Portland, Maine (January 5, 2012) – Looking for local events, indoor farmer’s markets, coupon deals, restaurants, stores, and more? Mainers now have a search engine for finding information about all things green, local, and sustainable. What began as a coupon book and green living guide has grown into Maine’s one-stop online green business directory—TheSunriseGuide.com.

TheSunriseGuide cuts through the clutter of busy search engines and distracting sidebars, helping consumers search with ease for everything from green products and services to local events and activities. This new tool helps green shoppers find restaurants that serve locally harvested food, home energy efficiency professionals, salons that use only organic products, local eco-friendly hotels, and so much more. And each business profile includes an interactive map.

“This website is a great tool for Mainers,” says Richard Burbank, President of Evergreen Home Performance, a Rockland-based company that provides home energy efficiency services in southern and midcoast Maine. “It’s like a local green Google®.”

Visitors are encouraged to check in regularly to download exclusive online coupons to area businesses and find out what’s going on. The directory’s “Events” tab includes information on green happenings statewide, including conferences, open houses, networking opportunities, outdoor activities, and more.

Since expanding to the Midcoast last year, both the print edition of the SunriseGuide and the online directory now include an even broader range of information and saving opportunities for people living from the Greater Portland area to Belfast. Check out the SunriseGuide online directory next time you’re looking for a green business at TheSunriseGuide.com/find-a-busines/. If you are interested in having your business included in this growing directory, please email info@thesunriseguide.com.

About the SunriseGuide
The Sunrise Guide publishes an annual resource guide and coupon book for living green in southern and coastal Maine and an online business directory of green and healthy businesses in Maine. The print edition contains 300 coupons for healthy and eco-friendly products and services, plus articles with tips for sustainable living. Topics include food and dining, outdoor living, home and garden, travel and transportation, community and culture, and more. Look for the 2012 edition at school and community fundraisers, natural food stores, bookstores, and other retail outlets. Learn more and find out where to pick up a copy at www.thesunriseguide.com .

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As part of the Pantry Project of United Way of Androscoggin County, Xerox employees spent four weeks collecting more than 800 non-perishable food items such as canned meats, baby food, vegetables, rice and pasta — totaling 786 pounds of food.  This is the second time that Xerox employees have participated in the Pantry Project to collect food for local people in need.  Mary McCarron of Xerox stated that due to the excitement and willingness to give, employees gathered more food than last year and had lots of fun along the way.  “We tried to have some fun with the food drive by making it a contest in our office.  Our employees were really excited to help.”

United Way of Androscoggin County launched its Pantry Project in 2010 with the goal of increasing food donations from local businesses and community organizations to all 17 food pantries and the food bank that serve the hungry in Androscoggin County.  Since its inception, more than 42 area businesses have participated collecting food totaling more than 17,000 meals.

The 800 food items donated by Xerox employees equaled 786 pounds of food.  According to Joyce Gagnon, Manager of St. Mary’s Food Pantry, that is equal to about $1,600 worth of food and it should fill the need for a week – or 200 families.  “This is a wonderful contribution,” said Gagnon.  “We haven’t seen anything like this for some time.  It is really going to help.”

The St. Mary’s Food Pantry is a United Way Partner Agency.  It is the largest pantry in Maine, located located at the corner of Bates and Walnut Street in Lewiston, it is within walking distance of Lewiston’s most underserved neighborhoods; it serves those people in most dire need of food.  In 2010, St. Mary’s Food Pantry distributed 13,947 boxes of food — enough food for 3-day emergency support for 26,560 people.   The Pantry is open 5 days a week (Monday-Friday) from 9am to 11am.

For more information about United Way of Androscoggin County’s Pantry Project or any of their programs, visit www.unitedwayandro.org.

With 300 coupons valued at over $8,500 this annual guide boasts a new do-it-yourself section, expanded energy efficiency section, new articles from guest experts and much more

Portland, Maine (October 25, 2011) –The annual Sunrise Guide, a unique local resource that combines valuable coupons and tips for eco-friendly living is now available at bookstores and retailers around Southern Maine and in the midcoast, like Longfellow Books in Portland and Rising Tide Community Market, in Damariscotta.

