NORWAY – The families of reservists serving overseas with the 133rd Engineer Battalion of the Maine Army National Guard are invited to a briefing at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Norway Armory on Elm Street.

Tammy Haskell, Lewiston and Norway coordinator of the battalion’s Family Readiness Group, said the briefing for families is one of many that have been held statewide since the 500 members of the 133rd were called to action in the war with Iraq this winter.

A chaplain from the 133rd will be on hand to answer questions and offer support, she said.

The briefing is mainly intended for families of the 100 members of C Company from Lewiston and Auburn, but any family member of a 133rd reservist or concerned citizens can attend.

During a Friday ceremony marking Armed Forces Day, Marie Whitney, the mother of a 133rd reservist serving in Iraq, said her son told her that some troops feel “that the community members are starting to forget them.”

Nothing could be further from the truth, said Bill Damon of Norway, who has been working with Haskell since mid-winter, when the guard unit got the news it was going to be called up to active duty.

Damon served 33 years as a guardsman with the 133rd out of the Norway Armory.

He and South Paris VFW leader Joe Cooney, as well as Dave Tilley of Norway’s Stone-Smart American Legion Hall, have been active in creating a network of support for the reservists and all members of the armed forces serving overseas, Haskell said.

“The VFW and the legion hall have become very helpful over there,” she said. Around 300 library books were collected from eight local libraries and are being sent to 133rd reservists in three shipments. Another shipment of 130 pillowcases was also sent over to the guardsmen.

Haskell has relied on the legion and VFW members to serve as liaisons if 133rd family members are in need, and have arranged help for families with frozen pipes and other problems.

Whitney would like to see local students become involved in a pen pal program, and Damon said he thinks that’s a great idea. A highly-successful pen-pal program with active military personnel has been going on for several years at the Hartford-Sumner Elementary School.

If mothers in the Norway-Paris area want to form their own support group, that would be a great idea, Haskell said. There is already such a group that meets on the third Tuesday of each month in Portland, and is open to anyone who has a loved one in the military stationed in Iraq or Afghanistan. The contact for that group is Linda Newbegin at 642-6977.

The soldiers have filled out release-of-information forms, and have the right to restrict who is given information about them, Haskell explained.

“I can’t give out any names, but if people want to write letters, and send them to me, I’ll get them over there to commanders who can then disperse them as they see fit,” she said. Her address is 264 Gray Road, Windham, ME 04062, and her phone number is 892-0284.

If people have a name, and want to write a letter, she can verify the address, she said. Calling the armories involved will not be effective. The Family Readiness Group, a volunteer organization, works with Barbara Claudel, the family program coordinator for all of the national guard units in the state.

Money donations for gifts to boost morale and other items can be sent to Claudel at the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management, Family Program Office, State House Station #33, Augusta, ME 04333-0033.

Haskell is also organizing a banquet July 17 in Bethel for families of the 133rd guard unit. She said that the local veteran post members and veteran guardsmen are the best contacts for more information. Cooney can be reached at 743-9494, and Damon at 743-6764.