36th Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl features star Windham athletes

By Matt Pascarella

Bad weather did not dampen the spirits of the athletes or the spectators at the 36th Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl Classic, a senior-only prep football game held at Lewiston High School on Saturday, July 18. Windham was represented by East player Mason Arbour while Gwendolyn Howard represented Windham on the East Cheerleading squad.

Windham High seniors Mason Arbour, left, and cheerleader
Gwendolyn Howard were both part of the East Team during 
the 36th Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl Classic at Lewiston 
High School on Saturday, July 18.
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA  

A fourth quarter touchdown gave the West the advantage and they won, 28-26. Some 140 of Maine’s top athletes from over 60 schools statewide fundraise to participate in this game and 100 percent of the net proceeds go to The Shriners Hospitals for Children. This network consists of 22 non-profit medical facilities across North America that provide medical services and care for those in need. Fundraisers set a new record this year as all participating athletes in this year’s Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl Classic raised a combined gross amount of more than $300,000.

“It’s a great cause, fundraising for ... the children,” said Arbour. “I get to play football, I love football. The atmosphere of the guys is awesome, I couldn’t have asked for a better group of guys to play this game with – we came up short, but it was still awesome. We wanted to do it for the kids, for the Shriners.”

Arbour said that he first got interested in football by watching his older brother play. It didn’t take long for Arbour to be mesmerized by the game, and he began playing in second grade.

“What an amazing kid (Mason is),” said Dan O’Connell, the East head coach from John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor. “Humble, funny, comes across as an introvert, but is a little more extroverted than he lets on. He was a great teammate all week, a tremendous athlete, high football IQ. A great kid to be around ... on the field made big plays, physical, runs well. He’s a great kid and a great representative of Windham Football. He leads by example, he never misses a rep, he works his rearend off to be where he is supposed to be and picks up his teammates by communicating. We loved having him around.”

Next year, Arbour will attend Keene State College in New Hampshire to major in architecture and run track.

Howard’s East Cheerleading coach also praised her enthusiasm.

“This year Gwen really stood out as a team player,” said Annie Dobos, East head cheerleading coach from Waterville/Messalonskee. “She kind of was a class clown of sorts. It’s a very long and hot and tiring week for everybody so having that positive energy to break it up definitely helped. Gwen leads by example, she truly shows her teammates what a leader does, how they act and is always including everybody which is a huge characteristic of a great leader.”

Howard participated in gymnastics when she was really young. Her mother was also a cheerleader. Howard joined Windham Youth Cheerleading in sixth grade; it really sparked her love for the sport. The more she kept at cheerleading, the more she progressed and enjoyed it.

In the fall, Howard will attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, majoring in nuclear engineering.

“It overall has been a really wonderful experience and I’m very grateful I got to be here and got to meet all these people,” said Howard. “It’s an experience I wasn’t going to have otherwise and it’s very fun to be here. I am here to be a role model to all of my friends that are doing cheer in high school and ... because I coach youth cheerleading. I coach all these girls and it’s a really big thing; I love these kids; I love working with these kids and the fact that I can help out other kids that are getting treatment within the hospitals (is great).” <