Deaf Maine marks one-year anniversary of Oct. 25 tragedy

(Video clips showing Lewiston, Maine. There is a gathering of deaf people wearing cornhole jerseys gathered at the former site of the Schemenegee’s Bar and Grill, where there are temporary memorials set up to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Oct. 25, 2023)

Heather Richards-Kretlow: We got these shirts to show “Lewiston Strong” and support the Deaf community.

Kyle Curtis: My name is Kyle Curtis. I am from Lewiston. I am a survivor. I escaped from the shooting.

Steve Richards-Kretlow: Hello, my name is Steve Richards-Kretlow. I was at the cornhole event. I am a shooting survivor. I got shot in my leg.

Richard Morlock: My name is Richard Morlock. I’ve been playing cornhole there for 11 years. Then the incident happened. I played dead. I “played dead.”

They were all good players. We had a great time playing at that place. But it’s now closed. There’s no more cornhole.

(Video clips showing the interior of the bar, which is no longer in operation and turned into a community donation/support center)

Steve Richards-Kretlow: It’s tough for us to lose four players that we loved. They had a good time with their family. They were good fathers. Good friends with everyone. Good with the Deaf community and with hearing people, of course.

The bar is now closed. It’s moved to a new location called Sliders. People have started coming back and joining.

Kyle Curtis: We’re very close-knit. We understand each other. Not only that, hearing people are involved as well. They say, “ILY” and sign. We feel very welcomed and part of them.

It is hard for us to go through this, but we can do it. Stand up and keep going.

Steve Richards-Kretlow: Right.

(Survivors and family members gather to take a toast)

Steve Richards-Kretlow: To Stephen V., Josh, Billy B., and Bryan M. ILY to the eighteen.

(Kyle Curtis pours some beer at the memorial site of Stephen Vozzella)

Kyle Curtis: He was my best friend. He was my cornhole partner. I lost him.

(At The Coliseé, a semi-pro hockey stadium near downtown Lewiston. It is the site of the October 25th Commemoration Event.)

Matt Webster, Events and Community Leader: We are holding this event and it’s so nice to see people here. They had the Maine Association of the Deaf involved to make sure there are interpreters. There is a lineup of Deaf interpreters, captioning, braille, large print. Everything is set up to have good accessibility for all.

Twenty percent of the victims are Deaf. It was really impactful. A lot of Deaf people were involved and needed support. So I’m making sure access is there.

(Survivors, family members, and friends visit a hallway set up with large pictures and names of the eighteen victims. )

Steve Richards-Kretlow: Bryan got his trucking license and worked on that same day. I saw the whole thing.

Gerry: We hung out. He visited my family as well. We miss him.

[Video credit: City of Lewiston / Sun Journal]

Choir: By the dawn’s early light

Ian Sanborn, Deaf Artist: (I feel you in the rain that falls, oh I still get shivers)

Master of ceremonies Tom Caron: Resilience.

Elizabeth “Liz” Seal: The web is beautiful. I wish it didn’t take the tragedy for me to see those connections.”

Maine Resiliency Center: For those who survived the Oct. 25 tragedy…

Lauren Ridloff, Deaf actress: As a member of the Deaf community, it hurt.

Joanna Stokinger, Maine Resiliency Center: Take a moment of silence to remember the individuals who were killed.

Tommy Minch, Disability Rights Michigan / MEAD: People can find the positive and hope.

Deaf Interpreter: Please stand up and be recognized.

Rev. Sarah Gillespie: We can have healing and hope.

Deaf Interpreter: Thank you.

[—- end of Corner Credit: City of Lewiston / Sun Journal ]

Megan Vozzella, Wife of Stephen Vozzella: Since the day he was gone, life has been challenging. I have to find ways of coping. We are fortunate to have friends who are victims and survivors around us. We are still close-knit today and forever. We are a family, a cornhole family.

Elizabeth “Liz” Seal: I’m here at the East End Community School. Many staff, teachers, friends, and colleagues, students/children knew Josh. Three out of our four kids went to school here. When Josh passed away, it cut through all of us. A huge loss for the community. They wanted to honor Josh and they built a bench here.

There is a lot of love in the family. A lot of love in the community. A lot of love in the community. I just take it in and it gives me energy.

Tommy Minch: A few weeks after the night of Oct. 25, we hosted an event here at Brick South. That was the first one. That’s our way of opening a place for our community to grieve together. Now, today is the second event, one year later. It is to uplift our community.

Matt Webster: The Maine Association of the Deaf has helped with this. We’ve provided food. We want to keep things lively and positive. You have to keep going.

(T-shirt listing the names of the Deaf Survivors: Kyle Curtis, Chris Dyndiuk, Larry Lawrence, Steve Kretlow, Richard Morlock.)

Larry Lawrence: Hi. My name is Laurance Lawrence. I’m known as Larry.

Chris Dyndiuk: My name is Chris Dyndiuk. I’m a survivor of the incident at the bar, just like him.

Larry Lawrence: At the beginning, it was incredibly emotional. My heart was beating so fast with anxiety. When I got together with the survivors and the victims’ friends and family, there was support. It’s been up and down.

Chris Dyndiuk: When we had counseling help, we could heal a bit. When we listened to each other’s stories, it was powerful.

(T-shirt with the names of all eighteen victims listed with the phrase, “Gone but not forgotten.”)

Chris Dyndiuk: We started getting together again for cornhole and that’s how the hearing and deaf people who experienced it could bond.

Larry Lawrence: We have a bond.

Chris Dyndiuk: Every Wednesday, sometimes Fridays, we become like one big family.

Larry Lawrence: Definitely.

Deaf student: This sweater is to memorialize the Lewiston incident. I’m paying my respects.

(Video clips showing the exterior of the Brick South venue)

Regan Thibodeau, Maine Deaf Interpreter: We are lucky here in Maine. We have solidarity with the community. It is truly safe but it requires a mindset to not allow fear take control. To not allow the trauma to hold power. I tell it, “No. They are good people. I’ve had to manage it and once I feel at peace, I can keep going within the community. The event feels very safe.

(Video clips showing the five survivors sharing remarks onstage, Ben Jarashow giving a comedy show, and DJ Deaf Tunez pumping music into a dancing crowd, video tributes in ASL poetry by Maine Deaf community members)

(Final, closing image showing the faces of Josh Seal, Billy Brackett, Brian MacFarlane, and Stephen Vozzella around a red heart)

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