The Windham Veterans wants to thank everyone who responded to the news last week about the recent vandalism at the Windham Veterans Memorial Park. We have received numerous phone calls from Windham, Standish, and Raymond people expressing their disgust for anyone who would destroy and misuse a Veterans Memorial.
Many of the callers had some pretty specific opinions as to what ought to be done to the people that did it. Most of the callers made some offer of wanting to help with repairs in some way (either physically and/or financially) and encouraged us to continue with our plans to finish building the Memorial Park in time for another Veterans Day celebration next year.
A couple of people called offering to donate major items to our Veterans Center, which we thankfully accepted: one is a like-new, 12-foot indoor Christmas Tree with lights and the other is a never used 28,000 BTU air conditioner for our rental hall.
And, I just had to stop typing to take a call from a Lakes Region reader who wants to meet me at the Vets Center tomorrow to discuss some ideas he has for stopping any future vandalism and also some ideas on fund raisers.
When we discovered the vandalism last week, we were so discourged and were fearful this destruction of our property would cause the people of the Lakes Region area to withdraw their support for further improvements to our building and grounds. Our fears were unfounded as the response from the public has all been positive and supportive of Veterans and the Windham Veterans Center. Believe me, this “friendly to Veterans” attitude really means a lot to these men and women who bravely served their country in time of need. Thank you Lakes Region readers for your renewed and continued support of our Veterans.
Also, I want to voice my personal thanks to John Balentine, Doug Wright, and the Lakes Region Suburban Weeky for the great pictures, story, and editorial which told our sad story so well. So now John, Doug, and Lakes Region residents, let’s put our heads together and figure out a way to stop these senseless acts of vandalism which continue to plague our great Lakes Region area.
Thankfully,
Don Swander
President, Windham Veterans Association
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