With so many uses as a coupon book, fundraising tool for area groups, or simply a resource to help families along their journey to sustainability, this year’s publishing brought together many new features and some old favorites, thanks in part to reader and advertiser feedback, inside you will find:

• Do-it-Yourself instructions and recipes
• A weatherization and energy efficiency section, with a summary of resources available to Maine homeowners
• Guest articles from Maine’s foremost experts on the green economy, pellet fuel heating, hiking coastal trails and more!
• 300 valuable discounts offering healthy, eco-friendly products and services, valued over $8,500

“The response from readers, advertisers and fundraising groups is amazing, we are in our 6^th printing and every year our coverage grows as well as the number of coupons and the value,” said Heather Chandler, founder and publisher of The Sunrise Guide.

According to Diane Milliken of Horizon Residential Energy Services, “There’s no better way to reach the thriving green and sustainable community in southern Maine- and this community is expanding every day thanks to The Sunrise Guide.”

About the Sunrise Guide
The Sunrise Guide is an annual resource guide and coupon book for living green in southern and coastal Maine. It contains 300 coupons for healthy and eco-friendly products and services, plus articles with tips for sustainable living. Topics include food and dining, outdoor living, home and garden, travel and transportation, community and culture and more. Look for the 2012 edition at school and community fundraisers, natural food stores, bookstores, and other retail outlets. Learn more and find out where to pick up a copy at www.thesunriseguide.com .

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New Educational Touch Tank at the Oriental Jade
Bangor, Maine., October 19, 2011 – The Oriental Jade of Bangor, Maine and Touch Tanks for Kids of Biddeford, Maine announce a strategic alliance. This partnership offers a delicious  fundraising alternative where the Bangor area students can explore the feasibility of raising funds for a Touch Tank Teaching System. The Touch Tank Teaching Program has been providing an interactive learning experience for Maine students since 2005. The interactive educational program, inspired by a Maine teacher, has proven so effective that teaching touch tanks can now be found in 17 states.The Oriental Jade’s Dinner Buffet Fund-Raiser Program has proven itself to be a successful and rewarding endeavor where your group can easily earn up to $1000 while enjoying an evening of delicious food and fun filled events.  This, of course,  includes interacting with the Oriental Jade’s community touch tank, that they recently had installed by Touch Tanks For Kids. The fun filled night is a wonderful way for a school or community nonprofit to explore whether a an educational touch tank is right for them.More information about the Oriental Jade and Touch Tanks for Kids partnership is available on the Internet at http://touchtanksforkids.org/430/visit-the-touch-tank-at-oriental-jade/
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New Educational Touch Tank at the Oriental Jade
Bangor, Maine., October 19, 2011 – The Oriental Jade of Bangor, Maine and Touch Tanks for Kids of Biddeford, Maine announce a strategic alliance. This partnership offers a delicious  fundraising alternative where the Bangor area students can explore the feasibility of raising funds for a Touch Tank Teaching System. The Touch Tank Teaching Program has been providing an interactive learning experience for Maine students since 2005. The interactive educational program, inspired by a Maine teacher, has proven so effective that teaching touch tanks can now be found in 17 states.The Oriental Jade’s Dinner Buffet Fund-Raiser Program has proven itself to be a successful and rewarding endeavor where your group can easily earn up to $1000 while enjoying an evening of delicious food and fun filled events.  This, of course,  includes interacting with the Oriental Jade’s community touch tank, that they recently had installed by Touch Tanks For Kids. The fun filled night is a wonderful way for a school or community nonprofit to explore whether a an educational touch tank is right for them.More information about the Oriental Jade and Touch Tanks for Kids partnership is available on the Internet at http://touchtanksforkids.org/430/visit-the-touch-tank-at-oriental-jade/
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In five years, The Sunrise Guide has helped more than 20,000 families live eco-friendly lives while raising thousands of dollars for area schools and non-profits

Portland, Maine (October 14, 2011) – Times are tough in today’s economy making fundraising especially difficult for non-profit organizations like schools and churches. The Annual Sunrise Guide, a unique local resource that combines valuable coupons and tips for eco-friendly living has proven that it can help. The Sunrise Guide is tremendously popular and easy to sell.

