A huge thank-you goes out to those who responded so positively to our first Midcoast Good News article last week. I heard from a dozen people about how much they appreciated it and got several new submissions of stories to share. This week we have some more incredible stories to share with you, (I say “we” because many of these came directly from the submissions you sent in) but before I do that, I want to let you know about two other somewhat-related things that are very important to me.

The first thing I want to address is, with parts of our country literally burning with protests, why would these good news stories be a focus worthy of your attention? My answer is that I’ve specifically chosen this time for these, as a small way I can help with that very issue. It’s important that all voices get heard and there are many opinions being expressed right now that further show the divisions of our culture. There are passionate people standing up for what they believe in, and by planting their flag on a particular issue, they’re boldly presenting themselves for ridicule from those who feel exactly the opposite.

What can I do in this column to add any more context to that discussion when we have news reporting already covering that in this paper? What I can do is present another view, by sharing good news in our community. These blurbs remind us that there’s more that brings us together, then divides us. When you read the stories of last week’s good news, did it mention which restaurants BIW bought lunch from that were women-owned, or minority-owned or which restaurant owners belonged to which political party? No. Did we mention the race or religion of those who gave to the Plant Home bottle drive, or the gender and business philosophy of those people working out together and donating instructor fees to the Bowdoinham Food Bank? Of course not. Because there is a collectiveness in a community. It’s important to remember that we see past these dividing lines every day to come together to support good people and worthy causes. That’s a crucially important reminder in these divisive times. We’re all in this together. And if we can find a way to support each other for a worthy cause, then we can find a way to overcome all other dividing lines too.

This second piece, is truly a sidebar and less related to the rest of this column than anything else, but with this forum it’s important that I share this with you. One dividing line I’m seeing right now involves customer attitudes towards masking, social distancing and adhering to the new safety protocols. Passionate people anecdotally tell me it greatly influences their purchasing and patronage decisions, while others say it has little effect on them. There are definitely two sides to the issue, but I can’t tell if it is a 50-50 split or a 90-10 split on how people feel.

With that, our chamber will be posting a brief online survey about customer attitudes on social distancing this week. Please, if you get an opportunity, spend five minutes to complete the survey. When the survey closes we should have some definitive answers on how people feel about social distancing in businesses. You’ll find the survey on the SMMC Facebook page, on our chamber website and being shared through the chamber e-newsletter. I encourage you to share it with friends of all ages, throughout the state.

With that, here are Some Good News Midcoast stories:

Brunswick High School Creating Summer Employment Opportunity Guide For Students
Rick Wilson of Brunswick High School, knows that times are tough right now for employers re-opening with new guidelines. He also knows another stress point is employees who may not be ready to come back to work over Covid-19 concerns or for any other number of reasons. Rick is taking it on himself to help create a summer resource employment opportunity guide for his Brunswick High School students. Any business who wants to submit an open position that would be appropriate for a high school student for the guide please e-mail Rick Wilson at rwilson@brunswick.k12.me.us

REMAX/Riverside Says Housing Market is in Full Bloom
The housing market was hot before Covid-19 and after a short lull when offices needed to close by state mandate, business has picked up again. Families are still finding their forever homes in Midcoast Maine (and quarantining in them for 14 days). REMAX/Riverside sent a note last week saying they recently closed on 18 homes in a single 20 day stretch, and on Brunswick Landing, 5 homes have gone under contract in the a 10 day stretch! Once their quarantines are over and we fully re-open the economy, those are two dozen families who will be living and investing in our region, and that’s always a good sign.

Family Focus gets a Noble Lunch
Shout out to the Noble Kitchen + Bar, located inside The Brunswick Hotel who provided a well-deserved lunch to essential workers at Family Focus. Executive Chef Jeremy Lamoureux and Sous Chef Will Gottshalk prepared the chicken salad and BBQ pork that was a highlight for these very hard working folks.

Goodwin’s Gives a New Car to Local Teacher
Kate Myall, who hosts several asylum-seeking teenagers from Burundi, wanted to find a way to thank Mt. Ararat English Language Development teacher Peggy Callahan. So she nominated Peggy to be the recipient of a new car through Goodwin Chevrolet Mazda in Brunswick, which she won. “I just feel like it is what all teachers do, care about their profession and work really hard,” Callahan said in an interview with WMTW-TV. The dealership also covered her registration, taxes and other fees. Thanks to Katie for nominating such a worthy recipient and thanks to Chris Goodwin and his team for such an inspiring community-minded gift and program.

Cory King is the executive director of the Southern Midcoast Maine Chamber.