Lincoln and Lee, Maine Feeds House in the Woods Veterans
~ Volunteers cooking and serving a lobster lunch to veterans ~
On September 6th I had the pleasure of having lunch at Jessica & Justin Cloukey’s home in Lincoln, Maine. This was the second week of the Cloukeys and their platoon of volunteers providing meals for the combat wounded veterans, guides and active military who were in Maine to participate in a week of black bear hunting with House in the Woods Military & Family Retreat.
Justin and Jessica Cloukey
This was my second time visiting the towns of Lee and Lincoln within a three-month span. I had been recruited by Richard Larkin of Lincoln to help get the word out nation-wide about House in the Woods. I have been working as a marketing consultant in various aspects for Richard for a few years and have known him most of my life. I trust his judgement and was pleasantly surprised at what I saw at the site of House in the Woods and the people I met. The mission to help the combat wounded and active military grabbed my interest immediately as I hail from a large military family.
I was amazed at the number of people who willingly and, with such ease, jumped in to volunteer and donate foods, prepared meals and desserts, donate paper supplies, and various other items for every breakfast, lunch and dinner for our military and their family members who accompanied them. A total of 58 meals were served to our veterans in the yard of Jessica’s and Justin’s welcoming home. The meals were all homemade including the great pasta dishes, burgers, homemade biscuits, nearly 400 lobsters, tons of bacon and eggs, homemade maple syrup, the ever-so-luscious desserts, and the list goes on and on! The veterans I spoke to and heard from later could not believe the warm welcome and generosity of the community. Your genuine caring for their sacrifices helped to make their time in Maine one to sincerely remember and another reason to return for more events at House in the Woods. New friendships were cast in stone due to your kindness.
I reside on Cape Cod, Massachusetts and felt honored to be welcomed by the residents of Lee and Lincoln. You have a great community of people who are sincere, warm and very willing to help their neighbor and even those whom they have met for the first time. I wanted to personally thank all of you for being the kind of humans who are proud of their towns and their state of Maine. It is a beautiful location with miles and miles of hills, lakes and woods that have an immediate calming effect on those who are new to the area, just visiting for a while or attending an event in the wilderness of Maine.
Paul and Dee House drove me through the woods to walk some of the trails and witness where the participants of the bear hunt would be waiting to sit oh-so-quietly in the wood awaiting the sighting of “their bear”. I had the opportunity to sit and chat with some of the great guides who help with the hunt. Such interesting, honest and knowledgeable men who sincerely enjoy every moment of getting to know our troops who venture to Maine for some great fresh air and to spend time with other veterans.
I want to thank each and every person I came in contact with at the Cloukey home and throughout Lee and Lincoln. I am only sorry my visit was shorter than I would have liked it to be.
Your community is what one envisions of a great place to call “home” in America. It inspires one to realize in the midst of the insanity of unrest in our country there is still a proud and respectful group of hard-working folks who truly show how they love God and Country and who sincerely do care for others, stepping up to the plate to do their part. THANK YOU ONE AND ALL!!
I have a long list of names that I want to thank, thus I beg your indulgence in the length of this piece!
FOOD DONATIONS: Cheryl Whitten, Beth Enochs, April Shorey, Rene Lindsay, Shannon Briggs, Pam Jordan, Miranda Thompson, Julie Faloon, Vicki Wakefield, Terry Clukey, Kelli Bard, Roxanne Porter, Grady Thurlow, Sharon Crockett, Charald Comeau, Stephanie Dube, Jean Hanington, Melanie True, Leah Toby,Sabrina Fogg, Tammy Cowan, Heather Spearin, Heather Braley, Linda Gerry, Kimberly Lee, Ederle Lemay, Laurie Mortenson, Nicki Jandreau, Rebeca Hunter, Erica Page, Mike Albert, Tammy Tracy, Guy (from Corinth), Veronica Shorey, Carol Marino, Julie McFarland, Mary Ann Foster, Patty Cloukey, Carlene (Carol’s friend), Carlene Fraiser, Sheldon Hanington, Beth Turner, Ronda St. Louis, Valerie Foster, Farleen Smith, Jeremy Aldrich, Aimee Nicholson, Todd Simcox, Erica Tripp, Sharlene Black, Christine Worster, Charlene Cloukey and Richard Larkin.
BUSINESS DONATIONS: Troy General Rental, Hannafords, Steaks & Stuff, Governor’s, Subway, B&W Variety, Trapier’s, High Street Market, McDonalds, Olive Garden, Tim Hortons, Angie Belk, WB Mason, Aubuchon, and Ed Comeau.
MONETARY DONATIONS: Lincoln Firefighters, Richard Bell, Christine Nicholson, Lynn Fish, Faith Curtis, Julie Yost, Brenda Sutherland and Beverly Kana.
SUPPLIES: Angel Matson, Kacy Mercier, Deb Sereyko, Angela Helms and Mike Page.
Thank you one and all for all your time, food preparations, serving meals, donating goods and funds, and welcoming our veterans who truly are the heroes of all of us.
My apologies if I missed any names.
Brenda Everson~Shaw
Massachusetts resident who thinks you all are fantastic people!!!!
