DOVER-FOXCROFT – The Thompson Free Library will present the next event in the annual James Brown Lecture Series on Thursday, May 6. Maryanne C. Ward, retired Chair of the Humanities programs at both Kenyon College in Ohio and Centre College in Kentucky, will give a free public talk, “Jane Austen and Gardens,” at 6:30 p.m. in the library’s new addition.            
The lecture series has been endowed with memorial funds donated to the Thompson Free Library in memory of Brown, who lost his life in a boating accident in 2008. The series presents lectures on topics related to history and literature, both areas of the humanities of great interest to Brown.  
As the longtime chair of the English Department at Foxcroft Academy, Brown helped two generations of students explore the world of books. He was president of the Thompson Free Library Association and chaired its Executive Committee during the capital campaign that resulted in construction of the library addition in 2006. Brown was also active in the Dover-Foxcroft Historical Society.  
Prof. Ward retired in 2006 after more than 40 years in small college education. She taught Russian and Humanities at Kenyon, where she chaired the Humanities Department and served as Academic Dean, before moving to Centre College to become Professor of English and Chair of the Humanities program there until her retirement.     
Her area of special interest and scholarship is 19th-century British literature. Among other topics, her publications examined the relationship between literature, landscape and painting.  
“So many people have read her novels and now have seen the film versions, I want to provide yet another view of Jane Austen, one informed by study of her novels and the history of landscape gardening,” said Ward. “I have walked through and studied the gardens of many of the great estates in England. Landscape gardening is now and was a very hot topic in England in the late-18th and early-19th century.”  Ward said Jane Austen had a keen interest in landscape gardening styles of her day. “Her opinions on the correct way to arrange and care for a great estate are evident in her novels. She frequently uses those great gardens as a subtle form of characterization. However, her depiction of those estates changes over the course of her career as the agricultural economy declined, leading her to find other physical manifestations of the basic values that underlie her novels.” 
Prof. Ward’s abiding interest in landscape and gardening has found a new outlet in Maine, where she is the Master Gardener in charge of maintaining the New England Garden at the Blaine House in Augusta.  
A member of the Board of Directors for the Maine Humanities Council, Prof. Ward has degrees from Marymount Manhattan (AB), the University of Virginia (MA English, MA Russian), and Ohio State (Ph.D. in English).
Maryanne Ward and her husband, John, live in Pittston, where they raise vegetables for themselves and their grown children and grandchildren.

On Wednesday, April 28, 2010, The Annual Rural Maine Small Business Conference and Business To Business Show will be held in Dover-Foxcroft at the Penquis Higher Education Center located at 50 Mayo Street.

The purpose of the conference is to help foster the success of microenterprises and small businesses in the greater Piscataquis County area and all of rural Maine. The conference expects to attract over 100 micro & small business owners.

The conference will filled with many topic such as a presentation from Microsoft, Using Social Media and the Web in your business, Keynote Speaker David Lee of the HumanNature@Work, What’s In It For Me session, lunch, networking and Business to Business services and resources.

Making the Most of Social Media & The Web by Jenika Scott

Jenika manages Hall’s parent channel relationships, as well as assists with Hall’s inbound marketing efforts. www.hallme.com/blog/author/jenika/ Hall Web Services is a Maine owned web design, web development and internet marketing firm, providing business class web services to small and medium sized companies worldwide.

Keynote Speaker David Lee & “What’s In It For Me” Session

David is the founder of HumanNature@Work and is an internationally recognized authority on organizational and managerial practices that optimize performance. Some of the areas he will be covering: Get Great or Become Extinct, Why Good is No Longer Good Enough, In Today’s “Tell All” World, Creating the “Wow” Experience, If You Want Lot’s of Repeat Business and Free PR, Here’s What You Do plus take home tools to help your business. He will be offer a follow up tele-conference. FMI: www.humannatureatwork.com This training is part of the Maine Woods Tourism Training Initiative – a project supported by the Maine Woods Consortium with funding from the Betterment Fund and USDA Rural Development. To learn more, visit www.mainewoodsconsortium.org/mmh/programs/content/tourism-training.html.

Business 2 Business Show still has spaces open for business to business products, services and/or resources. For more information please visit the web site.

Penquis products display is open to any business taking part in the conference. For more information please visit the web site.

