BANGOR, Maine (WABI) – Saturday saw a grand slam of community support in Bangor, as players stepped up to the plate sporting swings, smiles, and support.

Wayne’s Wiffle for a Wish tournament returned to the Union Street Athletic Complex for its 18th year, pitching in to support Make-A-Wish Maine.

“We’ll have 30 teams. We’ll have 26 adult teams and four youth teams that are playing wiffle ball in four different divisions,” explains founder Wayne Harvey. “Different levels of play, different skill levels, different ability levels, and they’re going to play for a championship. And really the winner is Make-A-Wish.”

According to Make-A-Wish Maine’s mission delivery coordinator Rita King, providing life-changing gifts to children with critical illnesses is entirely reliant on the generosity of donors.

“This fiscal year that ends in August we’ll have granted 92 wishes. That’s about a wish every four days. And 100% of the funds that grant those wishes come from donors. It costs about $8,500 is the cash cost of a wish,” King details. “It’s also just amazing for our wish families to feel the community support behind them.”

Ahead of the jam-packed tournament schedule, spectators and teams rallied around Zachary Ellis, a Make-A-Wish Maine kid from Alton who threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Ellis, who turns 11 on Monday, described his pre-pitch feelings as “Nervous and fun!”

“He’s had quite the first 11 years of life. In 2024, he received a new kidney. After his transplant, they coordinated Boston Children’s, hooked us up with Make-A-Wish,” Zachary’s mom, Crystal Ellis, describes. “He wanted a sports themed cabin that he could share with his brother and sister. So that was the wish that they made for him. And then we went to the University of Maine as an added bonus and that was just the highlight of it all. He was escorted in a limo. He got to meet all of his favorite players.”

Since starting the benefit back in 2009, Harvey credits the community for making the tradition a total home run.

“From playing a kids game we’ve raised this year, we should cross over the quarter-million dollar mark,” Harvey says.

For Crystal, the outpouring of enthusiasm and support for Make-A-Wish Saturday gave her goosebumps.

“Make-A-Wish touches people in their hearts in a way that you cannot understand unless you’ve been there,” Ellis shares. “So, to see this many people come out and give their time and generosity to help families and to help put a smile on a child’s face, it’s priceless.”

Even if you didn’t make it out Saturday, you can still support Wayne’s Wiffle for a Wish and Make-A-Wish Maine.

Donations can be made directly on their websites, or through Venmo: @wwfaw

WATERVILLE, Maine (WVII) — The best days on the river are usually measured by the fish you catch. For one Maine fishing guide, they’re also measured by the difference he leaves behind.

Brandon Bichrest is turning his passion for the water into a mission to restore it. What started as picking up a few abandoned tires after a day on the water has grown into a personal mission to help clean up Maine’s rivers.

“I’ve seen all these tires all around the river, visually seeing them on the shoreline. It was jokes with clients and friends about, like, all the tires. And then one day I just decided, I’m gonna pull some of these out. I don’t know, just for giggles. Really. I grabbed nine,” explained Bichrest.

That first haul quickly led to a question.

“People were like, why are you removing all the fish structure?”

Bichrest was concerned they were right, so he started digging into the history of why the tires were in the river.

“They’re mostly all 1950s to the 80s, I’ll say. And it happened because scientists and media back in the day back then, that was our first time in society where cars were mainstream. Everybody had to replace their tires. There was millions, billions of tires on the land. We didn’t know what to do with them. Some scientists thought it d be a great idea to bundle them and make artificial fish structure.”

Decades later, Bichrest is taking them back out, one by one. Just this week he pulled out his 600th tire, from water just inches deep to several feet down.

He says this isn’t just about removing trash. It’s about restoring a place he s watched change over his lifetime.

“Both were ultra polluted even in my younger days. You know, pre-2000 and nasty. They had a smell,” he says of his nearby rivers.

Bichrest says the difference today is hard to miss.

“Now when I see how beautiful they are now, how far they’ve come, how clean they are. And really, like I said, the bulk of the trash is the tires,” he explained.