LEWISTON — For Leroy Walker, the gathering was both beautiful and dreadfully sad.

The father of one of the victims of the shooting rampage Oct. 25, 2023, Walker was pleased to see just how many gathered Thursday night to mark the six-month anniversary of that horrifying night. 

And yet it was also another reminder of how much he had lost. 

“It’s great that they have these events,” Walker said, as hundreds walked solemnly into Simard-Payne Memorial Park. “It’s great that they pull people together this way. But it just breaks my heart every time. It brings back every little memory that makes me cry. 

“Six months may seem like a long time to some people,” Walker said. “To me, it’s like it happened just yesterday.” 

For Becky Brady and Andrea White, the Thursday night ceremony was uplifting and yet it also brought back the terror of that night. The fear, the disbelief, the crushing sadness as the death toll just grew and grew. 

Keith Tremblay tosses biodegradable paper hearts and flower pedals into the Androscoggin River from the pedestrian bridge at Simard Payne Memorial Park after the six-month anniversary observance Thursday of the Oct. 25 mass shooting in Lewiston. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

The two women are in a bowling league at Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley on Mollison Way. They knew many of the victims of the shooting there.  

“It’s hard to remember that some of the people that we bowled with are gone,” White said. “It’s really hard but we’re here to celebrate them.” 

The two women were at the bowling alley just 24 hours before the man later identified as Robert Card went into the business and began shooting. 

“It could have been us in the line of fire,” Brady said. “It hits us hard, losing so many friends. We’re here for them and to support their families. We support them 100 percent.” 

Just after 6 p.m., as the late-day sun shone on the park, a wave of people came walking slowly up Beech Street. It was a big wave, with roughly 200 people moving toward the gathering.  

People walk onto the pedestrian bridge Thursday after the six-month anniversary observance of the Oct. 25 mass shooting at Simard Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston. Biodegradable hearts and flower petals were tossed into the Androscoggin River. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

They carried plastic candles with faux flames flickering. Almost every one of them wore blue — there were blue hoodies with “Lewiston Strong” in bold letters on the front. There were blue T-shirts and hats, all bearing the same message. 

By the time they assembled at the lower end of the park, near the river, there were roughly 300 people there, all of them to celebrate the 18 people who were killed in the shootings, the many who were hurt and the families of every one of them. 

Almost all who spoke of the commemorative event characterized it the same way. It was powerful and uplifting. 

It was at the same time unspeakably sad. 

“I’m glad the community can come together like this,” said Walker, whose son Joe was killed in the shooting. “I think it really helps in the long run. I think it’s something the community really needs. It’s a great thing. But it’s been a long day. When they first mentioned that they were doing this, I didn’t know if I was ready for it.” 

Sherri Stanton and Keith Tremblay embrace Thursday during a moment of silence at the six-month anniversary observance of the Oct. 25 mass shooting at Simard Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

The event was organized by The Maine Resiliency Center, created by Community Concepts in November to give individuals and families affected by the shooting a place to find services. 

At the center of the stage set up near the river were 18 empty chairs, each adorned by a blue heart and meant to represent those lost in the shootings. 

As the names of the dead were read aloud, the crowd listened in solemn silence. A line of police officers stood with bowed heads. A similar line of firefighters stood at the top of the hill, arms crossed, faces sad. 

In her remarks, Joanna Stokinger, an advocate at Maine Resiliency Center, pointed out that the gathering was meant in support of every person affected by the violence of that terrible night, including those who were present for the shootings but left uninjured. 

“You are not overlooked,” she said. “We see you. And we see that you carry trauma and horrors that only those that share that commonality with you could even begin to grasp.” 

There were moments of silence for the victims, begun at the very time the police calls came in for the shootings at the bowling alley and at Schemengees Bar & Grille restaurant on Lincoln Street. And while sadness was present throughout the ceremony, in the end it wasn’t the prevailing emotion of the night. 

In spite of the tragic backdrop of the event, many chose to focus on, not death, carnage and horror, but on the way this community and others rose up to support the victims and their families.

Members of the public, family and friends of the victims assemble Thursday at the six-month anniversary observance of the Oct. 25 mass shooting, held at Simard Payne Memorial Park in Lewiston. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

“As we mark six months since the October 25th shooting,” Mayor Carl Sheline said, “we recognize that while we are forever changed, we are forever stronger. The shooter took 18 lives from us, but he couldn’t take who we are as a city. The light always follows darkness and the tragic events of that night are continually outshone by the acts of love and words of encouragement that we have for one another.  

“While the road to healing is long,” Sheline said, “we will support and care for each other. Through the worst tragedy this city has ever known, the world will continue to see the very best of us.” 

In a written statement, Gov. Janet Mills noted the immense trauma the shootings inflicted on the community. She also observed how the same community rose up to confront the horror. 

“Six months ago,” Mills wrote, “the tightly woven fabric of Maine was torn apart by a horrific attack that robbed us of the lives of eighteen beloved people – our family, friends, and neighbors – leaving an immense hole in the heart of our state and in the hearts of their families and the survivors hurt by wounds both seen and unseen. 

“As we mark the six-month anniversary of this terrible tragedy,” the statement continued, “we reaffirm our love and support for Lewiston, for the victims and their families, and for this precious place we call home, and we recommit ourselves to embracing and valuing one another, as imperfect as we may be, as we search for happiness in the short, blessed time we have here. Our hearts are still healing, and the road to healing is long, but we will continue to walk it together.”

Joanne Stokinger, left, speaks Thursday at the six-month anniversary observance of the Oct. 25 Lewiston mass shootings at Simard Payne Memorial Park. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal