Benson recognized

Erica Benson was recently awarded the Maine International Trade Center’s Future Global Leader award at the 34th annual Maine International Trade Day in Bangor.

Benson graduated from Gorham High School in 2007 and the University of Southern Maine in 2013. She is the daughter of Eddie and Becki Benson of Gorham.

Her undergraduate concentrations were international business and entrepreneurship with a minor in political science. She interned at Maine’s International Trade Center in 2013 as a research assistant.

Benson is employed at the Center for Applied Research in Boston.

Maine author to speak

Helen Peppe, Portland author and photographer, will discuss her recently published memoir, “Pigs Can’t Swim,” at the North Gorham Public Library, 2 Standish Neck Road, at 7 p. m. on Thursday, June 12.

In the memoir, the youngest of nine children relates stories of her childhood in a hardscrabble, eccentric Maine family.

In other library news, the library will host its annual Chapter Book Challenge, which is open to all students entering grades 3 through 8.

Every participant will receive a Sea Dogs ticket at sign up. All students who complete the challenge will receive a gift certificate to a local bookstore.

Participants must read eight books from the North Gorham Public Library collection between Saturday, June 14, and Saturday, Aug. 30.

Registration is at the library, and library cards are free. For more information, call the library at 892-2575 or email libng@north-gorham.lib.me.us.

Sebago Brewing wins Golden Spoon

Sebago Brewing Company topped 10 other Gorham food venues as winners of the Golden Spoon Award in this year’s annual Taste Walk on June 1.

YoungLife Gorham, directed by Kati King, organized the Taste Walk. Town Councilor Suzanne Phillips, a YoungLife board member, said the winning dish was a “pablano-spiced pulled pork taco with black bean pure?e, guacamole and pico de gallo.”

A $5 fee allowed the public to sample signature foods of the participating venues and vote for a winner. “We raised over $500 for kids to go to camp,” Phillips said.

The event is already being planned for the first Sunday in June next year.

“One thing that people may not know about the Taste Walk is that Matt Mattingly of PineCrest was the one to start it,” King said. “The Taste Walk was Matt’s brainchild, and he decided to turn it over to Young Life in order to support the ministry and give an opportunity for teens to engage in a community-wide event”

Daigler a magna cum laude graduate

Timothy Daigler of Gorham graduated magna cum laude from Westminster School during the school’s commencement ceremony held on May 24 on the campus in Simsbury, Conn.

Westminster School has 390 students, who represent 26 states and 20 countries.

PineCrest

receives award

The PineCrest Inn in Gorham on June 5 announced that it has received a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence award.

The accolade, which honors hospitality excellence, is given to establishments that consistently achieve outstanding traveler reviews on TripAdvisor, and is extended to qualifying businesses worldwide, the inn said in a statement.

“Winning the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence is a true source of pride for all of us here at the PineCrest and 91 South,” said PineCrest owner Matt Mattingly in a statement. “We’d like to thank all of our past guests who took the time to complete a review on TripAdvisor.”

Mattingly said in the past 10 years PineCrest has attracted more than 25,000 guests to Gorham.

U.S. taxpayer debt

The Bureau of the Fiscal Service reported on June 5 that the U.S. Public Debt was $17,544,581,789,209.83.

Erica Benson receives the Maine International Trade Center’s Future Global Leader Award at The New North Trade Day 2014 last month in Bangor. Pictured, from left, are Renee Kelly, director of Economic Development Initiatives, University of Maine; Benson; Janine Bisallon-Cary, president and state director of International Trade; and George Gervais, Maine Commissioner of Economic and Community Development. Participating last week in the annual Torch Run, Gorham police officers support Special Olympics. They are pictured on Ossipee Trail and ran to the town line on Main Street, where the torch passed to Westbrook officers.