OLD ORCHARD BEACH — Less than a year ago, tragedy struck the small, close-knit town of Newtown, Conn., when a lone gunman entered the elementary school and killed 20 children and six adults.

People from Maine want to show members of that community that those killed by Adam Lanza, 20, at the Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14 are not forgotten.

On Saturday, a memorial stone honoring the dead, which is the product of many volunteer hours of hard work by many Mainers, began its journey from Cutler to its ultimate destination: Newtown, Conn.

The weekend-long trip included multiple stops, including seven fire stations in Maine, where the public was able to view the stone.

Tonight, a private installation ceremony will be held in Newtown for families and other members of the community.

The truck carrying the stone stopped at fire stations in both Old Orchard Beach and Biddeford on its way down. Among the visitors at the Old Orchard Beach Fire Station were Kristy and Peter Davenport from Connecticut.

“It’s just a beautiful tribute to all those lives lost,” said Kristy Davenport, who works at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

She said she and her family knew many of those who died.

“We’re moving forward,” she said, but “it still hurts a lot.”

“It’s hard to look at,” said Peter Davenport of the stone. “It brings (the tragedy) back.”

During the stop, watching as some young children played on the stone as it was perched on the flat-bed of a truck, he said that was “nice to see.”

The memorial is made of an 8-by-3 1/2 foot slab of granite. The top of it is 1-inch deep and increases in depth to 2 feet at the bottom.

The names of all the dead are written on the stone. The children’s names are in color and were drawn by 7-year-old Jayden Gray. The adult names are in gold.

The stone is installed on a 8-by-10-foot base. Twenty-six stainless steel angels, one for each of the dead, are installed around the base of the stone.

Richard Gray, Jayden’s father, originally from Maine and now of Merritt Island, Fla., came up with the idea for the memorial.

“I was watching TV as the tragedy was going on, and I felt sick and went to lay down,” said Gray.

He said while sleeping, he had his first vision or dream of the stone and had several others after that, during which he saw how he wanted the stone to look.

Now that it’s completed, Gray said, “It’s amazing. ”¦ You can’t ask for anything better.”

While Gray came up with the idea, he said many others helped out, donating time and labor to realize the memorial’s construction. Sullivan Quarry provided the granite, Mohr Signs did the design work, Harkins Masonry did the stone work and Nauticus Marine Fabrication Inc. produced the stainless steel angels.

Many others from Maine and elsewhere made donations to help defray the costs of constructing the memorial stone.

Biddeford firefighter Andrew Morrow helped raise about $1,000 in donations from firefighters across the state.

“It’s pretty emotional. It’s a little overwhelming,” said Morrow when he viewed the final product in Old Orchard Beach. “It’s amazing these Maine people came together” to create the memorial for Newtown, he said. “It shows you a lot of what the human spirit can do.”

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324 or [email protected].