The trees at the Lewiston end of the Veterans Memorial Bridge have sprouted patriotic colors. Red, white and blue on one side of the road, the U.S. Marine colors on the other. A glorious sight as you drive from Auburn into Lewiston over the long span.

When I say the trees have sprouted colors, I mean it. These are no ordinary flags. They appeared all at once and seemed to be erected impossibly deep in the woods. The flags barely make it over the tops of tall pines out there, but they’re getting noticed.

It was about a month ago when I fielded the first inquiry. Where did that American flag come from near the off-ramp onto Main Street? Where was the flagpole positioned, exactly?

I called police. I looked up a public works guy. I called landowners who live near the bridge. No one knew.

Eager for a quick solution, I drove up and down the bridge. I bounced my Nissan down the railroad tracks. I tried the cemetery and several dead-end streets. Nothing. Those flags simply could not be reached by car. My assessment? Those flags are optical illusions.

But they’re not. Recently, I hiked into the woods between the bridge and Riverside Cemetery. I spent a good hour out there and never found a flagpole stuck into the ground.

But I did find the giant American flag. Incredibly, it’s attached to the top of a massive pine tree with the use of a short pole and intricate tethers. The tree is roughly 100 feet tall. You’d need a ladder to reach its first brittle limb. The tree is well away from the nearest path and I have no idea how that flag got up there.

Part One of the mystery has been solved. We know now where the U.S. flag hails from. But there are the two Marine flags, also on the Lewiston side, and no one has come forward to claim the work. Frankly, I’m torn. Part of me begs to know how it all came to be. But part of me likes a mystery. And let’s face it: I’m not so sure I want to meet the person who can scale a 100-foot tree with a flagpole slung over his back.

– Mark LaFlamme
Dechaine mission grows

Sarah Cherry’s murder hit close to home for Heidi Masselli.

She had just finished seventh grade when Cherry, a 12-year-old from Bowdoin, was abducted from a house where she was baby-sitting, sexually assaulted and killed in July 1988.

Following the news more closely than many students her age, Masselli digested details of the case against a local farmer and drew a well-informed conclusion.

“I got interested in criminal justice at that point, and even then I wasn’t convinced that Dennis Dechaine did it,” Masselli said.

She plans to do something with that knowledge and conviction. She has formed the first Lewiston-Auburn chapter of Trial and Error, a group bent on overturning the guilty verdict against Dechaine.

The group has more than 3,000 members, from Canada’s Maritime Provinces to Florida. Masselli said she isn’t sure how many new faces to expect when the Twin Cities division holds its first meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 13, in the conference room at the Lewiston Public Library.

James Moore, a retired U.S. Treasury agent, will discuss his book “Human Sacrifice.” It chronicles the state’s evidence against Dechaine and makes the case for a new trial.

“When I read Jim’s book,” Masselli said, “it reminded me that there is just an amazing amount of evidence that Dennis is innocent.”

Masselli agreed to chair the group when several acquaintances expressed interest in a chapter but didn’t want to lead it. She may be reached at 783-5203 or [email protected].

Hers is the second official area chapter. Bev and Bill Gallant direct a group that meets the first Wednesday of each month at their home in Rumford. According to the Web site, www.trialanderrordennis.org, a group is also forming in Farmington.

– Kalle Oakes