Narraguagus High School paid tribute to its fallen alumnus.
By Daniel Hartill
Staff Writer

HARRINGTON – They stood beside the two-lane road, held their hands over their hearts and said goodbye.

Dustin Foss, 16, watched the funeral procession pass. She scanned the slow-moving cars for faces. And she was humbled.

Someone sacrificed his life for her freedoms, said Foss, a junior at Narraguagus High School in Harrington. “I don’t feel like I really deserve it.”

Foss was one of 270 students who lined the road outside the school to pay their respects to Nicholes Golding, Class of 1998, whose funeral procession passed by last month.

Neither Foss nor most of her classmates knew Golding, who graduated before these kids reached the school. But it didn’t seem to matter, said Lucille Willey, the school’s assistant principal.

Beside the road that day, the teenagers were silenced by the hearse and the cars that followed. Some openly wept, Willey said.

The gesture helped the students understand the ongoing war, showing them that the far-off fighting can have an effect here.

It was also a tribute to a graduate still remembered by many of the teachers, Willey said.

Teacher John Daley said he knew Golding as hard-working and likable.

Though people often glorify those who have died, Daley said he didn’t need to in Golding’s case.

“He really was a good kid,” said the teacher. “He took care of himself.”

On Memorial Day, the school plans to erect a plaque outside the gymnasium in honor of Golding.

dhartill@sunjournal.com