Mary Emerson honored by the Marine Corps League

Congratulations to our very own office manager extraordinaire, Mary Emerson, for receiving a Certificate of Appreciation  from the Marine Corps League’s Southern Maine Detachment’s “Warm Feet For Veterans” project for her support and volunteerism. Congratulations Mary!

Jay Kiel joins Norway Savings Bank as the Gray Vice President, Branch Manager

NORWAY, Maine – Norway Savings Bank is pleased to announce that Jay Kiel has recently accepted the position of Vice President, Branch Manager of the Gray office.
 

In his new position, Kiel is responsible for helping customers reach their financial goals with a focus

on financing a new home, as well as providing support for other life-moments like saving for college or preparing for retirement.

Kiel comes to Norway Savings with over twenty-five years of banking experience in consumer and business lending, insurance and investment management and branch management. Outside of his position as VP, Branch Manager, Kiel lives his life in color by giving back to his local communities. 

Kiel enjoys teaching financial literacy to schools and groups and volunteering at local food pantries and soup kitchens. He is also currently pursuing his bachelor of science in Business Administration at Southern New Hampshire University.

It’s Christmas in July for the Everlasting Gratitude Wreath Program by Dave Tanguay

Christmas in July? Not exactly - but July has become a critical point in the support of the Everlasting Gratitude Wreath Program. 
 

For three years a local florist has provided the funding for the Everlasting Gratitude Program that in collaboration with local Veteran’s organization manpower, has placed evergreen wreaths on the graves of over 850 Veterans’ graves in approximately 30 cemeteries in the Town of Windham. 

Unfortunately, last fall, the funds were not available for this popular program and no wreaths were placed on the graves. Moving forward, the American Legion Field-Allen Post 148 of Windham has stepped up to see if they can raise the needed funding for the 850 wreaths. 

The Post needs the support of the Windham Community to achieve this goal. To make the program viable, the Post needs to establish certain funding goals well in advance of the October end date. As a result, the Post has established a GoFundMe website to help defray the cost of the wreaths. 

Each wreath costs approximately $5.75. Each $25 donation could purchase approximately five wreaths. The Post would like to have at least half of the funds ($3,000) raised by the first of August.

If you consider this a valuable community program, then The Post asks that you consider buying a wreath for your loved one(s); and possibly also support a few extra purchases with a more generous donation. 

To support the Everlasting Gratitude Program, please go to the GoFundMe webpage at Gf.me/u/dpy5q and donate. Please feel free to share the link on your social media to help spread the information.

A check can also be mailed to American Legion Wreaths, PO Box 1776, Windham, Maine 04062. The Legion Post is a Non-Profit for your tax considerations. For additional information contact Post member Larry DeHof at 310-8952.

Resident of Raymond receives Special Education Administrator of the Year award

Lisa Caron, Director of Special Services in MSAD 61, has been awarded Special Education Administrator of the Year for 2017 by the Maine Administrators of Services for Children with Disabilities (MADSEC).  Mrs. Caron was nominated by her Regional Group of Special Education Directors due to her creative and extensive programming to ensure student needs in her district are met in the least restrictive setting in their home schools. She believes providing appropriate training and equipping staff with the skills and tools they need to educate students, is the key to student learning and achievement.  
 

Caron on left receives award from Pat Menzel

In addition to her job as the Director of Special Services and District 504 Coordinator, Caron also serves on MADSEC’s Professional Development Committee and as the alternative regional representative for the MADSEC Executive Board. She is the Special Education Administrator representative for the Central Cumberland County Administrator Certification Committee.  

During her thirteen years in MSAD 61, Caron has facilitated training in researched based programming for her staff to meet the needs of district students.  This includes previously being the only school district in Maine to establish a Lindamood Bell School Partnership for four years, the first school district in Maine to bring Behavior Analyst Technician Training to the Special Services staff, and enhancing learning opportunities for her students and staff with technology, by providing professional development to staff to increase academic rigor for students in the district. Caron was an active participant in bringing Positive Behavior and Supports training to MSAD 61.  

Caron has been described as, “. . . a forward thinker whose decisions are always student centered—be it budget, curriculum, personnel, or professional development.”  Since she started in the district, she has grown two day treatment programs to four, addressing the specific and unique needs of students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and/or significant behavioral and mental health challenges.  

Finally, Caron is a reflective leader, who with the support of her superintendent and building administrators, most recently led an initiative in MSAD 61 to push a co-teaching model, which benefits both regular and special education students and staff.  Breaking down the walls between these programs and maintaining a focus on what is best for all students is a worthwhile goal and one that Lisa championed.   

Caron was honored during the MADSEC Director’s Academy at the end of June.