“In the past five years we have worked with over 100 groups to raise thousands of dollars to support a variety of projects, and the good news is that the groups are doing it in a clean and healthy way,” said Heather Chandler, founder and publisher of The Sunrise Guide. “And this year, The Sunrise Guide made it onto the list at many school districts as an approved ‘green’ fundraiser.”

The Sunrise Guide, started in southern Maine and expanded over the past year into the midcoast area has helped in many ways:

• Used by more than 100 unique groups (school, faith and other non-profits) to raise funds
• Raised over $60,000 for those groups in a clean and healthy way
• Helped more than 20,000 families develop healthy, eco-friendly habits, while saving money on products and services they use every day
• Distributed more than 40,000 books in the past five years

“Fundraising can be a challenging process for many organizations,” said Chandler. “The Sunrise Guide gives up to $10 per book back to the organization’s fundraising efforts. Parents love having their children sell the books rather than candy bars or wrapping paper and with all of the money staying in Maine, the books in an easy-to-use format help families learn how to adopt environmentally sensitive lifestyles.”

Advertisers and Fundraisers rave about the results. “The Sunrise Guide was a great product that people could get behind, and it had a high profit margin for us with very little hassle,” said Maya Howard of The Friends School.

“There’s no better way to reach the thriving green and sustainable community in southern Maine- and this community is expanding every day thanks to The Sunrise Guide,” said Diane Milliken of Horizon Residential Energy Services.

In its 6^th printing, the Sunrise Guide is now available at bookstores and retailers around southern and midcoast Maine with many new features and some old favorites:

• Do-it-Yourself instructions and recipes
• A weatherization and energy efficiency section, with a summary of resources available to Maine homeowners
• Guest articles from Maine’s foremost experts on the green economy, pellet fuel heating, hiking coastal trails and more!
• 300 valuable discounts offering healthy, eco-friendly products and services, valued over $8,500

Those interested in using The Sunrise Guide as a fundraising tool should visit www.thesunriseguide.com or contact Heather Chandler at 207.221.3450.

About the Sunrise Guide
The Sunrise Guide is an annual resource guide and coupon book for living green in southern and coastal Maine. It contains 300 coupons for healthy and eco-friendly products and services, plus articles with tips for sustainable living. Topics include food and dining, outdoor living, home and garden, travel and transportation, community and culture and more. Look for the 2012 edition at school and community fundraisers, natural food stores, bookstores, and other retail outlets. Learn more and find out where to pick up a copy at www.thesunriseguide.com .

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The Oceanside Pavilion will be full of festive flavors, acoustic music, beer and spirit tasting, wine educators, and riveting demonstrations.  Each guest will receive an embossed Harvest on the Harbor wine glass to indulge in the beverage nirvana.

• Over 500 food and beverage samples will delight your taste buds
• Demonstrations will be conducted throughout the day:
  

  Marketplace on Portland Waterfront

• Celebrity Author and Fisherman Linda Greenlaw will have an intimate conversation with a question and answer session
• Cooking demonstrations by celebrity chef Michael Rouss, and cookbook authors Dana Moos, Kathy Gunst, and Kate Shaffer
• A honey making demonstration by The Honey Exchange with a live bee hive

• Wine Education Corners will enhance your wine knowledge
• Two Green Mountain Coffee Café’s will feature Maine musicians
• Cookbook corner will feature Down East Magazine cookbook authors as well as Linda Greenlaw to sign their books.

