To the Editor:
I was the organizer for Touch-a-Truck at the Wiscasset Speedway a few Sundays ago. You remember that beautiful summer day, don’t you? Torrential downpour, wicked wind chill, low 50s… not exactly your “end-of-June” weather, but we all braved it for the kids.
Most of our vehicles still showed up and braved it all. Our vendors and sponsors lost their tents. We had over 100 people show up, including many of my friends with their families, who came to support the March of Dimes, and me, frankly.
The event was rain or shine, but who knew the rain would be quite like that? We had to shut down the event. Things were just flying everywhere, and it just wasn’t safe anymore. I was so disappointed – this was supposed to be an amazing event, filled with so many things for the kids to do, and I hated turning families away as we were closing up.
I promised the kids a great event, and we just couldn’t deliver. I promised my sponsors- 20 of them in total – a great event. Many of them are my friends, and all of them are area businesses.
I also do this event, as I do all March of Dimes events- in memory of our son, Garron, who was born prematurely. The March of Dimes works to prevent prematurity and birth defects in this state, and has been an incredibly important organization to my family, so much so that I began working in the Scarborough office in January 2014 to help other families like my own.
After the hurricane that was this year’s Touch-a-Truck, and after the success from the year before, I knew I just couldn’t leave it at that.
As I peeled off raincoat that blustery Sunday, an idea started to brew.
I called my boss, Hildy Ginsberg, the state director at the March of Dimes. “What if…what if… we had a do-over?”
“A do-over?”
“What if we took all the activities we were supposed to do at Touch-a-Truck and created a new event?”
So I got on the phone and called my friends, and Touch-a-Truck sponsors, Lisa and James at the Kidz Closet, to ask if they would be up for it. I knew they would say “yes”. They are always up for community events, and they are huge supporters of the March of Dimes.
Next up, a message to my friend Meredith Blakesley at Duck Puddle Campground, another Touch-a-Truck sponsor, to see if we could use her venue to stage an event. Again, “yes.” The Grimes and Blakesleys, again, huge supporters of community events and outreach.
It began to take shape. Boat rides. Check. Hay rides, check. My friend Margaret at the Boothbay Railway Village offered up her chief engineer, Brain Fanslau, to drive their antique fire truck around the campground.
Carnival games, prizes, vendors, check. Face painting, check. Bounce house donated by Ames, check. Gift card for a barbecue, check. Swimming, on-site playground, check. It really just took a few phone calls and suddenly, another family event was created.
That’s how a small town works. We just pull it together.
It will be a different event than Touch-a-Truck, but it won’t disappoint. It will be a time for families to play and laugh and enjoy the Maine summer.
It’s another chance for me to honor the memory of my son, who never lived to enjoy any of these events, but is the driving force of everything I do. It’s a way to thank all my sponsors, my friends, who believe in the March of Dimes and the incredible work they do for local families who are scared, who are celebrating, who are grieving.
So, on Sunday, July 26 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Duck Puddle Campground in Nobleboro, come to the “Family Carnival & BBQ to Support the March of Dimes.”
I have to give incredible thanks to our sponsors, who have hung in there with me and continue to do so, and to the MIKA karate kids, who stood in the rain waiting for their turn, but never got the chance because it’s not supposed to be 52 degrees and pouring at the end of June.
I can’t control the weather, but I will do my best to make this the event I promised you all.
If it rains, we will reschedule.
Aubrey Martin
Wiscasset
