Brunswick 8th-grader asks Legislature to name Turnpike exit for Samantha Smith

Cecelia Smith, an eighth-grader at Brunswick Junior High School, was welcomed to the Maine State House by Rep. Dan Ankeles, D-Brunswick, on Feb. 21, when Cecelia gave testimony to the Legislature’s Transportation Committee in support of LD 21, Resolve, Designating Maine Turnpike Approach Road in South Portland as Samantha Smith Way. Cecelia’s recently did a school research project on Samantha Smith, the Manchester girl who in 1982 wrote to Soviet leader Yuri Andropov imploring him not to start a nuclear war. She died in an airplane crash in 1985. Cecelia felt compelled to speak in support of honoring Samantha by naming a portion of the Maine Turnpike in her memory. By testifying before the Transportation Committee, Cecelia carried forward the tradition of speaking up for what you believe in, regardless of your age. (Submitted photo)