Governor hosting benefit supper in memory of three Lewiston High School students killed in a plane crash this summer

LEWISTON – Jesse Pilalas will volunteer as a cook at a spaghetti supper Saturday at Lewiston High School.

The 15-year-old wants to help raise money for scholarships in memory of three classmates who died in a plane crash during ROTC training in June.

Air Force Junior ROTC cadets Shannon Fortier, 15; Teisha Loesberg, 16; and Nick Babcock, 17, were aboard a Cessna 172 during a summer leadership program when the plane crashed on a Newry mountainside.

Kylie Ferland, 15, was at the training camp when her friends died. She will help with Saturday’s fundraiser by selling tickets and serving meals.

“I just want to be involved in ROTC as much as possible this year,” she said.

The spaghetti dinner, hosted by Gov. John Baldacci, will serve two purposes. In addition to raising money for scholarships, it will provide a time of healing, said retired Air Force Lt. Col. Bob Meyer, who teaches ROTC at Lewiston High School.

“I know I need a lot of healing,” Ferland said. “I know some other cadets do, too. A lot of cadets showed up at my house this summer, just to hang. This event brought us closer.”

Before the tragedy Ferland said she was thinking of going into the Army. She still is, but now she wants to be a chaplain. “This summer I realized I don’t want to kill people. I just want to help people.”

Since the crash, support for the ROTC program has been strong, Meyer said. Enrollment is at 103, the highest ever.

The superintendent and principal have been advocates and the parents of the crash victims have been supportive. “They’re grieving, but they knew how much it meant to their kids,” Meyer said. “They still have a soft spot for us.”

During a recent visit to the ROTC classroom, things were almost back to normal.

Posters and models of jets were hung around the room, as were Air Force logos, charts and banners. Students are learning history and the science of flying from Meyer, 43, a retired Air Force pilot, and Master Sgt. Tom Noury, 51, a retired Air Force traffic controller.

Students are doing well, Meyer said.

The first week or two of school, “there was an elephant in the room. There was something in the room nobody talked about,” Meyer said. It was too painful.

As time went on, students got back in their grooves. “They miss the kids. They still talk about them,” Meyer said. “When we do events we did in the past with them, they always mention the absence of the kids, but they’re doing well.”

As the supper was planned, their names came up.

“Teisha, Nick and Shannon would have been the first to be part of this,” Noury said. “And they are part of it.”

Meyer nodded and smiled.

“Teisha would want to be in charge of the whole thing,” he said. She was a natural leader. “Nick would say, ‘I don’t care, put me wherever you need me.'” He was about the team. Shannon, a model cadet, would also ask: “Where do you need me?”

Brenden Cundiff, 16, said he’s eager to see scholarships created in their memories. “They deserve it. They were really awesome. Good to us.”

Pilalas said he hopes a lot of people show up, not only students but people from Lewiston-Auburn.

How much money is raised doesn’t matter, Meyer said. “As long as we have enough people so it doesn’t look like a bust it will be a success. Sure, the more we make, the better to offer scholarships. But we’re going to get more from the emotional, healing part of it.”

Spaghetti will be served from 4 to 6:30 p.m. in the high school cafeteria.