Hires, Promotions, Appointments

Pejepscot Historical Society in Brunswick welcomed Larissa Vigue Picard as its new executive director. A native Mainer, Picard grew up in Pittsfield and attended Bates College. She returned to Maine and settled in Topsham in 2008.

The Maine Council of Churches announced that the Rev. Jane Field has been named as its new executive director.

Bernstein Shur welcomed attorneys Kevin Decker of Falmouth, Conor Shankman of Portland and Ari Solotoff of Portland to the firm’s Portland office.

Sally Loving of Brunswick and Joyce McPhetres of Topsham were recently elected to Tedford Housing’s board of directors. Tedford advocates for affordable housing in mid-coast and central Maine.

Arthur Eagle joined Winxnet, a Portland-based IT outsourcing and consulting firm, as a Senior Systems engineer.

Recognition

Wright-Pierce, a water, wastewater and infrastructure firm with an office in Portland, was the design engineer for the Mattabassett Water Pollution Control Facility project in Cromwell, Connecticut, which recently won an Engineering News Record Best Regional Project of 2015.

The board of directors of the Retail Association of Maine has named Sea Bags, headquartered at Custom House Wharf in Portland, as the 2015 Retailer of the Year.

Verrill Dana attorney Bill Harwood of Yarmouth has been honored with the Roger A. Putnam Award for service to the community. The award was presented at the firm’s Town Hall Meeting, which also celebrated Putnam’s 90th birthday.

Maine Medical Center Weight & Wellness Program has recently been awarded a Comprehensive Center accreditation from the American College of Surgeons Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program.

The Wellness Council of Maine, a program of the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce, recognized the city of Portland, City Fit! Wellness Committee, a group of employees who work year-round to bring a variety of wellness programs to nearly 1,200 city employees.

Spurwink, a nonprofit in Portland that provides behavioral health and educational services, announced that its Portland Help Center is a winner of the Maine Psychological Association 2015 Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award.

Attorneys from several local law firms have been recognized as 2015 New England Super Lawyers. Twenty-seven attorneys from Bernstein Shur were named to New England Super Lawyers. Of those, 13 were chosen as Rising Stars. The Rising Stars designation was developed in 1998 to honor outstanding attorneys who are under the age of 40 or have been practicing law for less than 10 years.

Attorneys who earned the Rising Stars distinction were: Patrick J. Scully of Portland; Sam Anderson of Yarmouth; Robert J. Keach of Falmouth; Paul McDonald of Cape Elizabeth; Daniel J. Mitchell of Scarborough; George F. Burns of Falmouth; Patricia A. Peard of Cumberland Foreside; Kenneth W. Lehman of Cumberland; and Charles E. Miller of Portland.

New England Super Lawyers recognized attorneys from Berman & Simmons in Portland: Craig Bramley, Jodi Nofsinger, and Julian Sweet of Portland; Benjamin Gideon, Daniel Kagan and Steven Silin of Freeport; and Jack Simmons of Falmouth for excellence in representing clients in personal injury and medical malpractice cases. Local attorneys Travis Brennan and Alicia Curtis of Portland and Susan Faunce of North Yarmouth were recognized as Rising Stars.

Monaghan Leahy, LLP, of Portland, announced that Christopher Dinan, John Wall and Matthew Libby have been selected by their peers as Super Lawyers of New England. Dinan has been recognized for several years for his work in alternative dispute resolution; Wall for civil rights work coverage and Libby in the areas of criminal defense and civil law.

Four Perkins Thompson attorneys in the Portland firm were named Rising Stars: Christopher Dargie for business/corporate; Stephanie Williams for business litigation; Sara Moppin for banking and Lauren Weliver for creditor debtor rights.

New Beginnings

Elite Airways LLC announced that tickets are now available for nonstop flights between Portland International Jetport and the Orlando Melbourne International Airport in Florida. Twice-weekly flights on Mondays and Fridays begin Dec. 18.

The Painted Dog: An Art & Stitch Studio will have a grand opening at 13 Pleasant St., Brunswick, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 21 and 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 22.

New Scarborough Kiwanis leaders elected

Scarborough residents Eric Rosenblatt and Jackie Perry were recognized when new officers and board members were installed during the Scarborough Kiwanis Club’s installation ceremonies last month. Perry was given the Distinguished Service Award, and Rosenblatt, shown with incoming President Ava Adams, was named The Kiwanian of the Year. New officers for 2015-16 include Immediate Past President Ava Adams of Scarborough. In addition to Rosenblatt and Perry, Greg Hodgkins, Robert Talley, Tim O’Halloran and Pat Corea, all of Scarborough, were also installed as members of the board.