Maine Lab Rescue receives community support from Mechanics Savings Bank by Lorraine Glowczak

Maine Lab Rescue (MLR) is an all breed dog and cat rescue organization in Windham. Their mission is to save animals from high kill shelters or other unfavorable conditions in the southern states by having them delivered to Maine for adoption, into loving and permanent homes. Prior to the animals’ arrival, they receive vaccination and other vet care before they are transported north.

Although MLR is lucky to have many volunteers in Maine who foster the animals in their homes until the dogs and cats are adopted and veterinarians offer discounted services for shots, etc., it still takes monetary assistance to pay for unexpected vet bills and other needed supplies.

As a private rescue, MLR receives the majority of their funds for operations through the adoption fee. Kind donations of this community provide extra funds that allow MLR to help dogs and cats that might otherwise not have a chance. Mechanics Savings Bank, 3 Driving Lane in Windham  is a recent and substantial contributor. 

It all began with an inquiry from two of their customers, Nick and Amanda Beaulieu, owners of Forever Two Wheels in Windham. The Beaulieus had adopted a dog from MLR and had recently learned about a lab mix named Walker, a five month old puppy who was born with severe heart disease from a pregnant dog MLR saved from a high kill shelter in Georgia. After a conversation with the Beaulieus, Mechanics Savings Bank (MSB) decided to partner with the Beaulieus and Forever Two Wheels to jointly support MLR.

MLR receives check. Three photos of Walker on top

On Saturday, June 10, Nick Beaulieu and Omar Velazquez, MSB customer service representative, presented a $500 check to MLR to kick off the fundraising efforts for Walker’s heart surgery at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. 

“We will be starting a fundraising campaign for Walker in the very near future,” stated Erlene Le Borgne, founder of MLR. “This gift represents about 10 percent of the anticipated costs associated with the procedure and subsequent echocardiograms.”

The generosity and commitment of MSB toward MLR does not end there. From now until Monday, July 31, the bank is running a Furry Friends Forever pet supply campaign to assist the organization with their ongoing needs, collecting the much needed items at the Windham branch location.

“We are all animal loving people at MSB,” Velazquez said. “We wanted to make sure our branch location was collecting for a local organization that we believed shares our passion. We were so impressed with Erlene’s organization and her mission. Erlene is not only a compassionate neighboring business in our community; she’s my next door neighbor.”

Items needed by MLR that can be dropped off at MSB, Windham branch include the following:

Tidy Cats (or similar) clumping cat litter

Soft training type treats for dogs

Cat treats

Puppy collars (approximately the 10-16” size range)

Puppy pads or newspapers

Toys

Dog or puppy shampoo

Purina Puppy Chow complete

Purina Dog Chow complete

Purina Cat Chow

Purina Kitten Chow

Fleece throws (We wrap puppies in them as they come off transport in the winter, as well as using them in crates sometimes.)

“Mechanics Savings Bank has such a strong community spirit; we are so appreciative for their efforts to organize a supply drive on behalf of Maine Lab Rescue,” Le Borgne said. “The generosity and kindness of the entire community is humbling, we are very grateful.”

“Mechanics Savings Bank is a local bank supporting our communities and neighbors,” Velazquez stated. “Maine Lab Rescue has a mission we can stand behind. Please help us help Maine Lab Rescue succeed with their shelter and adoption efforts.”

To make a contribution to this campaign, please drop off the items listed above at the bank located at 3 Drive-In Lane in Windham.  

For more information about MLR or to become a foster, visit their website at www.mainelabrescue.com. The next adoption event will take place at Pet Quarters, 486 Payne Road in Scarborough on Saturday, July 1.

Country Music establishment on Anglers Road in Windham discussed at Windham Planning Board Meeting by Lorraine Glowczak

It was standing room only in the council chamber room at the Windham Town Hall on Monday, June 26 at 7 p.m. as the Windham Planning Board hosted a public hearing on three issues. Although the first two topics of discussion included the Craig Road Subdivision final plan review and the Weeks Farm subdivision preliminary plan review, it was the Anglers Road Commercial Development final site plan review that brought in the masses.

The commercial development on Anglers Road in Windham, the entrance to Pettingil Pond, is the potential site of a 6, 500 square foot restaurant with an outside Country Music Venue, called Erik’s Church that will specialize in local live bands and DJ’s. The potential site will provide approximately 125 parking spaces and will contain a small dancing and music pavilion.

Ken Cianchette

“This venue will be designed to mimic Nashville City,” Ken Cianchette, owner/operator of Erik’s Church said in his opening statements to the planning board. “It will be a high end Nashville establishment with a clean atmosphere.”

