there was the jubilant and energetic cheerleading squad featuring Cheryl. The girls were all pompoms and short skirts, dancing up a storm and chanting:

“Sitting in a grandstand, beating on a tin can.
Who can? We can, nobody else can.
Fight! Fight! Fight team fight!”

Turk and I were never buddies. In our yearbook, he signed his photo: “To Mike, the big lip.” But like most of my classmates, I was a bit in awe of him for his popularity, his leadership and his self-confidence.

The last time I saw Turk was at the Windham High School's 10-year reunion in 1977. He was still looking trim and vigorous. I asked him, “How's your basketball?” He responded, “I still have the moves, but I don't have the speed.”

Turk died of a heart attack in 1995 at the age of 46. I was shocked by the news, because he always seemed to be indestructible.

Nowadays, living far from Windham, I sometimes pass by a pickup basketball game of adolescent boys, in which one player is clearly outshining the rest. And it takes me back to watching King Turk when he was on top of the world, putting on a show and bringing much-needed entertainment to those cold Maine winters so long ago. <

Friday, December 13, 2024

A Matter of Historical Record: Shocking accident on July 4, 1908 holiday claims lives of four popular and promising Windham youth and plunges community into overwhelming grief

By Walter Lunt

Saturday, July 4, 1908 began with games and merriment as young church goers celebrated the nation’s birthday with a fun-filled picnic and sailing excursion on Sebago Lake. The day would end with a horrific tragedy that would grip the Windham community in unimaginable grief.

From left, Benjamin Larrabee, 29, Gertrude Lowell, 19,
Margaret Hawkes, 21, and Harvey Jaquis, 19, all from
Windham, were bright, popular and highly respected. They
drowned tragically in Sebago Lake while celebrating
the July 4 holiday in 1908.
COURTESY OF WINDHAM HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Among those attending the outing at Whites Bridge, sponsored by the Friends Church of Windham, were Popeville residents Gertrude Lowell, 19, and Benjamin Larrabee, 29. Also, Margaret Louise Hawkes, 21 and Harvey Jaquis, 19, both of Windham Center – all four had been close friends since childhood.

The decision to sail was a spontaneous idea; George Moses, known to be an expert boatman, agreed to take the four in his 21-foot boat that had one sail. The plan was to sail three-to-four miles from White’s Bridge to Moses’ cottage on the east shore near the Images (Frye’s Leap). The lake was free of heavy waves and in some spots described as dead calm, so the trip until just before arriving at Moses’ landing was uneventful.

The first sign of distress occurred when the vessel was about 10 feet from the landing at Moses’ cottage; speculation was that one of the boat’s occupants may have reached or leaned in to grab the landing causing the single sail to jibe, capsizing the boat, and throwing all five occupants into the water. Only two, Moses and Larrabee, could swim. Moses managed to right the boat and climb back in; he then attempted to pull one of the girls back into the craft, but the effort only caused the boat to again overturn, throwing them both back into the water. Moses tried several more times to save his four young passengers as they splashed about helplessly; their watery scuffle becoming an agonizing and futile attempt to save themselves. Ultimately, Moses made his way to shore, breathless and exhausted.

Larrabee also tried in vain to save the others, but according to later speculation it was believed that he suffered a hard bump to the head against the overturned boat, causing him to go under.

The screams and cries for help brought residents from nearby cottages to the scene. Several tried swimming out to help, but all four of the doomed quartet, exhausted from their hapless, panicky attempts to stay afloat and weighted down by the heavy clothing of the day, were now disappearing from the surface.

The whole ordeal occurred within 10 feet of George Moses’ landing, in 6 feet of water. No one, including Moses, could explain the cause of the mishap. There were no eyewitnesses.

All the victims were retrieved from the bottom of the unforgiving lake with the use of boat hooks. Resuscitative efforts began immediately and went on for over an hour, but to no avail.

A steamer (vessel) was summoned to the scene to transport the bodies back to Whites Bridge. Aboard was a Dr. Parker, Rev. Thomas Ingrahm, pastor of the Friends Church and relatives of Miss Lowell. From there, undertakers took the victims to their respective homes where it was reported their families were inconsolable.

Equally distressed, George Moses blamed himself for, in some way, causing the whole incident. His friends, however, would offer him comfort by recalling the respect he earned over his many years of successful sailing.

