Scarborough woman launches
online sharing Web site

SCARBOROUGH – Joanna Basinger of Scarborough has launched a new Web site, ClosestCloset.Com, as an online community designed to share and conserve resources.

The Web site features four different types of classified ads: donations – items you wish to give away; local lending – items you are willing to share and have returned; skill sharing – something you are good at and are willing to help someone with; and wishlists – items you would like to borrow, have, or skills you need help with.

Members over the age of 18 can join for free after posting 10 different classified ads.

New book chronicles
Yarmouth drum circle

YARMOUTH – Rick Cormier, founder and host of Different Drummers Drum Circle in Yarmouth, has had his first book published on freestyle community drum circles.

The book, Freestyle Community Drum Circles,” can be purchased on lulu.com and will be available from major book retailers in two months.

The drum circle, which consists of approximately 430 people from ages 20 months to 90 years, is celebrating its seventh anniversary this month.

Different Drummers Drum Circle plays on the first Saturday and the second and fourth Fridays each month at the First Universalist Church on Main Street in Yarmouth. For more information, please visit differentdrummersdrumcircle.com. 

Junior Achievement names
three to hall of fame

PORTLAND – Junior Achievement Maine will be inducting three new business leaders in recognition of their contributions to free enterprise and the “promise of a better, stronger society” to its Business Hall of Fame.

The Maine Business Hall of Fame laureates for 2010 include: Michael Dubyak, chairman and CEO of Wright Express; Harold Pachios, senior partner at Preti Flaherty; and Joan Benoit Samuelson, founder and chair of the TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race.

The induction ceremony will be held  on Wednesday, May 12, at the Marriott in South Portland.

McCormick named
United Way CEO

PORTLAND – Suzanne McCormick has joined the United Way of Greater Portland as president and CEO.

McCormick most recently served as president and CEO of People’s Regional Opportunity Program, PROP, and was formerly the CEO of the American Red Cross of Southern Maine.

New Ventures

Ryan Russell, of Cumberland, has recently launched a new landscape architectural firm called Land Plans, Inc. Russell, a Maine Licensed Landscape Architect and LEED Accredited Professional, specializes in residential and commercial projects, from property research to site, landscape and hardscape design, construction administration and cost estimating. For more information, please visit landplansinc.com.

Chest Medicine Associates in Portland has relocated to South Portland at 100 Foden Road, West Building, Suite 103. The new office will offer expanded patient care services specializing in pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine.

Douglas Green of Green Design Furniture, is introducing a new line of furniture he has trademarked “Authentic Green.” The furniture is assembled in components, using a compression fit with no screws, bolts or glue. The furniture also features “furniture jewelry, interchangeable medallion inserts that are made from recycled materials. The wood selected is sustainably harvested local hardwood, Eastern White Ash.The first Authentic Green prototpes are now on display in Green Design’s showroom in Portland’s Old Port at 267 Commercial St. or online at greendesigns.com.

Good Deeds

Mahoney Internet Marketing, a strategic internet marketing provider in Portland, is donating services to the Keeping Kids Safe organization as part of its commitment to donate up to $10,000 per year to non-profit organizations.

The Maine Masters Swim Club, Greater Portland Swimmers, hosted an annual fundraiser Masters Meet at Riverton Pool, and raised $815 for new equipment and to support swimming in Portland.

Portland’s Downtown District’s Annual Shop For A Cause Day raised over $4,500 from businesses in the Old Port and Arts District for Preble Street’s Florence House, a comprehensive housing and resource center for homeless women in Portland.

L.L.Bean recently provided a $30,000 grant to the Good Shepherd Food-Bank to support the installation of a new Inbound Processing System at the Food-Bank’s main warehouse in Auburn. The new system will replace the Food-Bank’s current manual system allowing the nonprofit to safely and efficiently inspect, sort and store food for distribution.

Planet Dog’s Sixth Annual Valentine’s Day Canine Cocktail Party & Dog Kissing Contest raised $250 for the Planet Dog Foundation, Planet Dog’s non-profit that supports canine service organizations. The entry fee was a $5 donation to PDF and a total of $250 was raised. The winner of the dog kissing contest was Beau, a Yorkie mix. The Planet Dog Foundation’s Haiti Matching Grant Fund raised a total of $16,000 for the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation thanks to support of donors and an $8,000 matching grant from the Joanne Woodward Newman and Newman’s Own Foundations. The funds are being used to support the work of the dogs and handlers that make up the Canine Disaster Search Teams in Haiti.

Verrill Dana, LLP, a full-service law firm with offices in Portland, Augusta and Boston, has donated $20,000 to United Way to help address food insecurity in the areas it has office locations. The largest percentage of the donation was allocated to Preble Street in Portland; with other portions allocated to the United Way of Kennebec Valley in Augusta, and United Way of Massachusetts Bay & Merrimack Valley in Boston.

Saco & Biddeford Savings Institution made a $750 donation to support the adventure-based learning program used by Skillin Elementary School guidance counselor Lorry Schwellenbach. The grant will enable fifth grade students at the South Portland school to spend two mornings at the Maine Rock Gym in Portland to learn how to rock climb.

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The South Portland Fire Department recently donated an Automatic External Defibrillator device to the VNA Home Health & Hospice.  The AED will be installed at VNA’s offices at 50 Foden Road in South Portland. Pictured here are South Portland Fire Department Lieutenant Stephen Fox and EMS Coordinator Mike Carroll, with VNA staff.

Rep. Jane Eberle, D-South Portland, recently welcomed the family of Timothy Carr, a longtime South Portland firefighter who died in December, to the State House. Eberle presented the family with a legislative sentiment for Carr. Pictured from left to right are, Carr’s daughter Kaitlyn and her husband Isaiah Cepeda, wife Kathleen Carr, Gov. Baldacci, Carr’s daughter Rachel Quill, and Rep. Eberle.

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