Cianchette also spoke to the planning board regarding the initial plan to have portable toilets on the grounds. The portable toilets shown on the first draft of the plan were removed based on comments and recommendations from residents and town staff.  Traffic concerns are being worked out between the applicant’s engineers and the town’s engineers.  

Members of the Pettingil Pond community also addressed the planning board with a multitude of concerns. Barry Bernard was the first to speak to the board, expressing the major concerns that this establishment will have on the quality of life in their “private, quiet and tranquil neighborhood.”

The prevalent concern is sound traveling across the water. “We can hear the screams from the Seacoast Adventure Park as well as the roar of motorcycles on 302, how can the noise of outside music be controlled?” is what one Pettingil Pond native asked the board.

Other hesitations and objections expressed included but not limited to the following: attracting a rowdy crowd, outside drinking late at night, the travel on Shore Road that leads into Pettingil Pond, close proximity of nature trails nearby, congested traffic at the Route 302 and Anglers Road intersection, causing safety hazards to include the lack of space for emergency vehicles to reach individuals living on the pond.

The general consensus of all present regarding this issue is that the idea of such a venue is a good

Barry Bernard

thing for the community but the location must be reconsidered.

Upon completion of the public hearing on this matter, the planning board has asked Cianchette to return at a later meeting date and plan to answer the following requests from the board chair, David Douglass. “When you come back, tell me how you will manage a brawl. Not that you will manage a brawl - but how you will do it. How can you manage the sound? How are you going to do this?”

Cianchette will be available at the corner of Route 302 and Anglers Road on Saturday, July 1 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to discuss this further with anyone in the community who would like to discuss their concerns and possible solutions.

The next meeting to discuss this issue will be announced on the town’s website at www.windhammaine.us as well as the Facebook page, www.facebook.com/windham.maine.

It will also be announced in The Windham Eagle newspaper.

Gorham Savings Bank Announces Winner of $50,000 LaunchPad Grant

PORTLAND, Maine — Good To-Go, a Kittery, Maine-based company that makes dehydrated, gourmet meals pre-packaged, has won the 2017 Gorham Savings Bank LaunchPad Competition and its corresponding $50,000 cash prize. The company was chosen from among five finalists, who pitched their small business concepts Tuesday night to a panel of independent judges in a packed USM Hannaford Hall.  

Good To-Go is the first line of all-natural, dehydrated, gourmet meals catering to active adventurers. Designed to vastly elevate the food-on-the-trail experience; each meal is handmade by nationally-recognized chef Jennifer Scism, who once defeated Mario Batali on Food Network’s Iron Chef. In the minds of judges Melissa Smith (President & CEO, WEX), Chris Claudio (CEO & founder, Winxnet), and Steve Campbell (CEO, Pro-voke), the company rose to the top for its standout scalability potential. 

The other four finalists, all of whom delivered impressive and well-received pitches, were Jellux, a Saco-based manufacturer of waterproof LED lighting; North Spore, a Westbrook-based gourmet mushroom producer/mycological community hub; STARC Systems of Brunswick, which produces a modular soundproofing system for occupied buildings under partial renovation and UniteGPS of Portland, whose CrossWalk technology solves the problem of parents and students not knowing just when the bus will arrive each day.

Gorham Savings Bank also honored one business in a new category this year, the Emerging Idea Award. All LaunchPad applicants, not just the five live-pitch finalists, were in the running for this award. American Unagi, a company focused on taking Maine harvested, glass eels and raising them to market size, earned the distinction; plus a $10,000 cash prize and $10,000 worth of marketing, business development, and public relations services from iBec Creative, Creative Imaging Group, Grove Marketing, Chris Philbrook PR and Pro-voke Strategy and Culture.

In addition, thanks to Gorham Savings Bank’s long-term partnership with Junior Achievement of Maine, middle school students from Gorham, Lincoln and Mahoney participated in LaunchPad for the first time ever, through JA It’s my Business!™  Entrepreneurial Education Program. During intermission at the event, a video pitch from each class was shown and the student representatives from each school were invited on stage to answer several questions about their idea and what they learned through the program. The students’ hard work was rewarded with a $1,000 donation from Gorham Savings Bank to each school. 

Ways to have an energy efficiency home by Katie Kinney

The amount of energy we use in our homes mainly depends on the climate where we live and the types and number of energy consuming devices we use. The number and variety of ways we use energy in homes is changing rapidly. Energy use for air conditioning has doubled since 1980. 

U.S. households currently plug in more appliances and electronics at home than ever before. While refrigerators and cooking equipment have long been standard in homes, the ownership of appliances such as microwaves, dishwashers, clothes washers and dryers has increased over the past 30 years.

It is increasingly common for homes to use multiple televisions, computers and many other home electronics. As a result of these changes, appliances and electronics (including refrigerators) now account for nearly one-third of all energy used in homes.