Margaret Louise Hawkes and Gertrude Lowell had graduated from the Gorham Normal School the previous month. They were said to have been “unusually bright,” respected and well-liked throughout the community and had a great many friends. Their deaths stunned the residents of Windham and neighboring towns and caused a deep malaise to envelop over the entire region. The late Florence Hawkes, a descendant, told The Windham Eagle several years ago that Margaret’s father, Frank N. Hawkes, did not speak of the incident for the rest of his life. And if the subject came up, he would walk away. Margaret was a sister to the well-known Windham Center farmer Alley Hawkes.

Funeral services for the four drowning victims were held in their respective homes; the pastors of Friends Church and Windham Hill Church officiated. Floral tributes swamped each home, including a bouquet of pinks from Margaret and Gertrude’s ’08 classmates of Gorham Normal School, where they were held in high esteem and predicted to be great teachers.

Margaret and Gertrude were buried in Friends Cemetery, Benjamin and Harvey in nearby Smith Cemetery, both located at Windham Center. Longtime Windham residents will recognize the names of the pall bearers at the various services: Leon Hawkes, Lincoln Lamb, Orville Haskell, Fred Lowell, Phillip Allen, William Hawkes, Charles Hall, Harry Philpot, Harry Kennard, Alley Hawkes, Burleigh Loveitt and Phillip Hawkes.

A Portland Press Herald story described the 4th of July outing as “…one of the saddest accidents that has ever occurred on Sebago Lake.” Of the families of the four victims, the newspaper reported that all were “members of well-known and respected families that are among the best in town.”

The tragic event of 1908 dampened 4th of July festivities for decades. Folks acknowledged and celebrated the national holiday, but did not forget the painful event that brought deep anguish to so many. <

Friday, December 6, 2024

Community Connections pilot program launches to enhance access to Age-Friendly resources and support

Windham is celebrating the launch of a new Community Connections project, a local initiative aimed at strengthening the community and promoting well-being for older people.

The project’s primary goal is to build robust connections between local services and older adults, allowing them easier access to essential resources and social opportunities. Erica Bell-Watkins, the dedicated Windham Community Connector, began the project in September and is already working closely with residents and community partners, helping bridge gaps in access to programs and services and creating avenues for participation.

“Age Friendly Windham's project focuses on a disaster preparedness initiative, in partnership with other local organizations,” Bell-Watkins said. “We are looking to work with the community to gather information through a survey, increase preparedness through easy to find and clear information, as well as creating and distributing a bag with helpful tools and supplies that individuals and families can use in the event of a prolonged weather event.”

Key local partners, including the Windham Police Department and the Windham Fire-Rescue Department, and Cumberland County Emergency Management have joined forces in support of this effort.

Bell-Watkins said that these partners provide essential resources and expertise to strengthen the project’s reach, ensuring that vital support and programs are accessible to all who need them.

“By focusing on service navigation, social engagement, and disaster preparedness, the pilot is strengthening Windham’s focus on supporting older residents,” she said.

The Community Connections program, a signature statewide initiative of the Governor's Cabinet on Aging, is made possible by a $2.5 million investment from the American Rescue Plan Act and is managed in collaboration with the University of Maine Center on Aging and Maine’s five Area Agencies on Aging.

“Maine has long been a national leader in promoting healthy, active, and engaged aging. Partnering together at the community level strengthens our critical work to create inclusive and livable communities where Mainers of all ages can thrive and recognizes the value of these community efforts in accomplishing that goal” says Elizabeth Gattine, Cabinet on Aging Coordinator.

In all there are 12 pilot sites engaged with the Community Connections program across the state, each with goals specific to the unique needs of their community. The statewide goals of the program are to create pathways for assistance, strengthen ties between Age-Friendly Communities and local Area Agencies on Aging, and enhance access to training and technology supports for Age-Friendly initiatives.

For residents of Windham, the pilot program offers further opportunities to engage, seek assistance, and participate in local programs tailored to their needs.

Maine received designation in October 2019 as an AARP Age-Friendly State, the first step in a multiyear process to make Maine more livable for people of every age. It was just the sixth state in the nation to receive the coveted designation, which provided access to critical data, technical advice, best practices and organizing tools to help Maine plan for the future and learn from a global network of partners to better serve older Mainers. Today, more than 100 communities in Maine also have the Age-Friendly designation.

Community members interested in learning more about Community Connections, or looking to get involved or donate items, are encouraged to reach out to Community Connector Erica Bell-Watkins. To learn about events, services, or volunteer opportunities, visit agefriendlywindham.org call 207-892-4649 or send an email to eabellwatkins@windhammaine.us. <