RUMFORD — Believing that the Greater Rumford Community Center and its recreation programs for area youth are the lifeblood of Rumford, many people of all ages rallied Thursday night to save it.

Funding for the 103-year-old center building, the center’s operations and its summer programs was defeated on June 11 at the town meeting referendum, when a majority rejected its two initiated articles requests.

Since then, people like Mindy Gorham, the owner of Trendsetters, a salon adjacent to the center, have been working behind the scenes to try to get funding restored.

Through Facebook and other social media, Gorham said a rally was organized, which included an anonymous donation of 30 white T-shirts that say, “Save the Greater Rumford Community Center.” She said they sold out in 10 minutes.

After gathering, they were going to march to the Rumford Falls Auditorium in an attempt to get their point across to selectmen.

“We’re hoping to find a way to keep this historic building open,” Gorham said. “This is the foundation of our very youth.”

She said the center is where children learn how to play various sports and gain guidance and life skills to help them as they grow and enter area school systems.

“Mountain Valley is no stranger to the sports news,” she said. “One thing that we do have to offer is our youth.”

She said she wonders what will happen to the town should the center not remain open to offer recreation and learning to children and a place where senior citizens can congregate.

“I honestly feel that, I totally understand what the SAVE Rumford group was trying to do (by telling people to vote no on the budget),” Gorham said.

“However, people went in and voted no right down the (ballots). So now, people are devastated.

“It’s like a zombie town,” Gorham said. “They don’t know what happened or why it happened, and I don’t believe that anybody meant to shut down this beautiful building. It’s a hundred-year-old building and if you ask an 85-year-old man in this town, or you ask a 5-year-old about the Greater Rumford Community Center, they’ll have something to say to you about it.”

She said there are many memories and stories passed down through generations about the center and its recreational activities. Gorham said that because of this, she considers the center to be the heart of Rumford.

“It’s the foundation of our youth,” she said. “This is one thing that we are certain of so we’re trying to reach people so they will come out and speak, because at the end of the day, they just want to make a difference. We want this nightmare to end.”

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