Photos from Windham Chamber of Commerce website.
The recent flooding from Irene and Lee has showed that tragedy can join people in positive ways. In the hard-hit town of Windham, many people have been talking about how the floods were not going to affect the Windham Autumn Affair. They were right: The Windham Autumn Affair will proceed as planned Columbus Day Weekend.
Don Muccilli, Vice Chairman of the Windham Chamber of Commerce, sent me an email about the significance of this year's festival that I share with you below.
To me, the Autumn Affair this year is not symbolic to recovery of the town. For many people, full recovery is still a distant target. Instead, I see it as a display of the Community’s resolve and spirit that giving in to tragedy was never - and will never be - an option. We will always move forward. From first light on the Monday morning after the storm, the people of our surrounding communities stood together shoulder-to-shoulder to help recover and rebuild. These efforts continue in full force, and I have been inspired by it every day. Stories of kindness and community outreach can still be heard today, on every street corner. If one thing was made evident in the moments and days following the storm, it is that the people of this area will stand united, in support of their neighbor regardless of what is staring us in the face. – Something that makes me very proud to call Windham “HOME”
The other significance of the Autumn Affair is one of celebration! In times like these it is important that people understand it’s “ok” to take a break. What better way to do that than with the very people that we’ve shared a lot of mud with over the last 4 weeks. It may not be time to declare that rebuilding is complete, but it is a great time to give the people of our area a respite from the dirty-work and an opportunity to just kick back with our neighbors. This year’s event is shaping up to be the best one ever, and with good reason.
Windham Autumn Affair - Saturday October 8 and Sunday October 9 from 10:00 to 5:00 each day.
For further details on scheduled activities in town and at Windham Mountain, go to the Windham Chamber of Commerce website.
