Smalleys extend special Christmas gratitude

David Smalley of Drew Plantation wrote the Bangor Daily News and asked if we would please extend a “thank you and merry Christmas from the Smalley Family on or before Christmas, if possible,” and I am happy to enable them to do that today.

Regular NEWS readers are familiar with the story of the fire last month that damaged the 13-member family’s farmhouse and destroyed Smalley’s toy-making business.

So many of you responded in so many ways, with offers of assistance and support, that Smalley refers to you as his family’s “elves and angels.”

As a devout Christian, Smalley wrote he “must, first of all, thank God” for the blessings his family has received since that terrible event, but “now that I have thanked God, I must say something to all of you.”

“All of you have done honor to the towns you live in, to the state of Maine, and to your country. I have never witnessed such an outpouring of goodness as I did from all of you in this tragedy of ours. My family is ever indebted to you all. You were not too busy to respond to our need. Each of you, in your own way, set aside what you were doing to come to our aid. We are ever grateful; we are ever thankful.

“You are all heroes to me.”

The Smalleys are appreciative of the efforts of so many: the firefighters; those who provided shelter, food and consolation; those who cleaned, cooked, prayed, forgave debts and donated building materials.

They appreciate, too, the letters of condolence and those who saved and housed their horse, made financial donations, and provided clothing.

They are thankful for their Christmas tree; assistance from the media; business owners who offered discounts and provided toys; the benefit supper; and new books for their library.

Smalley believes the “Welcome to Maine: The Way Life Should Be” sign at our borders doesn’t really say it all.

“You could not ask for a more beautiful place, or a better place, to raise a family,” he wrote of such a friendly, caring area where everyone watches out for each other, “especially in times of need.”

Thank you, and merry Christmas, from the Smalley family of Drew Plantation.

June McLeod of Lincoln, New Brunswick, is another who is grateful for the blessings she received one fateful day while in our state.

As McLeod and her husband were returning to their motel during a mid-November visit in Bangor, he suffered a fatal heart attack.

McLeod extends her “heartfelt thanks … to the bus driver who called 911, to the lady who tried to help my husband, the paramedics and emergency room staff at Eastern Maine Medical Center.”

She is grateful to “a very special person,” Maine State Trooper Phillip Pushard, “who showed me so much caring and kindness at the time of my loss.”

McLeod is sorry she does not remember his name, but she thanks “the minister who stayed with me until my family arrived from New Brunswick.”

To those who were there for her that day, she wrote, “without all your caring and kindness to a stranger, I do not know what I would have done.”

“May God bless you all.”

Susan Sheridan of Addison, who was assaulted in September while walking along Basin Road, wrote to thank members of the Maine judicial system for their support during the legal process, which resulted in a nine-month prison sentence for the attacker.

She is particularly grateful to Maine State Trooper Barry Curtis, Washington County Sheriff’s Deputy Travis Willey, Superior Court Justice Andrew Mead, Assistant District Attorney William Entwisle and victim-witness supporters Diana Mahar and Sonia Seeley.

She thanks Suzanne Saunders of the Washington County Rapid Response Program for victims of violence and trauma, but, above all, members of “my community of Addison” whose love, caring and energy “helped track down the criminal within two days, giving me, in addition, a huge amount of emotional support.”

Sheridan, 62, attests “to the fact that it is also personally satisfying to everyone involved when we work together for the sake of justice and community safety.”

She encourages anyone who is a victim of any kind of physical or psychological assault or abuse to call 911 to “put in motion the support of the Maine State Police, the power of the Maine judicial system” and other programs that can help.

“I called for help by dialing 911, putting into motion several systems that helped me fight for justice. Justice was done. We did it together.

“Justice is a Christmas present beyond all Christmas presents.”

Joni Averill, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402; 990-8288.