WESTBROOK — Since the coronavirus stay-at-home order has been in place, Kristen Gingrich and Ben Crimmin have been taking their 3-year-old, Oliver, almost daily to the pedestrian overpass by the high school to watch the cars drive under it. When word got out, community members showed up in droves to put a smile on his face.

“It’s really been something he’s liked since staying at home,” Gingrich said. “He likes being out and doing things, and we walked over the overpass one day and he loved the cars appearing underneath.”

That’s when it all took off for Oliver.

“He runs to the other side and watches. Its something he’s been loving and he gets real mad when we leave,” his mother said.

On April 28, Gingrich shared Oliver’s latest passion on the Westbrook Community Board Facebook page and let people know when he would be up on the overpass waving at their passing cars.

The response to their first visit to the overpass since the posting surprised her.

“We didn’t expect anything big. I thought it’d be family members, but there must’ve been like up to 30 cars that went by intentionally for Oliver,” Gingrich said. “It was amazing, people beeping and waving, slowing down, just so they can pass by a bit slower so you can see them waving.”

“One woman in particular – it made my mother-in-law cry – went out and got balloons to attach to the car so Oliver could really see they were for him,” she added. 

While her husband grew up in this area, Gingrich has only been in Westbrook about a year. She was touched to see the community reach out to Oliver during such hard times.

“To see the town kind of come together during a time like this to find some joy and happiness, that’s special. Watching people just come out for our little boy in a time where we are social distancing, to connect in whatever way that we can do that is super,” Gingrich said.