AUBURN — Field No. 1 at Pettengill Park is now Joe Walker Memorial Field.

Field No. 2 is now Tricia Asselin Memorial Field.

Walker and Asselin each played league softball at the fields for years, and more than 100 people turned out Sunday morning for the dedication ceremonies to replace the fields’ utility numbers with the names of two people who loved to play and are sorely missed by their family members and friends.

Walker and Asselin, who both grew up in Auburn, died Oct. 25, 2023 – Walker at Schemengees Bar & Grille and Asselin at Just-In-Time Recreation. They were two among the 18 people who were killed that night, while another 13 were injured.

Before Sunday’s ceremony began, former Auburn Mayor Jason Levesque said the community considered different ways to celebrate the lives and memories of Walker and Asselin in the weeks following their deaths. Renaming the Pettengill ball fields felt natural given Walker’s and Asselin’s strong connection to the park, and one of the final acts of the outgoing City Council last December was to approve and fund the renaming.

The ball fields at Pettengill Park – named after William Wallace Pettengill – were built through a federal work relief program, the first of which was finished in 1935, and have been known by their identifying numbers for a long time. More than one person Sunday used the word “fitting” to describe the name changes to honor Walker and Asselin.

On Sunday, Walker’s father, City Councilor Leroy Walker Sr., said he and his son first started playing ball there when the younger Walker was 16 years old. Asselin grew up playing there, too, and a number of people attending the ceremony Sunday were wearing their league uniforms, either leaving a game or arriving for another.

As the dedication began, City Manager Phil Crowell reminded the crowd how meaningful ball fields are to our lives, how it is important to remember those who played there because “people are what these fields bring together” and how that connection is really what the field dedications were all about.

Walker and Asselin were “struck down in the prime of their lives,” Auburn Mayor Jeff Harmon said, and it is important their families and friends know that “your loved ones will live on in our memories and our hearts.”

He added, “Those playing today and those playing in the years to come will honor these very special people every time they play here.”

The dedications Sunday, which included translations by American Sign Language interpreters, involved separate ceremonies for the Walker and Asselin fields.

At the start of the Walker dedication, the game being played just behind the new memorial sign paused and the players walked forward to stand behind the fence and listen. Craig Fortin, lead pastor of the East Auburn Baptist Church, asked those gathered to pray, and as the players and others lowered their heads, he asked people “not to allow evil to win, but to overcome through strength and stamina,” and to remember Walker and Asselin not for “the way they died, but the way they lived.”

The two fields, Fortin said, are places where strength and endurance are celebrated, and Walker and Asselin should be remembered and celebrated for their strength and endurance.

Carlene Tremblay of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ office in Lewiston presented the city with an American flag, which had flown over the U.S. Capitol, to be flown at the park. Tremblay also said the senator hopes every time a family member or friend sees the flag, the person will feel “like a collective community hug is embracing you and always will.”

Crowell then invited Michael Gooldrup, a friend of the Walker family, and family member Rosie Gravel to unveil the sign, which reads: “Joe Walker Memorial Field. Forever in the heart of our community. Dedicated June 2, 2024.”

Walker, the manager of Schemengees, loved his job because he was a people person, according to his friends. They said he brought much passion to the job, including organizing events that brought people together, such as regular cornhole tournaments at the Lewiston bar.

After Walker’s death, his father called him “a great kid” who was very involved in the community and loved sports.

“He’s always been great to people,” Leroy Walker said. “He takes care of people. There’s nothing he won’t do for anybody.”

On the night of the shootings, Joe Walker was working as the bar’s manager when the gunfire began. Walker was killed after had picked up a butcher knife and approached the shooter in a selfless act to save others.

After the Walker field dedication, those in attendance were invited to walk down to the former Field No. 2 for the dedication of the Tricia Asselin field. It was a short walk during which many people cried and stopped for hugs.

As the game going on at that field also paused in respectful silence, Crowell opened the second ceremony with thanks to those who had gathered and another request for people to remember Asselin’s goodness and enjoyment of softball. Crowell then asked Asselin’s sister, Bobbi Nichols, to unveil the large sign that reads: “Tricia Asselin Memorial Field. Forever in the heart of our community. Dedicated June 2, 2024.”

In addition to the time Asselin spent playing softball, she was an avid golfer, bowler and competitive angler. She was also involved in the Make-A-Wish and the Susan G. Komen Foundation, among other charitable organizations. She grew up playing basketball, softball and baseball, and at the time of her death worked three jobs: Full time at Modula Inc. in Lewiston and part time at the bowling alley and Apple Valley Golf Course.

On the night of the shootings, Asselin was at the bowling alley with friends. She is credited with tremendous bravery when she stayed inside to call for help.

After Asselin’s death, Nichols, who was substituting that night for another player in a league at the bowling alley, remembered her sister as a hugger.

“She hugged everybody and they hugged her,” Nichols said. “If they didn’t come to her, she would go to them.”

Each memorial sign has a bench in front of it, which Crowell urged others to use so they could sit and remember Walker and Asselin.

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