OXFORD — If you want to find out the latest about Justin Corrente, one of Oxford Hills’ favorite citizens, look no further than the Facebook group page created for him by Joni Gordon early in 2023. In less than a year 2,500 people from the area and even beyond Maine have joined the group Oxford Hills Loves Justin!.

Justin’s Facebook fans share selfies of themselves with him, brag about getting a hug or a high five greeting from him, report their most recent sighting of him around town and swap stories about how they first met (it often involves their license plate number). Occasionally a poster will express sadness that they never get a wave when they pass him walking. Some posts receive hundreds of likes and comments.

Justin began working at Gordon’s non-profit Pink Feather Foundation back in 2011. Knowing what a local icon he is, dedicating a fan page to him only made sense. Early users of the group were mostly her own friends and family.

Soon, as others noticed it on their feeds, membership grew to a few hundred. Today, there are more locals who belong to Oxford Hills Loves Justin! than reside in some of the area’s towns.

“Justin and I have become good friends over the years and because of that I have begun to realize just how much he means to others as well,” Gordon said. “I will get calls and texts from people who are checking up to see if Justin is OK. Maybe they hadn’t seen him walking in a while, maybe he seemed too hot when he was walking or they heard of an accident with a pedestrian and wanted to make sure it wasn’t him.

“The community really watches out for him. Some people always wave to him but don’t really know who he is. Others, initially like me, love him to pieces but never realized how much he is also loved by others in the community. So I created Oxford Hills Loves Justin! so that we could all come together to support this man that connects us all.”

Ironically, Corrente’s father Mike only learned about the page a couple of months ago, from his sister Kim Lephew who had joined the group from Tennessee.

“Justin is not that talkative around the house,” Mike said. “I am always shocked at how many people know him, some seem to know more about him than I do! He is autistic – I worked hard as he was growing up to develop his communication skills. It makes me so happy that he has so many friends out there.”

Mike also marvels at how generous Justin’s friends are. He regularly brings home DVDs, clothes, shoes and boots. Mike was unaware until the pair’s phone interview with the Advertiser Democrat that last fall someone had posted about seeing Justin walking by the New Balance store on Maine Street and on a whim stopped and gifted him with money to buy a new pair of sneakers.

Justin might walk up to 20 miles a day, the distance from his house in Oxford to Pink Feather Foundation in Norway and home again. But he is not a fan of walking in bad weather, and he is always sure to be home before it gets dark.

“He is driven to walk,” Mike said. “From the time he learned how. When he was little he always wanted to go outside and we’d have to make sure he stayed near the house. But after the first time he walked down the road, there was no stopping it.”

Justin walks to Vikings games, team practices, and to Pismo Beach in the summer. He has a reputation as Oxford Hills’ biggest sports fan and his favorite sports to watch are football and softball.

“I wear my Vikings hat to every game,” he said. “My old one was from 2013. On Dec. 15, 2023 Jeni Jordan [an Oxford Hills teacher] gave me a new one.”

Gordon often picks him up to watch Vikings play in away games. Players from opposing teams recognize him and talk with him.

“Last year we were headed to the state game for football in Portland and we were sitting at a red light when this car pulled up next to us,” Gordon recalled. “The driver took a double take and realized it was Justin in my passenger seat. She kept saying his name and waved excitedly to him. [She] rolled the window down and told him she was excited he was coming and would see him at the game.”

Justin and Mike enjoy attending classic rock concerts all over New England. Sometimes he runs into people he knows from other places. Justin’s favorite band is AC/DC, by the way.

What many of Justin’s friends and fans may not know about him is that at home he enjoys playing guitar – musician Jeff Healey is his inspiration, some piano and singing karaoke. “He has perfect pitch,” Mike said.

“One of my favorite things to do when we are together is to quiz Justin on ’80’s and ’90’s classic rock songs,” Gordon said. “Within the first few seconds that a song plays he can tell you the band name, song name, what album it is and sometimes how long it was number one [on the charts]. His mind is amazing.”

Gordon said last summer she attempted to enroll her daughters with E-ZPass but could not remember their license plate numbers. A quick text to Justin for the numbers made it possible to finish the transaction.

“Justin has a way of making people feel seen and cared about,” she said. “He doesn’t have to know you personally to let you know that he sees you and you belong in this community. Once he recognizes your license plate you are in his circle.

“Don’t be surprised if he walks up to you in Walmart reciting your license plate number, home address, what high school you went to or your sports number, as he is also giving you a big, long hug.

“For a lot of people a hug from Justin can reset a bad day, be a comforting shoulder to lean on, or is just a boost we often didn’t know we needed.”

 

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