Remember to bring your business card for some great networking opportunities

The Rural Maine Small Business Conference’s sponsors and partners are Penquis, MaineStream Finance, Piscataquis County Economic Development Council, Penquis Higher Education Center, James Macomber’s Maine’s Best Web & Media Design & Green Web Hosting, Hall Web Services, Small Business Administration, Piscataquis Chamber of Commerce, Moosehead Lake Chamber of Commerce, Maine Woods Tourism Training Initiative, Maine Woods Consortium, Betterment Fund and USDA Rural Development

Scholarships are still available. To register go online at www.ruralmainebiz.org and click “Registration” then choose online or download the registration.

FMI:

www.ruralmainebiz.org

Contact persons: Sheree Brown or James Macomber

Phone: 564-7116 or 1-800-215-4942

Email: sabrown@penquis.org or jmacomber@penquis.org

PORTLAND, ME -One of the things Lynn Peel values most about her job is the close connections she forms with her clients. She says, “I come into their lives during a major life transition. It is often an emotional time. As a result I really get to know them and their families. I have the privilege of hearing their life stories.”

Lynn is the President and Senior Care Advisor of Beach Glass Transitions, LLC. She reaches a milestone this April: 2 years in business.  Beach Glass Transitions provides a personalized and invaluable support service to Maine families or individuals who need assistance in attaining elder care for themselves, or more commonly, for an aging loved one.  When living at home alone is no longer a safe option for an elder family member, Lynn and Beach Glass are there to provide education and advice on the available options.  They assist in securing the products and services the client needs to restore independence in their home, or otherwise assist in finding and applying for residency in a safe community alternative.

In the company’s 2 years of business, Lynn has worked with more than 50 families and has a 100% client satisfaction rating.  As one client remarked, “Lynn has been a godsend to us!  If it hadn’t been for her, I’m sure we would still be trying to get through the maze of figuring out how to get my great aunt into a good safe place!  Thank you!”  Another said, “Lynn provided the expertise and the guidance that we needed during a very stressful time.  We can’t thank her enough for all she did for our family.”  Most of Lynn’s clients are Boomers who contact her regarding the care of their aging parents.

Prior to starting Beach Glass Transitions, Lynn Peel worked for more than 8 years in Home Care Agencies, Assisted Living, Alzheimer’s Care and Independent Living Communities.  She has the knowledge and insight of an insider, which is a huge benefit to her clients, and often sets Beach Glass Transitions apart from the average geriatric care manager or referral service.  After 10 years working in her industry, Lynn has developed strong and tested relationships to trustworthy referral sources such as legal and financial advisors, movers, down-sizers, organizers, real estate agents, and more.  Ultimately Beach Glass Transitions offers the complete package.  However, the most significant aspect of Beach Glass Transitions that sets it apart from the competition is Lynn’s focus on the individual.

Her service is highly customized.  Lynn says, “Every client is different.  They come from different backgrounds and they have different futures.  They have individual wants and needs and family expectations.  They have medical and financial requirements, but also have concerns regarding social interactivity.  My job and my passion is to work with my clients to find the option that is best suited to the whole person, not just the age or the medical condition.”

As a new way of honoring her clients, Lynn asks them to provide photographs and fill out a short life survey, allowing her to compose a scrapbook of the client’s life and personality.  The final product is

called, “Oh, The Places You Have Been.”  It serves two purposes.  First and foremost, it is a gift thanking her clients for contracting her services.  Secondly, it acts as a social profile to provide to Home Health Aides and Senior Living Communities.  It is a wonderful way of showing the client’s new caregivers who they are, allowing them to bond and connect in a way that would not otherwise be possible.  This connection is remarkably therapeutic for aging adults, especially if they suffer from dementia or Alzheimer’s.

If you or a loved one is struggling with independence at home alone, call Beach Glass Transitions today for your consultation and to find out how your social profile can improve your long term care.

Contact:

Lynn H. Peel                                       

President, Senior Care Advisor

Beach Glass Transitions, LLC

207.272.2797

277 Congress Street

Portland, ME 04101

www.beachglasstransitions.com

lpeel@beachglasstransitions.com

CHARLOTTE WHITE CENTER RECEIVES EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT THROUGH

THE TD CHARITABLE FOUNDATION

Camden, ME.   Many non profit organizations are feeling the effects of the economic downturn and facing the difficult decisions of whether to reduce program offerings, staff or other operations.   Many realize that if they had a more robust endowment when the economy turns sour, they would have greater financial stability to ride out the storm.

