Eighteen chairs, each adorned with a blue heart and a candle, lined the front of the stage Thursday evening as community members marked the six month anniversary of the Lewiston mass shooting.
Around 200 people gathered at the Simard-Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston to honor the 18 people killed, 13 injured and countless lives changed on Oct. 25, 2023, from the shootings at Just-in-Time Recreation and Schemengees Bar and Grille.
The names of the 18 people fatally shot were read out loud at the start of the ceremony and an American Sign Language interpreter translated all remarks.
“We are all gathered here to remember that six months ago, you were forever changed,” Maine Resiliency Center Advocate Navigator Joanna Stokinger said. “Lewiston was forever changed. Maine was forever changed. We are forever changed.”
The group observed two moments of silence, one at the time of the shooting at Just-in-Time Recreation and one at the time of the shooting at Schemengees Bar and Grille, about 12 minutes apart.
People sniffled and wiped away tears as others spoke and during the moments of silence.
The commemoration was not just for the people who lost their lives, it was also for the people who were injured and survived, for those at the businesses who were not physically injured but are dealing with that trauma and for all those loved ones, Stokinger said.
As people work through their trauma, the best thing they can do is to be informed about that process so they can offer the best assistance possible, she said: Be patient and thoughtful with survivors and act without judgment toward them.
The most important thing survivors can do is give themselves grace and set boundaries as they need, Stockinger said.
“It’s OK to have all the feelings and sometimes all the feelings in an hour,” Stockinger said. “It’s OK not to be OK. Be patient with yourself.
“Move forward at your own pace. There is no roadmap for healing and grief that fits everyone.”
Lewiston is working toward a new normal. While healing is never a linear process, the community is changing and finding ways to experience joy, even without their loved ones, a speaker said.
As the ceremony wrapped up, attendees dropped biodegradable paper with notes to their loved ones, hearts and flower petals into the Androscoggin River from a footbridge near the event. It symbolized the river taking a burden from people’s hearts.
Just-In-Time Recreation will reopen Friday, May 3, after extensive renovations.