The full list of exhibitors and details about the Savory Samplings at the Marketplace can be found at www.HarvestOnTheHarbor.com

About Harvest on the Harbor
Harvest on the Harbor, Maine’s premiere food and wine experience is organized by the Greater Portland Convention & Visitors Bureau and takes place on the picturesque coastal waters of Portland, Maine, October 20-22, 2011.  The festival celebrates Maine’s culinary arts and is committed to locally grown and responsibly harvested foods.  Details of all the events, including the Grand Tasting on the Harbor, Lobster Chef of the Year Competition, Ultimate Seafood Splash, Top of the Crop: Maine’s Best Farm to Table Chef, and Savory Samplings at the Marketplace, can be found at www.harvestontheharbor.com

Sponsors of the event include Down East Magazine, WHOM 94.9FM, Portland Press Herald, and Time Warner Cable. For more information or to purchase tickets, go to www.HarvestOnTheHarbor.com

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Contact
Gillian Britt
gBritt PR, 207-775-2126

CAMDEN, Maine — Natalie’s Executive Chef Geoffroy Deconinck is collaborating with the internationally known perfume expert Chandler Burr to present the restaurant’s fifth Scent Dinner on Friday, October 21. This year’s dinner, inspired by the Camden-based conference PopTech held over the same weekend, will focus on the theme of entering a new global era. The reception will begin at 7:30 p.m., dinner at 8 p.m. The Scent Dinner, which includes an in depth session on perfume lead by Burr and a five-course dinner and wine pairing, is $250 per person. Seating is limited and the Dinner sells out quickly. A shuttle will be available from the Camden Opera House to Cellardoor Winery. For more information and for reservations, call the Inn at 207-236-7008.

In a new twist to the scent dinner this year, it will be held at Cellardoor Winery’s Vineyard at 360 Youngtown Rd. in Lincolnville, and dinner guests will be able to watch and hear Burr and Deconinck interact and observe the chefs preparing the meal in the open kitchen. The evening, which actually features two very different types of dinners, first an olfactory dinner, followed by a gustatory dinner, will unfold in a similar format to past years, with Chandler Burr leading an introduction to the scents by passing around raw materials and perfumes on blotters, followed by a meal that reflects the perfumes used in the olfactory dinner. A Scent Dinner is the intersection of fragrance and fine dining.

Natalie’s Scent Dinner was cited as one of 50 Great Ideas by Restaurant Business Magazine.

Burr, the New York Times perfume critic from 2006-2010, is the Director and Curator of the Center of Olfactory Art at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City. He is the author of the two definitive popular books about the perfume industry, “The Perfect Scent: A Year Inside the Perfume Industry in Paris & New York” and “The Emperor of Scent: A True Story of Perfume, Obsession, and the Last Mystery of the Senses.” Burr’s novel, “You or Someone Like You,” was published in 2009. Burr hosts interactive Scent Dinners around the world with the world’s best chefs, from Simon Lau Cederholm of Aquavit in Brasília, Vito Mollica, Ex. Chef of the Four Seasons, Florence, Samuel Benne of Lapérouse, Paris, to Fabrice Guisset at Las Ventanas in Cabo, Mexico, and Nicholas Schearer, Ex. Chef of the Four Seasons, Bangkok.

About Camden Harbour Inn and Natalie’s:
The nationally acclaimed Camden Harbour Inn consistently receives praise from publications such as Departures, Travel & Leisure, National Geographic Traveler, Yankee Magazine and Dispatches for its world-class service and amenities and unparalleled views. Awarded among “51 favorite splurges in the world” by Sherman’s Travel, the Inn attracts an upscale clientele who return often to experience one of New England’s most tranquil, inspired and treasured settings.

The Inn’s on-premise restaurant, Natalie’s, has been called the finest gourmet eatery in Maine and was awarded Best French Restaurant in New England by opentable.com. Executive Chef Geoffroy Deconinck was nominated by Food & Wine for People’s Best New Chef Award 2011.

Natalie’s offers Modern French cuisine with an emphasis on Maine seafood. The Wine Spectator-honored wine list features more than 250 specialty wines. The restaurant serves a four course Lobster Tasting menu in the summer and fall, in addition to extensive a la carte offerings and a Chef’s Tasting menu. The Inn and Natalie’s have both earned the prestigious AAA Four Diamond Award and the Inn is a member of Condé Nast Johansens.

