LEWISTON – A group of local guard members headed for the Middle East will receive a send-off from their families and friends and area leaders Saturday.

About 112 members of Company C of the 133rd Engineering Battalion of the Maine Army National Guard are scheduled to leave on Wednesday, Jan. 7. Company C includes people attached to the Lewiston and Norway armories.

They will first go to Fort Drum, N.Y. From there, they will head overseas and are expected to be gone for 18 months.

“As these troops are deployed, I believe that it is important that they know that we here at home stand behind them,” said state Sen. Peggy Rotundo, who plans to attend the event. “It is critical for them to have confidence that we are going to be here to help their families in their absence.”

The group works as a moving construction company. They can build roads, airfields and do other earth-moving projects. They can also build wood, metal and concrete structures and install the electrical wiring and plumbing systems.

The event is planned for 2 to 4 p.m. at the Lewiston Armory at 55 Alfred A. Plourde Parkway in Lewiston. From Lisbon Street headed east toward Lisbon, get onto the I-495 on ramp that comes onto the Plourde Parkway, continue south on the parkway and the armory is a half-mile on the right just after Goddard Road.

From Lisbon Street headed west toward Auburn, take a right onto Pleasant Street and turn left onto the Plourde Parkway headed south.

Copy the Story Link