By Dan Aceto

Staff Writer

For the past month, Kevin Grondin has amassed a sizable collection of stuffed dolls, video games and other toys at the base of his family’s Christmas tree in Scarborough.
 Although the gifts are not his own, each one holds a special meaning just the same: They’re toy drive donations he has collected with other friends to honor his best friend, Steven Delano.

“It was his favorite holiday,” Grondin said. “I just thought I had to do something.”

Delano was killed May 8 when his pickup truck and a tractor-trailer collided at the intersection of Payne Road and Scarborough Downs Road while he drove to Gorham High School’s prom. 

Grondin, who also was in the vehicle, was transported to Maine Medical Center, where he was in a coma for 36 hours and received treatment for the next three weeks.

The other two passengers, Kayla Carpenter and Julia Waters of Gorham, sustained minor injuries.

Grondin said Delano was known for his selflessness and involvement in the community.

“It was always Steve’s idea to help people out, that’s just the type of person he was,” Grondin said.

Delano, who worked as a volunteer firefighter, always found a way to lend a helping hand, Grondin said. From shoveling driveways, to building homes with Habitat for Humanity, his charitable efforts and positive attitude inspired Grondin and Kayla Carpenter to start the drive and donate the toys to the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital.

“Steve was such a loving person. He would give the shirt off his back to anyone. He loved kids and he loved helping others and he would have loved to do a toy drive,” Carpenter said.

Grondin agreed.

“I want to make sure to keep the kids’ morale up,” Grondin said. “I’ve been in the hospital plenty of times before, I know how hard it can be.” 

Grondin said he plans to dress as Santa Claus and deliver the toys Monday. He’ll be accompanied by other friends in an elf and reindeer costume. He said one reason they chose to donate the gifts to the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital is because Delano’s mother, Cindy, is a nurse there.

“Cindy will be able to see the joy the kids get out of the gifts,” Grondin said.
Although it has been a difficult time for Cindy Delano, she said she is thankful for the community’s support. 

“I think it is great what Kevin is doing and that Steve would be very honored,” Cindy Delano said. “The children will be really excited to receive the gifts.”

Grondin is the first to tell anyone he was not alone in the toy drive and that friends and the community have supported the cause.  

Scarborough residents Kelsey Bubar, Brooke Hall, Chelsey Michaud and Chad Williams all helped create and distribute fliers to promote the drive at Town Hall, Town and Country Credit Union, Flaherty Farms and the high school. The Scarborough Police Department also has posted updates about the drive on its Facebook page.

Although Kevin Grondin doesn’t remember much of his time spent in the hospital, his mother, Jo Ellen Grondin, said she recalls the delight on her son’s face when he received a stuffed dog from a friend. 

“A lot of people don’t realize what it means to them,” said Jo Ellen Grondin. “I remember he would always ask, ‘Where’s my ’Bama’?’”

The dog, a black Labrador, is named after the state of Alabama, where Grondin grew up, and is a plush version of Grondin’s real dog of the same name who accompanied him to work and on hunting trips.

“I became really attached to it,” Grondin said. “I still have it in my room and I’ll never get rid of it.” 

Nurses even allowed the real ’Bama to visit him in the hospital, although he never believed it until he was shown a photograph of the dog lying in bed with him, Grondin said.

Since the accident, those who knew Steve Delano said they are reminded of him on a daily basis.

 Bubar, who lived next to Delano growing up, said she cleaned her room one day when she noticed a bracelet made in memory of Delano was missing. Although she looked everywhere, the bracelet was nowhere to be found. The next day, she opened her door and was taken aback at what she saw. 
“There it was, right in the center of the floor,” Bubar said.

That wasn’t the only reminder.

Grondin said one day he and Steve Delano were looking for Delano’s senior yearbook photos, but couldn’t find them after searching through every drawer in the house. Days after the accident, however, Cindy Delano found the photos in one of the same drawers Grondin searched earlier.
“I took everything in that drawer out. I know it wasn’t in there,” Grondin said.

Grondin said he has been amazed by other coincidences as well.
He said a light mounted on the side of his garage that had not functioned properly in years began to mysteriously turn on after the accident.

“Almost every time I leave or come home now, it’s on,” Grondin said.

Williams said Delano had a mischievous side. As he was walking up the steps of Grondin’s basement where friends would often hang out with Delano, he tripped.

“It felt like someone grabbed my legs. I knew it was him. He was a prankster, he would play pranks on everyone,” Williams said.

Carpenter agreed and said she remembers Delano for both his laughter and his smile.
“Such a big thing about Steve was that he loved to see people smile and if you weren’t smiling, he would make sure you were,” Carpenter said.

Michaud remembered when Delano and others covered her entire car in saran wrap.
“There was never a dull moment,” Grondin said.

Reminders of Delano go on from Grondin and Bubar hearing the song, “If I Die Young” on the radio while passing the crash site to plastic cups that Grondin and Delano used in water pong falling off the refrigerator around Delano’s mother. 

The firefighter who responded to the accident lives in the Grondins’ old apartment and returned his and Delano’s baseball caps unknowingly on Delano’s birthday.

“At first I didn’t believe it, but now I know he’s still here with us,” Grondin said.

After the accident, the family held a candlelight vigil in honor of Delano at the crash site. As everyone prepared to leave, Grondin noticed a shooting star light up the sky.

“It was the slowest and brightest thing I’d ever seen. At first I thought it was an airplane, it was just that bright,” Grondin said. 

Soon others noticed the star.

“This one was so slow, it was like it wanted to be seen,” said Jo Ellen Grondin.

Bubar and others believe it was Delano’s way of showing his appreciation.

“It just lets us know he’s here,” Bubar said.

Although Grondin is officially making his delivery of toys on Monday to the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital, his desire to provide a memorable and lasting experience for the children knows no bounds.

“If I have to collect gifts until Christmas Eve and bring them in Christmas Day to these kids, I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure their Christmas is the best they ever have.”

Donations for the toy drive are being collected at Village Center Auto Care in Oak Hill, also known as the Irving Gas Station. Suggested items to donate include DVDs, Wii Games, Playstation 2 and 3 games, toys for young children and teens, pajamas for boys and girls, shampoos and hair brushes.