Natural gas and electricity, the most-consumed energy sources in U.S. homes, is followed by heating oil and propane. Electricity, which is used for heating and cooling, also lights our homes and runs almost all of our appliances including refrigerators, toasters, computers and other electronic devices.

Energy efficiency means using less energy to provide the same level of energy services. Here are some great examples of way to reduce the use of energy.

Unplug your appliances when they're not in use.

 Replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent or light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs and purchasing energy-efficient appliances and electronic equipment is helpful.

Insulating your roof and/or ceiling will help keep your home a pleasant temperature in summer and winter. It saves you money on energy bills and pays for itself over a relatively short time.

During hot summer days shading your windows will help to keep the heat out, and on cold nights curtains or blinds help to keep the heat in.

If you have an air conditioner, try to use it only on really hot or humid days, and if you expect a hot day, pre-empt the heat rather than waiting until your home is already hot. Look for programmable timer and thermostat controls. Each 1°C increase of the thermostat setting will save about 10% on your energy usage.

Upgrade your shower head to a water-efficient shower head. These are great water-saving devices for daily use.

The average household emits around 14 tonnes of greenhouse gases every year, half of which is from electricity generation. This contributes to climate change and global warming. One simple and relatively cheap way that we can all start to make a difference is by switching our electricity to "green" power. This means using power generated from clean renewable sources such as the sun, wind, water and waste power, rather than coal. Green power is available to all households and generally costs are only slightly more than standard electricity.

Former Windham resident makes “30 Under 30” in Charlotte, North Carolina

Interview reprinted by permission from Townsquare Interactive

It’s not every day you get nominated and win a spot as a top influencer in your city, but that’s exactly what happened to Lesley Mitchell when she won a spot on Elevate Lifestyle’s Charlotte’s 30 Under 30. Townsquare Interactive caught up with her to find out what it takes to be on Charlotte’s 30 Under 30, and how you could get nominated and win.

Lesley Mitchell

Interviewer (I): Lesley, we know it’s tough for you to brag and talk about yourself, but how did you get nominated and chosen for Elevate Lifestyle’s Charlotte 30 Under 30?

Lesley (L): “One of my colleagues, Timmy, found it online and told the President, Tim Pirrone, that he should nominate me. Tim then did a write up on me saying why I was deserving of my nomination”

I: That’s awesome! Clearly you work hard at what you do, but you also set a great example for those around you. What does it mean to you to be listed as one of Charlotte’s 30 Under 30?

L: “It’s an honor to even be considered for the Charlotte 30 Under 30. It means that I will have the opportunity to network more with other like-minded professionals to see how much value I can add to them, and to see where those connections can take us.”

I: Of course, as a young professional it’s important to connect with people who are looking to do great things. What would be your advice to those who want to be nominated or chosen for the Elevate Lifestyle’s Charlotte 30 Under 30?

L: “My advice to those who want to be nominated would be to work on becoming the best you! I am high school educated, so this nomination has nothing to do with a college degree. It has everything to do with working hard, working smart, making connections, building relationships within your company and outside of your company or just out and about. Also, get involved in your local community.”

I: Great advice! Sometimes we think our circumstances need to change, but often times it’s us. That leads us into our next question for you! How can young people influence their communities?

L: “You can influence your community by being others focused. You can’t have entitlement mentality. You must ask yourself, ‘What can I give’ vs. ‘What can I get’.”

I: Your friends and co-workers have seen you embody that philosophy every day, and it’s something all young professionals should strive for. Finally, the question of all questions: What does success mean to you and how did you define it for yourself?

L: “Success to me means thriving in my current environment; being a leader and an example. It means giving it my all every day. Seeing how many people I can help every day.”

I: Thank you, Lesley for meeting with us! We look forward to seeing more of you as you continue to grow!

L: “Thank you! It’s been fun and I look forward to making a difference.”

A few fun facts about Lesley Mitchell:

Originally from Maine, Lesley moved to Charlotte five years ago and loved it so much she never looked back.

Lesley found that learning from mentors, reading books written by successful leaders that she aspires to be like, and choosing to listen to audio books, instead of repetitive music, have helped tailor her education in ways that school (college) could not.

Lesley started her career at Townsquare Interactive in February 2014. Since then she has proven she is worth her salt with 459 deals sold for a total of $160,935 in monthly revenue.

She was nominated for Townsquare’s Employee of the Month in July 2016.

Lesley loves community service and participates in Elevation Church’s Love Week every year. She is active in the community and has worked with organizations like One7 and Love Life Charlotte.

To learn more about opportunities at Townsquare Interactive or to apply, visit our Career listings.

 http://townsquareinteractive.com/2017/06/01/30