Major Ken Mason looks every inch like the former Marine and career lawman that he is. Although his co-workers at the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office can trade tales about Mason’s polished sense of humor, the Ken Mason the general public is more likely to see is the one with the practiced deadpan expression and the burn-a-hole-through-you glare that anyone who has been on the wrong end of a traffic ticket would recognize as an invitation to pipe down.
Ken Mason is not the kind of guy you would expect to see in a dress.
This past Saturday night however, Mason, three of his co-workers and a bevy of other real men did just that, much to the merriment of the sell-out crowd jammed packed into the Lincoln County Community Theater in Damariscotta.
Mason and company were treating the audience to what is fast becoming the highlight of the winter season in these parts, the fourth annual Guys in Gowns.
The uproarious party was a serious fundraiser for Youth Promise, which does admirable work helping at-risk youth.
Founded in 1994, Youth Promise grew out of an idea advanced by now retired District Court Judge Michael Wescott who proposed that there had to be a better way to reach at-risk kids than simply dumping them into the criminal justice system.
In the years since, the fruit of Wescott’s vision has changed the lives of hundreds of young people. If some have only temporarily delayed their education to the intricacies of the American judicial system, hundreds more have left the program prepared to lead productive lives
The men who participate in Guys in Gowns put themselves out there with all good humor for a great cause. It says something about the importance of this organization that learned professionals, elected officials, and tough guy lawmen and firefighters alike, are willing to don a dress to support it.
Right now, somewhere in Lincoln County, there is at least one juvenile, and likely, more than one, who is going to find themselves in some sort of official trouble for the first time this year. If that juvenile is directed to Youth Promise, they will have a chance to turn their life around without the burden of a long term criminal conviction on their record.
Youth Promise can give a troubled youth the chance to look back on their life years from now, and recall some minor league misstep with a rueful chuckle. What could be a life altering moment could instead, become a tale of a life lesson learned.
The money raised Saturday night will be used to change lives. What those changes will be and the people those changes involve, will likely never be known by those who contributed time or money to the effort, but that matters not.
Lives will be changed for the better.
