Not an April Fool's joke I certainly remember that April Fool's Day, as I was only in the 10th grade at Winslow High School. My parents woke me up to tell me there was no school due to a huge flood! But I, of course, was ready with my response ... "Sure mom, nice try!" As it turns out, she was not joking. My brothers and I rushed over to the baseball field (which was right across the street from where we lived) to see the governor's helicopter land right in centerfield. What a rush. We then walked about .5 miles down the road to the Mini Mall at the Halifax Crossing above the IGA in Winslow. My God, we could not believe something like this could happen.

Everything was under water, including my parents VW Bus which was across the road from then Ken's Restaurant at Bill's Tire. Lucky for us, insurance picked up the bill ...It was a total loss. River rats were washed ashore and people were looting everything they could get there hands on.

Houses were floating down the river from Lithgow Street, including Fort Halifax ... disgusting! By the end of the week, my friends, brothers, and I were helping the Cumberland Farms and IGA get cleaned up. It was the least we could do. I'll never forget how the community came together in this time of tragedy. Hopefully, we will never have to see anything like this again!

Eric Gauthier

Benton