TD Banknorth, through the TD Charitable Foundation, is supporting Charlotte White Center’s (CWC) staff in participating in philanthropy training offered by Planning for Good. The workshops to be led by Sr. Consultant, Sarah Ruef-Lindquist, JD, CTFA will help participants gain the tools to build their endowment to improve their ability to continue to provide programs in the future.

Erica Kimball, Development Director for the Charlotte White Center noted, “With Sarah’s training and support, I am sure that we can create a sound philanthropic plan for the Charlotte White Center that will enable us to serve those who need our support for years to come. Without TDBanknorth’s financial support, reaching our goals would be even more challenging, and we want to thank them for their help.”

The Charlotte White Center, which serves adults and children with cognitive and intellectual disabilities and behavioral health challenges, provides support services in Piscataquis, Penobscot, Hancock, Washington, Franklin, Somerset, and Waldo Counties, with administrative offices based in Dover-Foxcroft. The mission of the Charlotte White Center is to respect and value ALL people and empower them to be their best. CWC has been doing that for thirty years; this will enable them to continue to honor that mission.

Planning for Good, a Maine-based firm out of Camden offers education, training and support to non-profit organizations seeking to build their endowments through planned gifts. In 2009, Planning for Good is offering a series of Workshops designed to support organizations beginning or continuing to develop their planned giving efforts.  The grant from the TD Charitable Foundation will cover the cost of staff member Erica Kimball attending all five workshops.

The workshops Ms. Kimball will be attending are designed for development and executive staff as well as board members as an opportunity to learn practical tips for designing and implementing policies and procedures to optimize planned giving to support building endowment and organizational sustainability.

For more information about the Charlotte White Center and its philanthropic plans, please contact Erica Kimball at (207) 947-1410 ext. 122 or via email at ekimball@charlottewhite.org.

The TD Charitable Foundation is the charitable giving arm of TD Bank N.A., which operates under the trade names TD Banknorth and TD Bank and is one of the 20 largest commercial banking organizations in the United States. The Foundation’s mission is to serve the individuals, families and businesses in all the communities where TD Banknorth and TD Bank operate, having made over $44.6 million in charitable donations since its inception in 2002. The efforts of the Foundation are coordinated locally through TD Banknorth and TD Bank’s community relations departments and are focused on the areas of economic empowerment, youth development and community support. More information on the TD Charitable Foundation including an online grant application is available at www.TDBanknorth.com or at www.TDBank.com.

           One of America’s most unique folksingers and backcountry travelers, Walkin’ Jim Stoltz, on tour from the mountains of Montana, will bring his powerful multi-media show, Forever Wild, to the  Belgrade Community Center for All Seasons, 1 Center Drive in Belgrade, on Earth Day, Wednesday, April 22, at 7 p.m.   The mix of stunning photography, stories, and music make this one-of-a-kind concert an inspiring journey into our nation’s last wilderness areas. 
           Walkin’ Jim gets his name from nearly 27,000 miles he has walked through the wild country of North America.  Carrying a guitar and writing his songs along the way, his lyrics express a great love and respect for the Earth and the wild places he knows so well.  Known for his powerful baritone and emotion-packed vocals, Stoltz’s Forever Wild show is much more than a concert. It combines live music and poetry with stunning, multi-image slides to create a stirring celebration of the natural world.  Stoltz is veteran of more than 30 years of performing.  In this show he will be sharing images and songs from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, his Yellowstone to Yukon walk, the Utah canyon country, the Northern Rockies, and wild places all across America.
                Walkin’ Jim has toured extensively throughout the U.S. for the past 23 years. In 2006 he organized a 45 state outreach tour with other musicians and authors, and worked with hundreds of community organizations to gain support for clean water, roadless lands, and wildlife. Jim has been presented with the Environmental Protection Agency’s, Outstanding Achievement Award for his sharing of nature and wilderness across America.  Stoltz will have copies of his recent book “Walking With the Wild Wind” to sign at the event.  His songs from 9 different cds get regular airplay on National Public Radio and will also be available.   Visit his website at www.walkinjim.com.
                 Tickets for the concert will be available at the BRCA office or at the door for $10.   This event is sponsored by the Belgrade Regional Conservation Alliance and will benefit the Kennebec Highlands Phase III campaign.  For more information contact Mary at BRCA 495-6039 or brca@gwi.net, or visit www.belgradelakes.org