Sea Dogs show support for deaf community and victims of Lewiston shooting

The Sea Dogs will be back in Portland this week, but they won't be wearing their usual jerseys when they take the field on Wednesday.

The name “Sea Dogs” spanning players' chests will be spelled out in red hand icons of the American Sign Language alphabet rather than the team's standard red bubble letters.

The jerseys were specially made for the Sea Dogs' Deaf and Hard of Hearing Awareness Night on Wednesday.

Sea Dogs vice president Chris Cameron said the team had been planning this party since the day after the mass shooting in Lewiston in October. Four deaf people were among the 18 people killed and five deaf people were among the 13 injured.

The immediate aftermath of the shooting also revealed major problems and gaps in communication with the deaf community. Sign language interpreters were kept away from hospitals and were not present at press conferences for the first hours after the shooting, making it nearly impossible to relay accurate information to families. and friends of the victims.

Among those in attendance Wednesday will be the family of Joshua Seal, one of four deaf victims in Maine's deadliest shooting.

Seal founded Dirigo Experience, a camp for deaf and hard of hearing children hosted by Pine Tree Camp, and worked as director of interpretive services at the Pine Tree Society. Seal also worked as an interpreter for the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We really wanted to support the Deaf community,” Cameron said. “As a sports team, we want to be more than just a baseball team.”

The Sea Dogs have partnered with the Maine Association of the Deaf, Yarmouth Audiology and the Pine Tree Society of Scarborough, a nonprofit organization that supports people with disabilities in Maine.

Cameron said these organizations have already sold about 400 tickets to their members.

After the game, the Sea Dogs will auction off autographed ASL jerseys and donate the proceeds to Dirigo Experience. The Sea Dogs also have other ASL alphabet merchandise available for purchase on their website.

Liz Seal, Josh Seal's wife, said baseball was her husband's favorite sport and the family had attended Sea Dogs games for many years.

LAUNCH THE FIRST PITCH

Seal's 13-year-old son Jayson will throw out the first pitch of the game Wednesday night. Seal said Jayson was both nervous and excited.

“I asked him why he was nervous and he said he was afraid he was going to miss the game or that it wouldn’t be a good pitch,” Seal said. “But I think he’s also really honored.”

Seal said Jayson played on the baseball team in their town, Lisbon, and also played on the All-Star team this summer. But Seal said the family and team have felt Josh's absence this season.

“Jayson's first baseball game this season was a strange feeling for us. Josh has always been there, one of our biggest supporters, our biggest cheerleader,” Seal said.

Seal noted that she and Jayson even missed Josh's “reminders to Dad” and critiques of Jayson's baseball game.

“Always in these wonderful times, Dad should be there, encouraging you and supporting you,” Seal said.

Seal hopes Wednesday night's events can secure funds for the camp her husband founded, which three of her four children — Jayson, 13, Sephine, 10, and Jarrod, 6 — will attend this summer. Her son Jaxton, 4, is too young to attend, but Seal will join them as a staff member.

“We really want to make sure that the funding is in place so that it can pay for all of our deaf and hard of hearing children who want to go to camp,” Seal said. “We want to make sure they have direct access to sign language and that commonality of being a deaf person. »

Cameron said that in the past, jersey auctions generated between $5,000 and $7,000 in funds.

AUCTION AT BENEFIT CAMP

Dawn Willard-Robinson, director of Pine Tree Camp which hosts the Dirigo Experience, said funds from the jersey auction will go directly to paying campers' tuition. Willard-Robinson said the camp has an open-door policy and does not turn away any campers.

“Josh Seal decided it was really important to bring the kids together and have a shared experience,” Willard-Robinson said. “Often you are the only deaf person in the community. »

The program, aimed at children aged 8 to 16, will take place from August 19 to 25. Willard-Robinson said the camp offers many waterfront activities, sports, arts and crafts and more for campers. She also said social workers would be available for campers this summer.

“This year, with Josh gone, I think it’s going to be really important to bring the community together and get back to normal,” Willard-Robinson said. “It’s part of healing. We just want to continue the legacy of the camp in Josh’s memory.

Seal said she and her family feel her husband's absence every day.

“Realistically, every day, no matter what day it is, there’s some type of impact or moment,” Seal said.

She specifically mentioned the family's beach days and camping trips, where he had fun in nature and played with their children.

“Josh was a very active guy and he loved building sandcastles and being with the kids, kicking a soccer ball, throwing a pitch on the beach, in the water, even in the coldest temperatures,” said Seal said. “He was a very active father, all the way through.”

In addition to honoring Josh's legacy, Seal said Wednesday night was meant to focus on the visual needs of the deaf and hard of hearing, something that rarely happens in the hearing world.

Cameron said normally the team does not have a formal process for when a deaf fan attends a game, but stadium employees previously could communicate with deaf fans via pen and paper.

ASL INTERPRETERS ABOVE CANOGUES

On Wednesday, the Sea Dogs will have sign language interpreters located atop the third base dugout, with better visibility of interpreters in sections 211 and 212. Interpreters will also be available at service kiosks and stands concession if necessary.

Gates for the 6 p.m. game against the Richmond Flying Squirrels will open at 4:30 p.m., and the first 1,000 fans to enter the stadium Wednesday will receive baseball cards of William Hoy, one of baseball's most deaf players. influential and most successful.

Middle school students from the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf, located in Falmouth, will perform the national anthem.

“I know that often when we host events in the community, we overlook the Deaf community and their needs in terms of access to interpretation services. So I hope it brings awareness, especially after Lewiston,” Seal said.

Seal also noted that there is still work to be done.

“We hope this (Lewiston) never happens again, but if another situation arises, we want to make sure that the deaf and hard of hearing communities are at the forefront of individuals' concerns,” Seal said. “We put a step-by-step policy in place so that individuals know exactly what to do, making sure that we have interpreters on screen, that alerts are shared with the community, visual alerts.”

“Right now, we're so focused on the hearing population and providing the hearing access they need,” Seal said. “We should consider the visual needs of the deaf and hard of hearing community. »

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