In the public eye: Operations Manager keeps Windham Parks and Rec running smoothly

Editor’s note: This is another in an ongoing series of Windham and Raymond town employee profiles.

By Ed Pierce

Jason Hanken is a problem solver and a big part of the continued success of the Windham Parks and Recreation Department.

Jason Hanken has served for nearly
two years as the Operations Manager
for Windham's Parks and Recreation
Department. In that role, he is the
department's administrative hub
and a primary point of contact
for Windham Parks and Rec
helping residents navigate 
program registrations among
many other duties.
SUBMITTED PHOTO

As the department’s Operations Manager, Hanken serves as the administrative hub and primary point of contact for Windham Parks and Rec.

“On any given day, I’m working directly with Windham residents to help them navigate program registrations, set up payment plans or scholarships, and answer questions about upcoming community activities,” Hanken said. “Behind the scenes, I provide daily operational support to our director and team. That includes handling requisitions, department billing, and financial recordkeeping, as well as ordering supply inventory and managing our registration database.”

He also coordinates reservations for the Windham Town Hall gym, meeting spaces, and park pavilions, while assisting with Dundee Park operations, department staffing, and community events.

Hanken says the best thing about what he does in his job is helping solve problems for people directly, whether that’s at the front counter or over the phone.

“Residents often reach out when they're confused about a program, need help, or just have a lot of questions,” he said. “Being able to take the time to walk them through the process so they leave or hang up feeling totally confident and satisfied makes the job worthwhile.

The most challenging aspect of his job is wearing multiple hats and balancing two distinct speeds of the work.

“I’m juggling immediate, front-line customer service, answering phones, helping residents at the counter, and resolving day-of program questions, with focused administrative tasks like budgeting, purchasing, and facility scheduling,” Hanken said. “Learning to switch gears instantly so our residents get the attention they deserve without letting the behind-the-scenes operations slip is a continuous challenge, but it's what keeps the job interesting.”

In his second year as Operations Manager, Hanken says the biggest misconception people may have about those who work for Parks and Recreation is that staff members just plan games and hang out at events.

“Behind the scenes, our office operates like a full-scale business,” he said. “The community sees the fun end result but they often don't see the operational planning required to make it happen safely and smoothly: budgeting, purchasing, contracts, facility permits, staff training, and daily customer service. It’s a ton of logistics and coordination designed specifically so residents can show up, participate, and have fun without having to think about how it all came together.”

Hanken grew up in South Hiram and graduated from Sacopee Valley High School. He attended Daniel Webster College in Nashua, New Hampshire, earning a degree in sport management. He completed his final credits at Saint Joseph’s College while completing an internship in the athletic department.

His career in recreation started under Linda Brooks years ago as a Summer Camp Director in Standish. From there, he spent several years in New Hampshire as the Assistant Recreation Director for Ossipee and then for Barrington, before returning home to Maine to work for the City of Lewiston.

 

“When I came back to Maine, I landed in Windham and got involved locally by volunteering on the town's Recreation Advisory Board,” Hanken said. “That gave me the opportunity to reconnect with Linda and support the department from the community side. In Lewiston, I worked my way through multiple roles, ultimately becoming the Recreation Superintendent, before taking a brief hiatus to manage a health care practice. When I saw the opening to work alongside Linda again, it was an easy decision. I was already very familiar with Windham, had great respect for the department, and knew firsthand how strongly this community supports its parks and recreation programs.”

He says the most important thing he’s learned while working for Windham Parks and Recreation is that relationships and follow-through are everything.

“Beautiful parks and organized leagues are essential, but the real backbone of recreation is the trust you build across the community,” he said. “Whether it's working alongside other town departments, supporting staff and volunteers, or helping a parent over the phone, consistent and transparent communication is what makes a department succeed.”

According to Hanken, his most memorable moment working for the Windham Parks and Recreation was when the department dedicated the basketball courts at Windham Community Park to Pat Moody.

“Seeing him there, surrounded by what felt like the entire town turning out to support him and play basketball on those courts, completely confirmed I had made the right decision to come back to Windham,” he said. “It showed me firsthand the kind of community pride and heart this town has.” <

Maine environment inspires artist’s imagination

By Erin Rose

Inspired by his grandmother’s passion to create, Irish-born artist Christopher O’Connor explores the natural world through his art.

