Paying it forward

Casco Bay Ford raised over $15,000 for the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital during “Pay it forward, we’ll give it back.” The fundraiser dovetailed with promotions by the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Yarmouth Chamber of Commerce that encouraged consumers to patronize local businesses during the COVID-19 shutdown. Contributed

South Portland woman named Junior League of Portland president

The Junior League of Portland inaugurated Jessica Nason as president for the 2020-2021 league year, which began June 1.

Nason

Nason is the director of marketing and operations at Portside Real Estate Group, where she started the Portside Gives Back Campaign, a series of community fundraising events that donated over $60,000 to four local nonprofit organizations last year. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from the University of Maine and resides in South Portland. Nason was the winner of the 2015 Sally G. Vamvakias President’s Award, given to an individual who exemplifies the Junior League mission and makes exceptional and lasting contributions to the league and her community.

“As incoming president of the Junior League of Portland, Maine, I’m honored to serve with the 2020-2021 Board of Directors,” Nason said. “Against a backdrop of a global pandemic and a national movement toward social justice, highly skilled volunteer leaders and problem solvers like the women trained by the league are in great demand. The 2020-2021 board is made up of change agents and social activist pioneers and we’re ready to build upon the great accomplishments of last year’s leadership.”

Hires, promotions, appointments

Bergeron

Bill Bergeron, real estate agent with Fontaine Family – The Real Estate Leader, was recently awarded the Accredited Luxury Home Specialist Designation from The Luxury Home Council, Inc.

Portland law firm Verrill welcomed corporate and securities attorney Edward Rosenthal as a member of the Business Law Group. Rosenthal brings with him more than 40 years of experience, with particular focus on the representation of financial institutions and other companies in disclosure and related corporate law matters.

Recognition

Town & Country Federal Credit Union received three national awards during a week-long virtual ceremony announcing the 2020 recipients of the prestigious Credit Union National Association’s Diamond Awards. According to CUNA, 1,295 entries were submitted for the 2020 competition.

The first award was given for Money Conference, an annual event focused on workshops, sessions and discussions around financial wellness. The second Diamond Award was for its Million Dollar Challenge, during which the credit union saved nearly 2,000 members $2.5 million as a result of restructuring debt and loans, a special CD rate and other saving opportunities. In addition, the credit union was recognized for Rock the House, an annual event held to facilitate conversations around housing and to highlight different housing options available to people.

Giving back

Summit Natural Gas of Maine will donate $2,000 to Southern Maine Area on Aging as part of the company’s COVID-19 relief efforts. The organization will use the donation to provide homebound elderly meal delivery to community members in the York and Cumberland counties.

“Before the pandemic, Southern Maine Agency on Aging was delivering an average of 2,800 meals per week to 750 clients,” said Kate Putnam of Southern Maine Agency on Aging. “Since the crisis began, we are delivering nearly 5,000 meals per week to an average of 1,060 clients who are unable to shop or prepare adequate meals on their own.”

Moving on

The Portland Museum of Art announced the departure of longtime curator Jessica May, who has served as the deputy director and Robert and Elizabeth Nanovic chief curator since 2017. She has also held several key positions at the museum since joining the PMA in 2012 and overseen several transformative projects, including the highly visible multiyear project Your Museum, Reimagined, which included a complete reinstallation of the PMA collection, the publication of the museum’s first-ever collection catalog, the construction of the Osher Art Study Room and the digitization of more than 18,000 artworks.

“Jessica leaves the PMA having accomplished more in a decade than most achieve in a lifetime,” said Mark Bessire, the Judy and Leonard Lauder director of the Portland Museum of Art. “Her passion, creativity and devotion to the work is without parallel, and the chapters she has added to the PMA’s legacy are some of the most vibrant, compelling and transformative in the museum’s 138-year history.”