Vets aim to complete Toby Pennels road plan

Posted: Friday, January 9, 2015 11:14 am | Updated: 11:26 am, Fri Jan 9, 2015.

When the late Toby Pennels became president of the Windham Veterans Association, the Casco-based financial adviser set out to resurrect the groups flagging finances. Key to the effort was Pennels plan to pave the Windham Veterans Centers bumpy dirt access road and parking lot behind the Windham Mall.

Once the road and parking lot were paved, Pennels figured, the center would see a spike in income from hall rentals. Upon assuming the association presidency in summer 2012, Pennels established a paving account.

The account had accrued about $4,000 by September 2014, when Pennels died as a result of injuries sustained in a motorcycle crash in Rangeley.

On Monday, the association kicked off Tobys Dream, a fundraiser at the center in Pennels honor. The goal is to grow the paving account to $50,000 by Memorial Day, and pave the access road and parking lot. The association has also obtained town approval to rename the access road the Toby Pennels Veterans Memorial Drive.

About 40 people attended the event, which was pioneered by Don Swander, the associations president from 2005-2012. According to Swander, nine donors contributed $6,620 in total at the fundraiser, swelling the associations paving account to $10,788.

Two weeks before Pennels motorcycle accident, Swander and Pennels stood at the entrance to the access road at the rear of the Windham Mall parking lot and debated whether to pave the access road and the parking lot, or take one at a time, Swander recalled Monday.

Toby was adamant that we must do them at the same time, Swander said. He assured me that his business plan would make the veterans center self-sufficient. He said, We need to pave right to here and there was no question in my mind that thats what was going to happen. He looked at me with that great Toby smirky smile that he got sometimes and said firmly, Don, if we pave it, they will come.

And I tell you, Kevin Costner could not have said it any better, Swander added.

According to Swander, the paving project will allow the association to make significant improvements and upgrades to the centers building and grounds. These improvements, along with the paving, will significantly increase rental income, Swander said, thereby making the center financially self-sustaining.

Originally posted here:
Vets aim to complete Toby Pennels road plan