LEWISTON — Don Robitaille loves Lewiston.

At 83, he’s lived here his whole life and yet he’s still astounded by how much the city has to offer. What does Robitaille love?

“Everything,” he said. “I’m in awe of the way things are going here. There’s so much going on.”

Boy, did he come to the right place.

Robitaille was one of roughly four dozen people who turned out Wednesday night for “We Love Lewiston,” a Lewiston Youth Advisory Council documentary being shown on the big screen at Guthries Independent Theater.

For the show, Robitaille sat in a comfortable lounge chair in the front row, because that’s just how he rolls.

“I came early for it,” he said.

And then it was showtime.

“We Love Lewiston” features nearly two dozen locals extolling the many joys of living and working in this city on the Androscoggin River. No two comments were alike, although some themes did emerge.

They love that Lewiston is small enough to walk everywhere but big enough that there’s plenty to offer.

They love that it’s an intimate city where everybody tends to know everybody else. At the same time, it doesn’t suffer for art and culture the way some small cities do.

“Lewiston is a small town,” police officer Craig Johnson said, “but it has all the conveniences of a big town.”

“We’re small enough that one voice, or 10 voices, can make a difference,” Christine Holden said in the film.

The film is part of the youth council’s “Do You Do Lew” campaign, aimed at promoting the city and countering some of the negative views some people have of it.

“It has been my pleasure,” Holden said, “and, I think, my duty, to say, ‘Hey. Check it out. We are great.'”

“It’s a cool town,” declared Dr. Brian Davenport, who came here from Washington state to teach at the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College. “Lewiston has so much going for it.”

Such as the restaurants, shops and art centers on Lisbon Street. The passion people have about living here. The educational opportunities and the business community that seems to grow by the day.

“I feel like we’re on the cusp of an explosion of greatness,” Davenport said.

For Anne Ryan, executive director of Kaplan University, it’s “the sense of people’s pride in the community.”

For City Councilor Kristin Cloutier, it’s the warmth and flexibility of the city.

“It still has the feel of Maine,” said Judge of Probate Michael Dubois, “yet you still have the big-city-type things to do.”

The audience at Guthries broke into frequent applause while watching the documentary, responding to the array of commentary offered by those interviewed.

In the film, Tim Stretton, now working for Sen. Susan Collins, praised the many opportunities for young people, both educational and recreational.

School Superintendent Bill Webster raved about all the culture the city has to offer, including festivals, dance, art and music. “Just walking down Lisbon Street is exciting,” he said.

On and on it went, testimony after testimony on the joys of Lewiston, the resilience of its people, the compassion and sense of community. Not to mention the schools, the hospitals, the hockey or the fact that with all that going on, it’s still just an hour’s ride to the ocean or the mountains.

A former mayor weighed in as did the current one. Teachers and business owners, people from away and people who had spent their whole lives here had good things to say.

“It’s really neat, kind of a different group of folks,” Dot Perham-Whittier, Lewiston’s community relations coordinator, said. “They tried to get a diverse group of people from different parts of the community. They did a really good job.”

Some of the interviews are available for viewing on the city’s YouTube page.

Robitaille, still in the front row, didn’t appear in the film, but he was happy to comment in person. He’s qualified, sure enough — this is a man who spends his days biking, cross-country skiing and hitting up the shows at Guthries and Bates College. When he’s not volunteering at the festivals, that is.

“People say, ‘Oh, there’s nowhere to go and nothing to do,'” Robitaille said. “I guess I’m just a positive person, because I find plenty to do. They have a good thing going on in Lewiston.”

For youth council members, boosting Lewiston’s image has been the main goal for the year. The group kicked off the “Do You Do Lew?” campaign in October, encouraging residents who like the city to step forward.

The events included gathering as many blue-clad people as possible in Kennedy Park for a group photo and distributing decals, bumper stickers and blue T-shirts with the effort’s slogan.

Perham-Whittier said the youths came up with the campaign. They began working together and meeting this past summer.

“All 11 of them brought up the fact that they are tired of people putting down their community, because they are really proud of it,” Perham-Whittier said.

Robitaille approved. At the end of the show, given an opportunity to ask questions of the youth council, he chose instead to heap praise upon them.

“I think it’s great that you students take the time to do what you do,” Robitaille said. “And I personally thank you all.”

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