Community of Windham Foundation

Used by permission of the artist, Francis Driscoll.

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.

Light that shines is the light of love,

Hides the darkness from above,

Shines on me and it shines on you,

Shine my light both bright and clear,

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.

(Writer: Neil A. Johnson – The Seekers)

Windham’s annual festive display of brightly lit snowflakes sets the perfect mood as we welcome in each New Year.

In John F. Kennedy’s 1960 nomination speech he remarked,

“We are not here to curse the darkness, but to light the candle that can guide us thru that darkness to a safe and sane future.”

We’ve experienced much hardship over the past two years. COVID-19 has cost too many lives as well as the hopes and dreams of many of our neighbors and friends. Now, we are challenged by the Omicron variant that is causing a new surge of cases throughout our community.

The points of light represented by each snowflake that adorns our main street reminds us of the words spoken by President George H. W. Bush during his inaugural address on January 20, 1989. He declared the thousand points of light of all the community organizations that are spread like stars throughout the Nation. The points of light symbolize all of our community based charitable not-for-profit organizations that embody the best of America.

Our community-based not-for-profit partners faith-based organizations support the food pantry, which so successfully combats the crisis of food insecurity in these troubled times. These groups support the annual Autumn Affair, emergency shelters, heart saving CPR/AED training, youth leadership, aid for cancer patients, veterans “warriors in motion,” heritage music gathering, concerts at the Windham Civic Center, historic preservation, educational scholarships and enhanced trail-based recreation. This is all a mere sample of how this volunteer network of dedicated and committed citizens promotes civic engagement and leadership, helps drive economic growth and strengthens the quality of life and fabric within the community.

As we celebrate the dawning of a “new day” we are grateful for the role that this non-profit collaborative plays in creating a more equitable and thriving community.

We thank them all for making our future more hopeful and brighter.

And on a bright note, we take this moment to celebrate news you may have missed of our 2021 Scholarship recipients, fine examples each of the incredible teaching that has continues to be done within the walls of the Windham-Ashland-Jewett CSD.

Noah Desgaches was awarded the $2000 Stanley Christman STEM scholarship to study at the Albany College of Pharmacy.

Cassidy Terrill received the Stanley Christman STEM scholarship continuation award of $2000 to support her second year of study in biology at SUNY Binghamton.

Brooke Pennington was awarded the Mike & Jane Avella scholarship award of $1000 to study Studio Art at SUNY New Paltz.

Paige Brady was awarded the T. Patrick Meehan scholarship of $1000 to pursue a degree in Early Childhood Education at SUNY Cobleskill.

– The Community of Windham Board of Directors, January, 2022