Appointments

The Susan L. Curtis Charitable Foundation and Camp Susan Curtis announced its new slate of officers for 2013. Auburn resident Don Foerster, senior manager of facilities planning and management for L.L. Bean, is the new chairman. Cape Elizabeth resident Sean Roy-Becker, a private banker with TD Wealth Management, is the new vice-chairman. Marianna Fenton, of Portland, a partner with Robinson Kriger & McCallum is the new secretary. Gorham resident Tabitha Swanson, a principal with The Swanson Group LLC, is the new treasurer.

New hires

The Maine chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union recently hired several new staff members. Rachel Myers Healy, who worked as a field organizer for the ACLU for five years, is the organization’s first director of communications. Healy, an Auburn native, most recently served as a senior communications strategist with the nationwide ACLU Center for Justice. Jill Barkley, who joined the organization as its marriage project coordinator in April, has been named public policy advocate. Barkley led the effort to establish Republicans United for Marriage as part of the successful 2012 campaign to secure marriage equality for same sex couples statewide. Oamshri Amarasingham, a graduate of Northeastern University School of Law, will serve as public policy counsel. Amarasingham formerly served as a legal intern at the ACLU of Maine, the ACLU of Northern California, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders and the law firm Kotin, Crabtree and Strong. She was a law clerk at the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

Mortgage Network Inc., a Portland-based independent mortgage lender, hired Hal Inman as a loan officer. Inman, a Houlton native, is a graduate of University of Southern Maine and brings more than 12 years of experience to the team.

Public Affairs Group, an affiliate of the Portland law firm of Curtis Thaxter, recently hired political strategist Patricia Eltman and attorney Regan Haines. Eltman was most recently director of the Maine Democratic Party’s 2012 campaign. Haines will assist on lobbying efforts in the areas of health care, energy, real estate, tax and finance. Public Affairs Group provides government relations, public relations and lobbying services before federal, state and local governments.

The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office introduced its newest K-9 team, Deputy Corey Plummer and his canine partner, Jaeger. Plummer began his law enforcement career in 1999, and has been with the Sheriff’s Office for seven years. He is a member of the Emergency Services Unit as a negotiator, an emergency vehicle operators course instructor, as well as an officer in charge. Jaeger, whose name means “hunter” in German, is a 2-year old shepherd mix. He comes to the United States from Holland via the International Canine Exchange program, and has received basic training. The team will be attending the Maine Criminal Justice Canine Academy next month before joining the two current K-9 teams of Deputy Al Winslow and Paco, and Deputy Matt Tufts and Rocky.

Promotions

United Insurance, one of the largest independent insurance agencies in Maine, announced recently Peter Clavette, senior vice president and managing partner of the United Insurance Ezzy Agency in Madawaska, has joined the company ownership team. Clavette joined the agency as a manager in 2005 following several years of sales and management experience with Enterprise Rent-A-Car in Ontario, Canada. 

Recognition

Bauer Financial Inc., a national bank research and rating firm, recently awarded Norway Savings Bank a five-star rating for “serving the community in a prudent and responsible manner.”

Mary Holmes and David Sparta, invesment representatives with Northeast Financial, earned certification as certified financial planners from the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. The certification credential is recognized industry-wide as the standard of excellence for education, experience, personal ethics, and responsibility in financial planning. 

Nikolaus Josephson, a member of Cumberland-North Yarmouth Boy Scout Troop
58, recently earned his Eagle Scout badge. For his Eagle project, he rerouted a wet trail at Skyline Farm in North Yarmouth.

Grants

The Maine Health Access Foundation announced a grant of $300,000 to Lewiston-based Maine Community Health Options to assist in developing and marketing  a new patient-centered,  affordable nonprofit health insurance plan that will be available on the new Health Insurance Exchange in Maine as early as Oct 1.

Good deeds

Morong Falmouth, an auto dealership, delivered a $1,000 check to the Falmouth Food Pantry in December. 

Students at St. John Catholic School in Brunswick participated in Pennies for Patients, a program in which students collected spare change and competing among grades to see who raises the most money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the world’s largest nonprofit health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services.

Students at the St. Brigid Catholic School in Portland collected donations of socks, toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant and other essentials and prepared care packages for the St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen.

Moves

McAuley Residence, a comprehensive housing program serving single mothers and children is about to move from its Portland location at 91 State St. to the former Children’s Hospital of Portland at 68 High St. The Sisters of Mercy founded the program 25 years ago and has been operated as part of Mercy’s community mission. In the newly-renovated space, owned by Community Housing of Maine, the McAuley Residence will expand from seven to 15 apartments ranging from studios to two-bedrooms along with spacious common space for the residents to gather.

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Bill Sowles, left, the general manager and owner of Morong Falmouth, is joined by Dorothy Blanchette, president of Falmouth Food Pantry, and Peter Sowles, the vice president and owner of the dealership, for the donation of $1,000 to help the pantry feed local families.