A ‘gorgeous monster’

Keddy Mill in South Windham is a hulking giant, a depreciating husk, an ominous nightmare, or, as reporter Douglas Wright puts it, a “gorgeous monster.”

To witness Keddy Mill firsthand is to understand these descriptions. But it’s also a playground, a place to get away, and a congregation area for local kids who frequent the grounds and interior of the building on a daily basis. Is that good? No, because it’s not their property, and it’s against the law to trespass and loiter. But it is understandable that neighborhood teens and pre-teens would want to hang out in the irresistibly vacuous halls of the mill.

Keddy Mill is dangerous. There are gaping holes in the flooring, spaces once filled with machinery foundations. There is junk and debris inside, not to mention broken glass. However, we should not be too worried about the kids’ physical safety. Kids are kids. They fall and they get up. But we should worry about these kids’ emotional safety. For years, there have been stories about drinking, smoking, and other less admirable activities going on at the Keddy Mill. It’s a shame this building is allowed to continue to pose this risk. Fortunately, though, this hulking monster will not be around very much longer.

The solution comes in the form of one Renee Lewis, a private developer who is working alongside the town and Avesta Housing to create a village of sorts in the place of Keddy Mill. Soon, within the next year let’s hope, these neighborhood kids will need to find another hangout.

So what will these kids do? That seems to be a logical question. For one, South Windham Community Church has opened its doors and hearts by starting a teen center for these youth. That’s great. There’s nothing like the local church doing something for its neighbors.

Also, when the mill building is gone, hopefully these kids will find other after-school activities at the schools or in the Windham Recreation Department. There are no excuses not to be active after school nowadays. Windham has overflowing offerings.

But probably the best enticement for self-improvement in South Windham will be the demise of the mill itself. There’s nothing like removing a burdening impediment to encourage someone progressing in life. These neighbors – their parents, too – deal with that ugly Keddy Mill everyday of their lives, and it’s got to be depressing. Remove that obstacle, and we’ll likely see the neighborhood flourish.

And it’s all going to happen because of one woman named Renee Lewis, who is willing to invest in the community of South Windham. Her project will not only help the folks who move to the new Village at Little Falls, it’ll help all the people who already live there.

Goals smoals

For the record, I’d like to tell everyone that last weekend, I accomplished something I had been dreaming about since 1993. On Saturday, before the rains started up again, my brother and I finished the last of the forty-eight 4,000-footers (mountains) in New Hampshire. (Your applause would be appropriate.)

The hike up was pretty easy. Mt. Waumbek is a little known 4,006-foot-high peak just north of Mount Washington. The view was great and the weather perfect for hiking. The only thing that wasn’t great was the fact that the 12-year-old goal was being accomplished. Yes, you read that right.

Although I’m very goal-driven, I’m not one for finishing stuff. I’m proud to have a few accomplishments in my life, but I always hate the moment of achieving a goal. I like yearning for goals, not reaching them. It’s probably why I lament the fact the Red Sox won last year. It was a goal accomplished. Ugh!

But I know I’m not alone in this twisted thinking. I once read that the only thing worse than not achieving a goal is to achieve it. That is true despair. The only thing left to do is wallow in victory. And that’s nothing to brag about.

So, because of my twisted philosophy and the sadness it causes, I have a new tact on life. Once I complete something, I move on to another goal, not stopping to think of the vanity or meaninglessness of it all. So, to that end, my new goal is to hike New England’s Hundred Highest peaks. The lousy thing about that goal, however, is that I’ve already bagged 65 of them. Shucks!

-John Balentine, editor