CAMDEN

Bank gives $22,000 in grants to seven Maine nonprofits

Camden National Bank recently presented awards and $22,000 in grant money to seven Maine nonprofits at its annual Leaders & Luminaries Awards Luncheon, with the theme “2017 Focus on Board Innovation: Transforming Governance through Shared Leadership.”

Now in its fifth year, the awards program recognizes outstanding board leadership, dedication and passion in the Maine nonprofit community.

To date, the bank has given $107,000 in donations to 31 Maine nonprofits through its private charitable foundation.

This year’s award winners are board directors for Area Interfaith Outreach, Camp Sunshine at Sebago Lake Inc., Junior Achievement of Maine, Sarah’s House of Maine, the Susan L. Curtis Foundation, Maine School Garden Network and Sea Change Yoga.

Advertisement

They were selected from more than 70 nonprofit board members to receive between $1,000 and $10,000.

AUGUSTA

Main-E-Acts baton twirlers to join Philadelphia parade

The Main-E-Acts Baton Twirling Team will perform in the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday in the Pennsylvania city.

Billed as the oldest Thanksgiving Day parade in the country, the procession includes balloons, floats, high school marching bands and celebrities that will march down Benjamin Franklin Parkway and finish in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The Main-E-Acts Baton Twirling Team, created in 2004, is the travel component of the Central Maine Twirling Corps, a larger baton twirling program offered by the Augusta Recreation Department and Bangor Parks and Recreation Department.

Advertisement

Team members are selected each year for outstanding twirling abilities, teamwork, enthusiasm, commitment, dedication and passion for the sport of baton twirling.

This will be the team’s first performance in the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade.

The Main-E-Acts are the 2017 Northeast Regional Show Corps, Parade Corps and Halftime Show team champions; the 2017 National Beg/Senior Dance Twirl and Twirl Team champions; and were ranked in the prestigious Grand National Top 10 in several other events at the 2017 National Baton Twirling Association’s Grand National Championships in Indiana in July.

The 2017 Main-E-Acts team includes Mollie Berglund and Amanda Cameron, both of West Gardiner; Paige Blackwell and Helen Rebar, both of Bangor; Morgan Mayhew and Megan McCormick, both of South Paris; Cassidy Fish, Ingrid Plant, Alanna Thomas and Embree Thomas, all of Hampden; Jessica Hymas and Makenzie Sayers, both of Brewer; Lindsay Pitts of Bucksport; Grace Thompson of Kenduskeag; and Autumn Trafton of Augusta.

The Main-E-Acts are directed and coached by Andrea Fletcher of Portland and co-coached by Meagan Sawyer of Brewer and Morgan Sorey of Bucksport.

CASTINE

Advertisement

Maine Maritime Academy honors students, faculty

Maine Maritime Academy recently honored students and faculty during its annual Academic Achievement Awards banquet.

Honored as Henry A. Scheel Scholars were: Alexandra Allen, Class of 2019, Easton; Alexander Black, Class of 2019, Charleston, South Carolina; Rachel Borisko, Class of 2019, Atkinson, New Hampshire; John Brigante Jr., Class of 2018, Woodbine, Maryland; Rachel Bunker, Class of 2020, Ellsworth; Jacob Chubbuck, Class of 2018, Orono; Adam Clukey, Class of 2018, Norridgewock; Hila Shooter, Class of 2019, Monroe; Marshall Spear, Class of 2018, Rockport; and Erik Young, Class of 2018, Howland.

American Bureau of Shipping Scholars include: Jeremy Beaulieu, Scarborough; John Brigante Jr., Woodbine, Maryland; Ryan Donjon and Michael Granger, both of Saco; William Easley, Niceville, Florida; Jared Hall, North Granby, Connecticut; Rylee Knox, Turner; Jacques Lussier, Groveland, Massachusetts; and Liam O’Leary, Stratford, Connecticut; all of the Class of 2018.

The Mitchell Institute Awards Scholars are: Max Barton, Yarmouth; Tanton Mattson, Lisbon Falls; Brayden Miller, Dexter; Alexander Powers, Medway; and Brooke Wagstaff, Wiscasset, all of the Class of 2021.

The Professor’s Award for Excellence in Casualty Analysis was given to Garrett Nelson, Class of 2018, a vessel operations and technology major from Sidney.

Advertisement

An Excellence in Teaching Award was presented to assistant professor Jeffrey Boal.

WESTBROOK

Acadia Insurance donates $15,000 for scholarships

Acadia Insurance recently gave $15,000 to the scholarship program at Southern Maine Community College as part of a three-year partnership with the Foundation for Maine’s Community Colleges.

Each year, five business administration students, entering their second year at Southern Maine Community College, will receive a $1,000 scholarship – with preference given to those interested in the insurance industry.

SANFORD

Advertisement

Autism therapy wing opens at child development center

Waban’s Fraser-Ford Child Development Center recently celebrated the opening of its new autism therapy wing with a gathering of major donors, key participants, teachers, board members and senior staff members.

The new 7,000-square-foot autism therapy wing at the Fraser-Ford Child Development Center is the result of five years of planning, several years of fundraising, a $2 million capital campaign, and the generosity of hundreds of individuals, businesses, corporations, organizations and community members.

The center will expand services for pre-kindergarten to second-grade students with autism.

The new wing will house essential programs for that age group and will serve the children and families of southern Maine.

Four new classrooms are set up and furnished, and several students have already enrolled and begun classes in the new wing. The school’s main entrance has been moved and offices and therapy spaces have been added. The new multipurpose room is a gymnasium-like space with a built-in climbing structure and special cushioned flooring.

Advertisement

BIDDEFORD

American Cancer Society honors volunteer’s efforts

Southern Maine Health Care oncology nurse navigator Peggy Belanger, R.N., O.C.N., is a recipient of the 2018 American Cancer Society Lane W. Adams Quality of Life Award.

Belanger is among seven individuals nationwide to receive the honor, which recognizes her leadership in serving the complex needs of cancer patients and their families, and consistently providing excellent cancer care.

Belanger has volunteered with the American Cancer Society for more than 30 years, and she is an 11-year volunteer with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

Her dedication to easing the burdens of cancer has been recognized through two prestigious awards, including the American Cancer Society’s 2015 Sandra C. Labaree Volunteer Values Award, and the 2014 Southern Maine Health Care Caregiver of the Year Award.

Peggy volunteers for a free medical clinic that helps the underserved and uninsured patients in her community, and she founded a choral group that performs for hospice patients.

Igor Prokopiw, M.D., of Southern Maine Health Care Gastroenterology in Biddeford was named Caregiver of the Year, and communications and design specialist Diana Chapman was named the Rock Star of the Year at the hospital’s annual employee recognition event. Both Prokopiw and Chapman are members of the Southern Maine Health Care team.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.