Local people in the news in 2004 offered thought-provoking and heart-warming stories. The Sun Journal caught up with a few of them at year’s end:

Handrahan family: Son home from Iraq

Army Sgt. Joshua Handrahan completed his military duties Dec. 4. The next day, he was home with his family.

The 21-year-old was home in New Portland in May after sustaining bullet wounds to his head and right thumb in a gun fight in Fallujah, Iraq.

The head wound was superficial, leaving only a scar. Handrahan said he has no pain in his thumb, but can no longer bend it to his palm.

In July, he returned to service, going to Kansas to train new recruits.

Since his homecoming, Handrahan has been relaxing. He plans to work with his father building houses and then to attend technical college where he’ll study automotive repair.

His mother, Terry Handrahan, said it’s wonderful to have him back, though it hasn’t quite sunk in. Her younger son, Kyle, enlisted in the National Guard two months ago and will leave in June.

For now, the family is together for the holidays, making it “the best Christmas ever,” Terry Handrahan said.

“I pray for the guys still there and the families that have to go through what we had to go through,” she said on Dec. 21, the day that two Maine soldiers were killed and six were wounded in Mosul, Iraq.

– Jodi Hausen
Catherine Crowley: Mother fights for gun law

When her son committed suicide with a gun he bought at a local department store, Catherine Crowley vowed to take the issue to the State House.

And she did.

Laurier Belanger Jr., 18, of Lewiston, died in May after he walked into Wal-Mart and bought a 20-gauge shotgun. After the funeral, Crowley decided to take on the law that allowed her son to get a gun so easily.

Rep. Margaret Craven, D-Lewiston, backed by Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, is sponsoring a bill to create a waiting period for anyone under 21 to buy a long gun.

“I know if my Larry had to do that, he wouldn’t have gone through with it. They’re so impulsive when they’re that young,” Crowley said. Dealing with losing Larry, observing the holidays without him, has been hard, she said, her voice cracking.

When Larry’s bill comes up this session, Maine Citizens Against Handgun Violence will testify in favor, said executive director Cathie Whittenburg.

“Access to firearms needs to be addressed,” she said. “This bill is one way is to create a cooling-off period.”

– Bonnie Washuk
Amanda Oliver:

Hoping for a better year

Amanda Oliver has gone through a lot this past year. She’s hoping the coming year is better, but she knows she won’t get a clean bill of health from her doctor for more than five years.

In May, the 20-year-old former Livermore woman was diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer. Doctors discovered it after removing a 20-pound tumor and one ovary, plus part of the other ovary.

She was glad to see the chemotherapy end. During her treatment, she shaved her head, and her hair has grown back curly.

When she continued to complain of pain in her side, doctors discovered she had a hernia. In October, doctors removed that hernia and another one found during the operation.

Oliver, who now lives in Turner, takes six pills a day, including some that are about an inch long, she said. She continues to go to the doctor’s office frequently, since she continues to feel sick and has tenderness in her stomach again.

Doctors won’t know for five and a half years whether the cancer has gone for good.

Oliver’s spirits fluctuate, she said. “It’s pretty much day to day.”

– Donna Perry
Bob Morin: Grandkids keep him going

Bob Morin says he is hanging on for his grandkids.

He can’t stand the thought of not being around for the next round of report cards or the next time a grandchild’s name appears in the newspaper for wrestling, football or field hockey.

“They are always doing something. I just don’t want to miss anything,” the retired millworker said of his 13 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

Morin, 75, is dying of heart and lung disease. The Sabattus man began receiving hospice care in March 2003 after doctors gave him a prognosis of six months or less.

Although he’s already lived three times that long, he has been able to remain a patient of Androscoggin Home Care & Hospice because his health has shown no signs of improvement.

“The only time he’s not sleeping is when he’s standing up, and that’s not much,” said his wife, Jackie. “His body is just tired.”

As time passes, the bad days continue to outnumber the good ones.

His blood pressure is so low that his blood has trouble circulating through his veins. Several times a day, shooting pains take over his chest, cross over into his back, then travel down his arms into the tips of his fingers.

When they come, he can do nothing but grit his teeth and wait for them to pass.

If his wife is home, she holds a bottle of liquid morphine to his mouth and helps him take a sip. Then she sits beside him and waits for his fists to loosen, for his shoulders to relax, for his eyes to shut.

– Lisa Chmelecki

The Rev. Alfred Jacques: Busy seeing the USA

When the Rev. Alfred Jacques retired in July after a 44-year career as a parish priest in Rumford, he had lots of travel plans.

And they all came true.

He, his cook of many years and a sister hopped in an RV and traveled thousands of miles around the country for several months, stopping at many natural wonders.

“It was wonderful,” he said from another sister’s home in Holiday, Fla., where he was celebrating his 72nd birthday Dec. 23.

He plans to stay in the warm climes until March, then return to Skowhegan where he has an apartment. By July, he’ll begin helping parishes around the state with mission work.

