LEWISTON — Saying the community needs to come together to heal after three major fires, a group led by Ward 5 City Councilor Craig Saddlemire agreed Tuesday to hold a kind of “Lewiston strong” gathering.
A healing ceremony will be held at 5 p.m. Monday, May 13, in Kennedy Park, two weeks after the first big fire hit on Blake and Pine Streets.
An agenda is being developed but, as planned, the hourlong program will offer prayer led by religious leaders — Christian, Jewish and Muslim — and will give people a chance to reflect on what happened and to thank first responders.
On Monday, Shanna Rogers of Community Concepts invited downtown tenants, faith groups, police and fire department officials, nonprofit organizations and the media to brainstorm.
Rogers said she spent last weekend donating time and materials to help fire victims, but it didn’t feel like enough. The goal, Saddlemire said, is to build confidence and connections downtown.
Monday’s ceremony will feature speakers who will acknowledge that the fires that left so many homeless also left pain and fear. “The whole community has suffered, landlords and tenants,” Rogers said. The ceremony could be followed by future forums to address solutions to neighborhood problems, he said.
The group quickly decided the location should be Kennedy Park. Police Chief Michael Bussiere said police would help pass out fliers to get the word out, but the event should be community based.
“We’ll help out. We’ll attend. We’ll get involved, but we’ll let you guys take the lead,” Bussiere said. “Not everything can be addressed with law enforcement response.”
A suggestion was made that downtown landlords be invited. Downtown tenant Richard White agreed. The collective approach is important, he said, to have tenants and landlords “work together and clean up some of these buildings.”
Melissa Dunn of the Neighborhood Housing League suggested a downtown march allowing people to take back their neighborhood. “Marching and chanting is really powerful, so people can feel empowered.”
People also want to thank firefighters and police personally, she said. “Many folks I’ve spoken to are looking for that opportunity to say, ‘Thank you for helping us get our pets out.’ ‘Thank you for helping our neighborhood.’”
One woman suggested people write messages and their names on banners that could be hung. Dottie Perham-Whittier, the city’s community relations coordinator, recommended silent “cardboard testimonials.”
People could hold cardboard signs that read on one side, “’I’ve lost my home.’ They flip it over and it says, ‘My neighbors brought me food.’ It’s very powerful,” she said.
After the meeting, downtown resident and Neighborhood Housing League member Adan Abo said he approved of the ceremony.
“This idea is really great,” Abo said. It would help support people who have been affected by the fire, “let them know people out there in the community care.”
White, the father of young twins, said he hopes Monday’s ceremony will be a stepping stone to a nicer neighborhood with a better morale.
“Yes, we have a low-income neighborhood, but we don’t need to look like a low-income neighborhood,” White said. “I’d like to see landlords and tenants working together, not only cleaning up neighborhoods but instilling pride in our city.”
Saddlemire said the group quickly came together “because people want to see healing happen, an acknowledgement of inspiring efforts put into protecting the neighborhood.”
Rogers said she was encouraged to hear people agree that healing is needed, “but to really heal, we need to start talking about solutions and root causes. I’m excited to start creating the forum.”
More coverage of the Lewiston fires:
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- A group representing first responders, downtown tenants, the media and nonprofit organizations met Tuesday to plan a community response to the recent fires in downtown Lewiston. The group, led by Ward 5 City Councilor Craig Saddlemire, agreed to hold a healing ceremony at 5 p.m. Monday, May 13, in Kennedy Park. In the back row at the planning table are, from left, Abdi Matan, Joan Churchill, Rex Rhoades, Mohammed Ali, police Chief Michael Bussiere and Joseph Philippon. In the front row are Shanna Rogers, Saddlemire and Richard White.
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