LEWISTON — The memories of last Oct. 25 are just as fresh in the minds of students, faculty and staff at Bates College as they are for anyone else.

A service was held Friday afternoon at the Gomes Chapel to remember and honor the 18 who lost their lives and 13 others who were wounded in the mass shooting that fateful night.

The pews were filled, and the emotions flowed. Student Leith Chikh Rouhou, said it’s been “emotionally draining.” He recounted watching police cars racing past that night, sirens blaring. He said he knew something big was happening and soon learned on his phone that there was an active shooter.

A picture of each of the 18 people killed in Lewiston on Oct. 25, 2023, were on display during the One Year Remembrance Service at the Bates College Gomes Chapel in Lewiston. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Jilly Scott-Lewis had been at Bates only two months when the shooting happened; her family far away in the state of Oregon. After checking in with friends and family, she said, “I thought about all the families,” and what they must have been going through. Scott-Lewis is among the Bates students who testified before the Maine Legislature months later, as the discussion turned to gun control.

Bates College President Garry Jenkins remembers the sirens too. It was just days away from his inauguration. He spoke proudly of the response from the college community, “showing up wherever and however we could.”

On the altar, framed photos of the 18 who were killed, surrounded by flickering candles. Beneath, multicolor ribbons with messages of hope, a wish, or a blessing from 300 or so students, penned in the last week. In the days after the shooting, students tied white ribbons on trees and light poles on campus in a sign of solidarity.

Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline spoke of his vivid memories that night as well, saying that he can still hear the sirens, even with his eyes closed. “What happened next happened almost immediately,” he said. “People turned toward each other and reached out in care and concern. This happened across the campus and the city.”

Bates College students Maggie Amann, top, Hana Roggendorf, center, and Jilly Scott-Lewis embrace Friday following the One Year Remembrance Service at Gomes Chapel on the Lewiston campus. Scott-Lewis was one of three Bates students who spoke during the service. She spoke about her efforts to enact gun control measures in Augusta. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Sheline, like most of the other speakers, mentioned the community trick-or-treat event held last year on campus, something positive that brought the communities together in one of the city’s most tragic times. He said the trick-or-treat event at Bates gave kids a safe space to enjoy Halloween.

Anzal Isaack, another student who spoke at the event, did not mince her words. “Grief is complicated,” she said. It is the smallest of things that keeps her grounded, she continued, “hope is just a quiet resilience,” adding “today we honor the memories of the lost.”

The Rev. Raymond Clothier read the 18 names, pausing briefly each time. That was followed by 18 tolls of the bell in Hathorn Hall, clearly audible inside the chapel as the gathering fell absolutely silent.

There were musical offerings, readings and poems culminating with a moving song from the Bates choir, Dona Nobis Pacem, a Latin round sung in three parts, meaning grant us peace.