People and Business: May 11

Lee retires from SoPo

Boys & Girls Clubs

SOUTH PORTLAND —The Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Maine’s South Portland Clubhouse on Broadway recently hosted a celebration in honor of the retirement of its longtime director, John “Slim” Lee.

Lee has worked for the Clubs for 44 years, including leading programs at the South Portland Clubhouse since it opened in 1974. He has been involved with the Boys & Girls Clubs since becoming a member of the Portland Boys Club at age 7 while growing up on Munjoy Hill in Portland.

An icon at the South Portland Clubhouse, he touched the lives of thousands of boys and girls throughout the years and served many families of the greater Portland community.

“I could not have asked for a better role model than John ‘Slim’ Lee. I hope to take all the qualities that I have learned from him, and apply it as the newest unit director at the South Portland Clubhouse,” said Jen Pierce, incoming South Portland Clubhouse Unit Director. Prior to her new position, Pierce served as program director under Lee’s supervision for more than 10 years.

New Ventures

Jeanne Marie McGurn has opened a new consignment shop, Zaftig, at 87 Market St., Portland, specializing in plus-size clothing, accessories and jewelry. Zaftig is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.

Portland-based Simmons Wilkes Investment Advisors has joined HighTower, a national, advisor-owned financial services company serving high net worth and institutional clients. Edward Simmons, Gibson Wilkes, Blake Wilkes and Michael Simmons are now managing directors and partners at HighTower.

Jessica Whitten, LCPC, a clinical therapist certified in EMDR, has recently opened a private practice at 15 Main St., Suite 221, Freeport. Whitten, who encourages emotional, spiritual and behavioral well-being in all life stages, is accepting new clients and can be reached at 632-8024.

CPA Maura Halkiotis has opened a new CPA practice at 11 Winter St. in Yarmouth, specializing in the preparation of tax returns for individuals and small businesses, QuickBooks consulting, and small business consulting. Previously, Halkiotis served as the town of Yarmouth’s finance director for nearly nine years. She is accepting new clients and can be reached at 841-3327.

Karen Richter-Hall, DVM, recently opened The Pownal Veterinary Hospital and held a grand opening celebration at the clinic, located at 191 Hallowell Road in Pownal. Services include physical exams for dogs, cats, and small mammals, vaccinations, lab services, surgeries, x-rays, veterinary acupuncture, medications for fleas, ticks, and heartworm, and humane euthanasias. For more information, call 688-4843 or visit pownalvet.com.

Patricia Walden of Topsham has opened the Academic Associates Reading Clinic, offering one-on-one reading instruction in her home of the Academics Associates Reading Program, a phonics-based course for students of all ages. The course is designed to improve graded reading levels, fluency and comprehension. For more information, call 512-0201.

Roxane Cole, managing member and commercial broker, has recently established Roxane Cole Commercial Real Estate LLC, a company that represents buyers, sellers, tenants and landlords in commercial real estate transactions. For more information, please visit roxanecole.com or call 653-6702.

Mercy Health Systems has moved its primary care practice, formerly State Street Internal Medicine, to 43 Baxter Blvd., and has renamed it Portland Internal Medicine at Baxter Boulevard. The Baxter Boulevard practice includes four clinical staffers, Dr. James Katz, Dr. Marc Cienawski, Nurse Practitioner Gail Meyer and Physician’s Assistant Noel Genova, who are accepting new patients. For more information, call 879-3486.

Jonathan Berry of Falmouth and Mark Dion of Portland, have recently joined to form Berry and Dion LLC, a law firm located at 97 India St. in Portland’s East End. Berry was previously in private practice where he specialized in litigation involving both civil and criminal matters. Dion recently completed his third term as Sheriff for Cumberland County and is currently a legislator in the Maine House of Representatives. The firm will focus on legal issues involving medical marijuana, litigation, and labor relations.

Cool As A Moose specialty retail shop featuring Maine-themed apparel and gifts recently held a grand re-opening of its Portland store at 388 Fore St. In celebration of five years in business at its Portland location, Cool As A Moose completely renovated the Fore Street store.

Professional Achievements

Dr. John J. Lowery of Falmouth has been accepted into the Family Medicine Residency Program at Central Maine Medical Center, where he will begin as a resident physician in July 2011.

Seth Cheikin of the financial services firm Edward Jones in Falmouth has achieved the professional designation of Accredited Asset Management Specialist.

Albin, Randall & Bennett, a full-service CPA and consulting firm in Portland, has been selected as a member of the Real Estate & Construction Advisors Association, RECA, a nationwide association of CPA firms chosen for experience in and commitment to serving the real estate and construction industry.

Freeport resident Dr. Michelle A. Broderick recently celebrated 20 years practicing optometry with Maine Optometry. Broderick splits her time between the offices in Brunswick and Freeport.

Mark Almgren of Topsham and Casey Walker of Bath recently completed a four-week training program and passed the Maine Criminal Justice Academy certification examination at Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset to become Maine Certified Correctional Officers.

James O’Brien of Cumberland-based Norton Financial Services has obtained the FINRA Series 66 registration. O’Brien, a resident of Old Orchard, is now an investment adviser representative of Commonwealth Financial Network, Member FINRA/SIPC, a Registered Investment Adviser. Falmouth resident Catherine Desrochers of Norton Financial Services recently obtained the FINRA Series 6 and Series 63 registrations.

Cumberland resident Phoebe Chandler of the Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage office in Portland has earned the Accredited Real Estate Professional designation.

Carrie Burgin, volunteer program coordinator for Goodwill Industries of Northern New England, has been awarded the Certified in Volunteer Administration credential by the Council for Certification in Volunteer Administration.

Derrick Buckspan and Susan Scanlon of RE/MAX By The Bay in Portland recently earned their Broker licenses.

Scarborough resident Katelyn Estes of the Hobbs Funeral Home in South Portland has recently passed the examination of Maine’s Board of Funeral Service, and is now licensed as a Funeral Practitioner.

Richard O’Meara of Cape Elizabeth, an attorney and director with the law firm Murray, Plumb & Murray, was recently admitted as a member of the New Hampshire State Bar. O’Meara is also a member of the Maine State Bar and the bars of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Goodwill’s administrative headquarters at 353 Cumberland Avenue in Portland recently received Energy Star status from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In order to receive to receive Energy Star status, buildings must be performing at 75 percent or higher, when compared to similar buildings, for 13 consecutive months.

Yarmouth Boat Yard has received the designation of Gold Flagship Dealer by Pursuit Boats in recognition of exceptional performance in dealership sales, marketing and service.

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