Wait! What?

The Paint the County Purple Contest Winner for the River Valley area is Marden’s.

It was an honor and a privilege to be chosen as the business winner of the Oxford County Domestic Violence Awareness Decorating Contest. We, at the Rumford Marden’s, understand the importance of stopping the violence not only in our beautiful state of Maine, but through out our nation.

Our Rumford Marden’s associates, a staff of twenty-seven men and women, leaped into the competition enthusiastically in hopes of bringing awareness, strength and courage to our small community with a goal to support the Domestic Violence Awareness Program and dreams to stop domestic rage.

During the month of October, our staff proudly wore the color purple, assisted our customers to websites, phone numbers and resources, for it is our belief that there is strength in numbers and we were dedicated to do our part in spreading the word that there is always hope in ending Domestic Violence.

I asked a few of our staff members why they thought it was important for them to participate in this contest and this is what they had to say: Melissa stated, “I believe that it is important to stand up as a group to show our support to those who are victims of domestic abuse because it touches close to home and we all know someone that has been directly affected by the violence.”

Mary Ellen shared the same sentiment by stating, “Stopping domestic violence is near and dear to our hearts and if we can make a difference in one person’s life it is worth the effort.”

Domestic violence is not gender or age specific. It affects every one along its destructive path, no one is exempt as it hits close to home, for our very own Governor of Maine, former general manager of Marden’s, Paul LePage, was a victim of domestic abuse, something that he kept hidden for many years.

Governor LePage found the courage to end the domestic abuse that he suffered by the hands of his father and left home at a young age, sending a message that we “can” end violence. As the saying states “As Maine goes, so goes our Nation.”

Our own Governor LePage is a strong advocate for ending domestic violence. In October, to show support, Paul and Ann Le Page adorned the Blaine House in purple lights, encouraged men to take a stand against the atrocities of this beast, by therefore signing a contract empowering them to empower others to stop the violence and verbal abuse.

Men are not the only perpetrators of domestic violence. Domestic violence has no boundaries and there are cases of women abusing men, teenagers abusing parents or elder parents abusing the senior parent. It was not surprising to me, as I asked my fellow co-workers why they were so motivated to support this program, that many had a story to tell about how domestic violence had touched their own personal lives. It is our hopes that we were able to make a difference in the life of a man, woman or child in our attempts to stop the violence and we will proudly display this prominent award on our store wall for all to see.

For more information about the Oxford County Domestic Violence Task Force, contact Diane at 364-9908 or dgallagher@safevoices.org.

If you or someone you know needs assistance, call Safe Voices: 24-hour free and confidential helpline 800-559-2927, www.safevoices,org; REACH: Sexual Assault Support Center: 800-871-7741 www.reachmaine.org, or your local police department: 9-1-1 for emergency only.