He will have had an entire year of real retirement, he said.

He’s been learning how to cook. He even roasted a turkey at Thanksgiving and invited friends, he said. He’s also learning to cook other foods, such as gravy, macaroni and cheese, and meatloaf. Anna Justard did that for him for many years while he was a priest at St. Athanasius and St. John Catholic Church.

“I have been so blessed,” he said.

– Eileen Adams

The Bliers: 101 and holding

Rose and Aurele Blier welcomed their 101st great-grandchild, little Amber Rose, on Oct. 14. And, with no pregnancies on the horizon, it looks like that count might stand for a while.

The Lewiston couple, Rose, 90, and Aurele, 93, had 12 children, who had 48 children of their own. The family tree swelled from there.

Their 22nd great-great-grandchild is due in April, according to daughter Cathy Blier. It’s probably only a matter of time before the great-greats outpace the greats.

Family keeps them busy, especially around the holidays. Aurele mailed out 94 Christmas cards this month.

– Kathryn Skelton

Donna Bouchard: Pleased with her finish

It was November when Donna Bouchard crossed the globe to face a fierce slate of competitors at the Seventh Annual World Open Kyokushin Karate Tournament in Japan.

The 34-year-old member of Team USA came in ninth despite entering the competition with an injury. She reported, “I’m pleased with my top-10 finish.”

The fight was Bouchard’s first major international competition and also her last. The Paris wife and mother of two will be switching gears as she enters the new year.

She’s going to be a coach.

When Bouchard headed for Japan in November, she promised her mother it would be her last full-contact fight.

But the trip to Japan won’t soon be forgotten, Bouchard said, telling the story of an Iraqi fighter who sought out Team USA to talk about the war. It was a touching moment, she said, and later Team USA stood ringside to cheer during his fight.

“It was a really good cultural experience, seeing the countries come together like that,” she said.

Other Oxford Hills region members of Team USA did well in their fights, Bouchard said. Trainer Martin Petrovich of Norway’s Kyokushin Karate made the rank of “shihan,” which means expert or master.

– Kelly Morgan

Jake Sasseville: Still on The Edge’

A local talk-show host’s time on Fox 23 hasn’t landed him a syndication deal. At least not yet.

Jake Sasseville, now 19, still hosts “The Edge with Jake Sasseville,” a cable access show he started in Auburn in 2001. But the show is now based in New York City, where Sasseville attends college.

Since he traded the Twin Cities for the Big Apple this fall, Sasseville’s show has been taped on the set of “Sesame Street.” He has completed a segment with “Saturday Night Live” comedian Will Forte and is planning a second trip to the set of the hit NBC sitcom “Will & Grace.”

“My dream has just exploded,” Sasseville said. “It’s amazing.”

Sasseville left behind the teenage crew that worked with him in Auburn. In New York, he found a new team: five producers and writers, four technicians and two co-executive producers. So far, all are unpaid.

“They believe this thing is going to work, this thing is going to go into national syndication,” Sasseville said.

While attending college full-time, Sasseville tapes segments for “The Edge.” When completed, the segments and a two-minute commercial will be shopped to networks and investors.

“We’re just going full steam ahead,” he said.

– Lindsay Tice

Mr. Cummings’: Happy with career change

Four months after switching careers, Joe Cummings has no regrets.

He walked away from 17 years of retail sales at Western Auto of Norway to pursue a career in education. Now he’s “Mr. Cummings” to the students at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School, where he works as a library education technician.

“I still can’t get used to that,” he said of his formal title.

The staff, including librarian Melissa St. John, is “extremely nice and pleasant to work with” and the work is “very fulfilling,” Cummings said. “It’s gratifying at the end of the day, knowing you’ve been able to help somebody.”

Cummings, 35, has set his sights on becoming an elementary schoolteacher, so he’s taking classes at the new Western Maine University next to the high school.

“My goal is to be in the classroom in five years.”

– Gail Geraghty

Brian Hamel: Considering next move

Brian Hamel continues to keep his options open as he finishes up at the Loring Development Authority, where he was president and CEO.

In November, Hamel lost his bid for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District seat to incumbent Democrat Mike Michaud. Hamel returned from a sabbatical to the organization that has helped turn the former Loring Air Force Base in Presque Isle into a thriving business center over the past 10 years.

Hamel may serve out his contract until June or leave before then if he finds the right job, he said. His successor, Carl Flora, took over the center’s reins while Hamel was on the campaign trail. Hamel has since ceded all of his responsibilities as CEO to Flora.

Hamel said he is considering opportunities in the public or private sector, having received offers in both. A certified public accountant, he may return to that vocation, he said.

“I’m not closing the door to any particular industry or position,” he said. He also is mulling a professional move that could take him and his family out of northern Maine.

“I’m not tied to Aroostook County,” he said.

– Christopher Williams