(Portland, ME) – Strong communities are a vital part of the Maine way of life, from the rural wooded countryside to the bustling cities. From individuals to businesses, we all play a hand in taking care of and learning from each other—and it all starts with our children.

On the corner of Danforth and High Street in Portland you’ll find the banging of hammers and steel being flown through the air. If you look closely however at the other side of the street you’ll see something endearing—the children of Catherine Morrill Daycare, with their small hands on the playground fence, enthusiastically watching the construction with wide eyes and smiles. A child’s enthusiasm is infectious, and their excitement resonated right to the hearts of the project team across the street.

With The Week of The Young Child from April 23-April 27^th, the project team of Wright-Ryan Construction, Community Housing of Maine and CWS Architects knew this was an important moment to reach out to the children and show them a sense of community, by letting them meet the people they had been so closely watching.

With custom hardhats in hand for each child, Tom Burrill & Bruce Morgan of Wright-Ryan Construction, Erin Cooperrider of Community Housing of Maine and Rebecca Ames of CWS Architects taught the children about the construction they had been so excited about. The children learned about the equipment they had seen on site, and even got the excavator to “wave” to them from across the street. The excitement was audible and visible on everyone’s face, not just the children’s. Hands were raised as questions were answered, as one boy proclaimed, “I can’t believe I have my own hardhat!” as he grinned ear to ear.

This simple act forged a bond between the children at Catherine Morrill Daycare and the project team. Each day as the children watch intently from the fence, they will know just who “Bruce the Builder” is when they see him. In turn, the children brightened the hearts of the project team by building community, one child at a time.

Catherine Morrill is Maine’s oldest licensed child care facility, serving about 80 children from the Greater Portland area.  It began as the Portland Baby and Child Hygiene Association as a Milk Station in City Hall with Portland’s first public health nurse in 1919, and its current location at 96 Danforth Street since 1922. Catherine Morrill is proud to be accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children and qualifies at the highest level of Maine’s Quality Rating System.

For more information, contact:  Heather Seymour at (207) 773-3625 or hseymour@www.wright-ryan.com