Irish-born artist Christopher O'Connor, a former Windham
resident, captures the beauty of Maine's environment,
including a series highlighting the state's rugged coastline
called 'Coastal Waters' and 'River Reflections' which shows
scenes along rivers and waterways. He displays his
artwork exhibitions at the Portland Art Gallery and the
Artemis Gallery in Northeast Harbor.
SUBMITTED PHOTO    

A former Windham resident, the artist’s work captures the beauty of Maine’s environment, including a series highlighting the state’s rugged coastline called “Coastal Waters” and “River Reflections” which shows scenes along rivers and waterways. The “Artifacts & Curios” series features ordinary objects in colorful scenes.

Some of the pieces in the “Coastal Waters” series are clear enough to be mistaken for photographs, but as a viewer approaches the work, the perspective shifts and more details expose that it’s created by a human hand.

“From a certain distance it does look photographic, but the closer you get, all of the sudden it starts to break down to just paint,” O’Connor explained. “Before you know it, if you’re up next to it, it’s just scribbles. It looks like nonsense.”

“I love that juxtaposition,” he added.

Working on one piece in the continuing series over the summer was a rare chance for the artist to devote time solely to one work until it was complete.

“I had that wonderful experience where I had the time to pour myself into it until it was finished,” he said. “That was lovely but doesn’t happen all the time.”

O’Connor, who has exhibitions at the Portland Art Gallery and the Artemis Gallery in Northeast Harbor, looks for opportunities to display his work in ways that allows for the change in perspective.

“I love if I can have my piece hung in such a way that you can see it from a distance and you have that first experience,” he said. “Then as you progressively get closer, it’s confounding you because it keeps breaking down.”

Another series focuses on magnolia trees and their large while flowers. The composition appears layered and graphic, reaching from the canvas to show the individual blooms. The artist used lower quality brushes to help force himself to slow down to develop the intricate details.

“Because I am very detail oriented and process oriented, I try to find the quickest way to something sometimes,” O’Connor explained. “Ruining your brush to a degree, buying cheaper brushes so you can’t get the detail you want straight away slowed me down.”

“You have to build it up slowly, and I’ve been enjoying that,” he continued. “It pulls you out of yourself.”

The self-taught artist tends to focus on one subject for a period, creating eight to 10 works to add to a series solely relating to that subject.

“Then I get too familiar with it and need to break off and do something else,” he explained.

O’Connor’s love of creating began through experiences with his grandmother, Margaret Moran, in Dingle, County Kerry, who made dolls from her home, later selling those dolls to tourists passing by when the movie industry blossomed in the area.

“My grandma was wonderful, and she was always creative,” he said. “She had a beautiful, old yellow cottage outside of town. Inside, she painted it all different colors.”

“She was jolly and fun to hang out with, and part of my job as a kid was to hang out with her so she didn’t fall,” O’Connor continued. “We would go to the beach a lot and collect shells, and she would make dolls from the shells.” 

In 1970, the area around the Irish town was used to shoot David Lean’s “Ryan’s Daughter,” and tourists began to explore, which gave Moran the opportunity to offer her creations.

“She spun up a little stall to sell her little shell dolls,” O’Connor said. “Every morning she would bring them out, and after a few hours they would all be sold out.”

“She had a joy in making things,” he continued. “Being around that gave me a different perspective on what you could do.”

While O’Connor’s preferred medium is oil, the complicated process related to curing and allowing the piece to fully harden means that acrylics have been his most frequent medium due to their convenience.

“My favorite is oil, but I’ve worked with acrylics for the last 14 years, because they dry fast,” he said. “With oil, each painting is six months before it dries fully so those considerations are challenging sometimes. It gets a skin in 7-10 days but takes six months to fully harden and then you can varnish it.”

“It’s lovely but a pain,” O’Connor said.

O’Connor left Ireland to pursue love across the ocean. He moved to Portland to join his now-wife, Sonia Cook-Broen, an engineer and artist, 14 years ago. After living in Westbrook, the family moved to Windham at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s really beautiful. I love Ireland very much, but the weather can get to you after a bit. The rain and the rain and the rain,” he said. “I was having memories of Ireland over the weekend with the nor’easter. The weather is hard, but the reason I came over 14 years ago was my fiancé.”

