We live in a great city, a city that pulled together during Ice Storm ’98 and can pull together in the darkness again.
Five years ago, when we were literally struck powerless, our strength came shining through.
Before Lewiston became an opportunity for national media to make money and national “hate” and “anti-hate” groups to promote themselves, our city faced hardships that were real, not man-made. Hardships that could not be ignored. Hardships that affected people’s homes, jobs and lives.
Do you remember January of 1998? I remember it well. I remember a lot of hard work and very little sleep. But mostly I remember how proud I was of my community.
I remember how beautiful everything looked coated in ice with the sun gleaming off it. While driving we heard on the radio there was a shelter at the high school, so we decided to investigate. My father was a retired doctor and thought they might need his services, and I could volunteer as well.
My high school friend, Jim Duncan, was running the shelter for the Red Cross. He recognized me and the next thing I knew I was in charge of procuring items for close to 300 residents and keeping watch at night.
Looking back, a few people and businesses stand out in my memory as examples of the greatness of our community.
Jim Duncan’s family, his mother Irene, wife Anne, sister Jennifer and brothers David and Charlie were everywhere. I doubt we would have made it through those first few days without their tireless efforts.
Captain John Bennett of the Salvation Army is another hero of the ice storm. The agency was ready with every meal. I cannot say enough how impressed I was by the work of its volunteers.
The support of area merchants is my most moving memory. Rather than looking at the opportunity for profits, they were either giving discounts or outright donating anything we needed.
What a great city we live in.
When we were looking for food, no one answered the call faster or more often than Pizza Hut. Time and again the cars arrived delivering fresh hot pizza donated for the people who were left homeless by the storm.
I remember Glen Thibault, the district manager, personally delivering a batch of pizzas on the Saturday following the storm. We had over 300 hungry people that day and Pizza Hut on Lisbon Street still had power. They cooked up 30-40 pizzas that morning and donated them. Then they lost power and closed for the day.
On the worst weekend of the ice storm, when no one had power and they could have charged anything, Pizza Hut donated the only pizzas they made to the people stranded at the shelter at Lewiston High School.
Rite Aid stands out. They were one of the few stores open. When we went in for supplies they refused any money. Anything we needed was cheerily donated. It wasn’t as much the generosity as the friendly and helpful demeanor of the manager that still sticks out in my mind.
Then there is Rent-A-Center. A couple hundred people can get very bored. I suggested we should get them a TV. Within minutes after making a call, a truck arrived with a 60-plus-inch television set and a VCR. It was set up in the gym.
Ed Given, who owns the video store on the corner of East Avenue and Lisbon Street, gave us all the rentals we needed.
My greatest memory of Ice Storm ’98 was how our city of Lewiston united and overcame a disaster that would have torn weaker communities apart.
This is our city, whether we are French, Irish, Jewish, Somali or even Greek. We care for Lewiston and are its future. We don’t need national media to profit off us, or hate groups to save us, or even anti-hate groups to teach us compassion.
These groups are about self-promotion and act like petulant children. Their antics should be ignored rather than rewarded.
Stavros J. Mendros of Lewiston is a former member of the Maine House of Representatives.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