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CONTACT
James Britt 207-775-2126
gBritt PR

PORTLAND, Maine — The Maine Brewers’ Guild and gBritt PR, the engineers behind Maine Restaurant Week, are launching Maine Beer Week, which will take place across the state November 10-17, 2011. Maine Beer Week is a celebration of Maine’s growing craft brewing industry and Maine’s highly regarded restaurant community.

Restaurants, brewers, and taverns will host special beer-centric dinners, pairings, tastings, tours, meet-the-brewer nights, and other events.

“Maine’s craft beer movement has seen incredible growth in the last few years,” notes Dan Kleban, president of the Maine Brewers’ Guild. “Maine Beer Week is the perfect time to highlight the impressive selection of local brews and great food in Maine.”

Restaurants and taverns are invited to register online at mainebeerweek.com or by calling (207) 775-2126. Restaurants that register by October 15, 2011 are invited take advantage of discounted registration fees for Maine Beer Week (November 10-17) and Maine Restaurant Week (March 1-10, 2012).

Maine Beer Week details will be announced on www.mainebeerweek.com and www.facebook.com/mainebeerweek. The expanding schedule of events, participating restaurants and taverns and more will be announced straight through Maine Beer Week’s launch on November 10, 2011.

Maine Beer Week is also on Twitter at www.twitter.com/dineme.
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“Visitors pour into Maine for the Maine experience – great beaches, clean lakes, pristine mountains, unique boutiques – and in recent years, fabulous local food! And what could speak more to that Maine experience than delicious seafood, fresh from the Gulf of Maine, prepared by some of the region’s most celebrated and talented chefs,” states Rauni Kew, Green Program Manager at Inn by the Sea.

“This year’s Ultimate Seafood Splash brings together local fishermen, renowned seafood chefs, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, and the Maine Aquaculture Association to introduce truly delectable and responsibly harvested local seafood. Using underutilized seafood supports the health of the Gulf of Maine by giving over-fished populations a break while supporting Maine’s great fishing tradition. We hope that the mouth-watering tastings created by our trendiest chefs will generate interest in underutilized seafood… getting on board with sustainability has never been so delightfully delicious,” says Kew.

Come to the Ultimate Seafood Splash and taste new flavors, learn how to prepare new dishes and walk away with some incredibly delicious recipes.  And talk about talent!  Celebrity chef Michael Ruoss of Salu in New Orleans will be cooking Northern shrimp caught by fisherman Ricky Trundy. James Beard Award winner Sam Hayward of Fore Street will delight your taste buds with Red Fish caught by fisherman Glen Libby.  Adam White of The Salt Exchange has been matched with cod farmer Morey Levovitz from Great Bay Aquaculture of Maine.  Cassady Pappas of Havana South and fisherman Rob Odlin are going to prepare a Pollock dish that you won’t forget.   Mitchell Kaldrovich of Sea Glass at Inn by the Sea will plate fresh Whiting brought to the shore by fisherman Richard Kolseth.

Joining the chefs will be a cadre of seafood farmers from the Maine Aquaculture Association offering delectable samples of farm raised AtlanticSalmon, Eastern Oysters, Blue Mussels, Cod, Soft Shell Clams, Scallops, Rainbow Smelt and Trout, and Natural Sea Vegetables.

About Harvest on the Harbor
Harvest on the Harbor, Maine’s premiere food and wine experience is organized by the Greater Portland Convention & Visitors Bureau and takes place on the picturesque coastal waters of Portland, Maine, October 20-22, 2011.  The festival celebrates Maine’s culinary arts and is committed to locally grown and responsibly harvested foods.  Details of all the events including the Grand Tasting on the Harbor, Lobster Chef of the Year Competition, Ultimate Seafood Splash, Top of the Crop:Maine’s Best Farm to Table Chef and Savory Samplings at the Marketplace can be found at www.harvestontheharbor.com

Sponsors of the event include Down East Magazine, WHOM 94.9FM, Portland Press Herald, and Time Warner Cable. For more information or to purchase tickets, go to www.HarvestOnTheHarbor.com

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