First Green Medal Award given to Falmouth native

GWA: The Association for Garden Communicators announced that its first-ever Green Medal Award for sustainability was presented to organic lawn care advocate Paul Tukey at the group’s annual awards dinner in Buffalo, New York, on Aug. 7. The award recognizes a member’s outstanding vision, leadership, and body of work in promoting sustainable gardening.

A Falmouth native known to the public for publishing gardening magazines, writing the Organic Lawn Care Manual and launching the SafeLawns movement across North America, Tukey also produced the Emmy-nominated film, “A Chemical Reaction.” Tukey is currently the chief sustainability officer for the Glenstone Museum in Potomac, Maryland, an all-organically-maintained 220-acre site that integrates native meadows, restored streams and tributaries, forests, more than 7,000 newly planted native trees, art, and architecture.

The Green Medal Award recognizes the life, vision, and work of an honoree who embodies the highest ideals of leadership in promoting sustainable gardening. It is open to both members and non-members in all professions and allied trades.

Save the Date

Strengthening communities through more civic involvement by residents and keeping the conversation civil is the topic of a seminar to be hosted in Brunswick, by The Community Institute. The day-long event will be on Thursday, Sept. 14 at the Brunswick Hotel and Tavern.

Geared for public officials, planners and community organizations, the speakers include a keynote presentation from nationally recognized expert Carolyn Lukensmeyer, executive director of the National Institute for Civil Discourse.

“Communities are facing challenges from all sides, from how to be responsive to residents, to attracting a younger work force and accommodating the needs of an aging community,” said Jane Lafleur of JB Lafleur Consulting. “This seminar will look at how to involve more people in local decision-making and keep civic engagement civil.”

Advertisement

Faculty members for the seminar include Sara Lightner and Caitlyn Davison of Orton Family Foundation; Nancy Smith of GrowSmart Maine; Anne Ball, representing Maine Downtown Center; Tara Hill, of the Maine Cancer Foundation, and others.

Maine Chapter hosts Financial Professionals Day 

The Maine Chapter Society of Financial Service Professionals is presenting Financial Professionals’ Day on Tuesday, Sept. 26 at Embassy Suites in Portland. Sponsored by JP Morgan, Finance Authority of Maine, Ameriprise Financial, Federated Investors and Putnam, the full day of programs will be presented by nationally renowned speakers. 

For more information or to register, see http://bit.ly/2vWOPh0 or contact stacie@sarasioinc.com.

Maine Medical Center among the best

U.S. News & World Report has named Maine Medical Center a Best Regional Hospital for the fifth consecutive year. MMC also is just one of 48 hospitals out of 4,500 nationwide and the only hospital in Maine that was recognized as “high performing” in all nine procedures and conditions included in the 2017-18 survey of U.S. hospitals.

The rankings are available at http://bit.ly/2afbZI6.

“This recognition by U.S. News & World Report reflects the high-quality services we provide patients every day,” said MMC President and CEO Richard Petersen. “Achievements like this wouldn’t be possible without the dedication and diverse talents of our providers, nurses and entire care team.”

Advertisement

U.S. News created the Best Regional Hospitals survey in 2011 to provide consumers who want to stay close to home with a way to assess the overall care at hospitals in their areas. Barely 10 percent of hospitals can call themselves a Best Regional Hospital. U.S. News also rated MMC as “high performing” in these nine common procedures and conditions: abdominal aortic aneurysm repair; aortic valve surgery; colon cancer surgery; COPD; heart bypass surgery; congestive heart failure; hip and knee replacements; and lung cancer surgery.

Recognition

Verrill Dana has been recognized in the BTI Power Rankings 2017: The Law Firms with the Best Client Relationships in 18 Industries for the second year in a row. In related news, Verrill Dana ranked seventh in the nation in the National Law Journal’s “NLJ 500 Women’s Scorecard” and was also named a “Law360 Ceiling Smasher” for its percentage of female equity partners compared to other firms its size.

Hires, promotions, appointments

Katherin E. O’Grady of Cumberland has been elected to the Saco-based Delta Dental Plan of Maine board directors. O’Grady is a recently retired vice president IT – Operation Services at Unum in Portland, and has more than 35 years of insurance industry experience.

O’Grady

Live Well Farm feted Harpswell’s three fire departments as the 2017 winners of the organization’s Community Service Award. Shown, from left Aug. 8 are Harpswell Neck Fire Chief Dave Mercier, Cundy’s Harbor Assistant Fire Chief Aaron Despres, Patty Ruppert of Live Well Farm, Orr’s & Bailey Island Assistant Fire Chief Philip Taylor, Scott Ruppert of Live Well Farmr, Harpswell Neck Fire & Rescue Assistant Fire Chief Nelson Barter and Harpswell Neck Rescue Chief Gail Hart.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.