The family moved to Portland around Christmas last year, where O’Connor has a studio on the Eastern Promenade.

“I have no commute,” he said. “I can get up in the morning and just start painting if I feel like.”

O’Connor has two stepchildren, Matilda and Makai. Makai picked up art last year and O’Connor is excited to see his growth over time.

“He’s quite phenomenal and he’s working fast.,” he said.

Examples of O’Connor’s work can be seen at the Artemis Gallery or the Portland Art Gallery. More information can be found on his website https://www.christopheroconnorpainting.com/. <

From Caregiver to Author: Sherburne to share her story at Windham Library

By Masha Yurkevich

For more than 20 years, Dale Ruth Sherburne was a wife, mother and caregiver. When her husband, Russ, was diagnosed with early-onset dementia, her life gradually became centered around caring for him and supporting their family. Now, Sherburne is sharing that experience with others through her recently published book, “Neither Wife nor Widow,” and through speaking engagements focused on caregiving, loss and finding a new sense of identity.

Maine author Dale Ruth Sherburne will appear
at the Windham Public Library from 6 to 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 7 to discuss her recently
published book 'Neither Wife nor Widow' 
about her experiences taking care of her
husband who had been diagnosed with early
onset dementia and how it led her to find a 
new sense of identity. SUBMITTED PHOTO  

Sherburne will bring her message to the Windham community during an upcoming appearance and discussion at the Windham Public Library. The event will take place from 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7. Attendees can participate in person at the library or by ZOOM.

A Maine native, Sherburne has spent much of her career working with children and families. She was a director of child psychology and special education before becoming a full-time caregiver. Sherburne says the experience of caring for a spouse with dementia brought a complicated mixture of emotions.

“There was this jumble of emotions,” she said.

One of the most difficult parts was watching her husband change while still feeling like his wife. The experience left her in a position that did not fit neatly into the traditional definitions of either wife or widow.

“I wanted my husband,” Sherburne said, as she described the emotional conflict she experienced during those years.

That experience became the foundation for “Neither Wife nor Widow,” which was published April 1, 2025, by Maine Authors Publishing. The 329-page paperback explores the caregiving journey and the challenges that Sherburne went through and that can come with losing parts of a relationship while the person you love is still physically present. The book contains 185 stories, each about one page long.

Each story begins with a quote and ends with an honest emotion, ranging from guilt and joy to frustration, anger and fear. The book is available in paperback and Kindle editions through the personal website of Sherburne, Amazon, Maine bookstores, and libraries.

Although the story is deeply personal, Sherburne hopes readers will see themselves in it, particularly people who have experienced the isolation that can accompany caregiving.

“Caregivers are isolated,” she said.

For Sherburne, writing became one way to make sense of her experience and to connect with people who may be going through something similar. She also wants to encourage caregivers to remember that their own lives and identities matter. One message she hopes people take away from her work is to “embrace yourself.”

Sherburne also speaks about the importance of continuing to live while caring for someone else. During her own experience, she received advice that stayed with her: “'You go live your life for you, and you go live your life for your husband.”

The author’s appearance in Windham will give community members an opportunity to hear Sherburne discuss her book, her experiences as a caregiver and the process of moving forward after years of caregiving.

Beyond her book and speaking engagements, Sherburne is also building an online presence. She has Instagram and Facebook pages where she shares her work and connects with readers. She also hopes to open a YouTube channel in the future, expanding the ways she can share her experiences and her message. When she is not writing or speaking, Sherburne enjoys a quieter Maine lifestyle. She lives with her pets and enjoys nature, books, crafts. Those interests provide a contrast to the many years when caregiving occupied so much of her daily life. 

For Sherburne, however, the end of her caregiving role did not mean the end of her story. Instead, it gave her an opportunity to reflect on what she had experienced and use those lessons to help others with her book “Through Neither Wife nor Widow,” her speaking engagements and her growing online presence, Sherburne is continuing a conversation about caregiving that can often be difficult to have.

Her story recognizes the complicated emotions that can come with caring for someone you love while also reminding caregivers that they should not lose sight of themselves. That idea has become an important part of the message she now shares with others.

For those interested in hearing Sherburne speak about her journey firsthand, her Oct. 7 author appearance at the Windham Public Library will offer an opportunity to learn more about her book and the experiences that inspired it. <