LINCOLNVILLE — By 5:30 p.m., the line to enter the Lincolnville Central School cafeteria snaked through the gymnasium, out the doors, beneath the walkway and around the side of the building to the parking area. That's how many people — some 500-plus — turned up Saturday night, April 13, in an outpouring of support for Little Andy O'Brien and his family, as the three-year-old works through grueling brain cancer treatments in Portland.

The Masons of King David's Lodge hosted the event, cooking 500 meals, with the help of community members, who moved efficiently in and out of the kitchen, making salads, moving pies, cookies and cupcakes (contributed by many) to the dessert tables, and washing dishes, dishes, and more dishes.

Tables in the Walsh Common, the dining area of the school, were snugly crowded, as families and friends settled in to eat together. Outside the cafeteria, others waited patiently for their turn, visiting and joking with others in line, while children raced around, or sat on their father's shoulders and quietly watched.

Andy O'Brien is at Maine Medical Center in Portland, in the Barbara Bush Children's Hospital. A tumor was removed from the back of his neck in February, and he is now is undergoing five sessions of chemotherapy, a cancer therapy that is to last through June.

Read more about Little Andy:

Lincolnville's Little Andy: Moving through a rough patch with love and grace

Editorial Director Lynda Clancy can be reached at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 706-6657.