Spreading sanitizer in SoPo

Hires, promotions, appointments

The Telling Room youth writing and publishing program recently welcomed Rylan Hynes as its new communications manager. Hynes, who grew up in South Portland, was awarded a Martin Dibner Fellowship in 2020 by the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance.

New officer and honorary trustee appointments for the Susan L. Curtis Foundation were recently announced: Kylie Mason, board chairperson, Sebago Technics, Scarborough; Nolan Reichl, vice chairperson, Pierce Atwood, Cape Elizabeth; Rocky Cianchette, honorary trustee, Main Line Fence, Falmouth; and Don Foerster, honorary trustee, L.L.Bean, Freeport.

Spinnaker Trust, a Maine-chartered trust company, announced the promotion of Jeannine Pendergast, CPA to principal. Since 2015, Pendergast has overseen the growth of the firm’s employee stock ownership plan practice into a central offering of the wealth management firm.

Carla Manganello has joined RockWater Real Estate Group of Keller Williams Realty. The Portland resident has more than 20 years of experience with a major sporting goods retailer and and successfully guided the construction of 140 new retail establishments in eight states.

Granted

The Maine Community Foundation’s Conservation for All grant program has awarded $206,000 in grants to 18 nonprofits, including Portland Parks Conservancy, to develop a plan to make Riverton Trolley Park more accessible to an underserved Portland neighborhood.

MAMM awards recognizes golden supporters

Maine Academy of Modern Music (MAMM) presented gold records to its 2020 Chords for Kids “Rock Stars In Our Communities” awardees the weekend of Jan. 9.

MAMM’s Volunteer of the Year is Danielle Scott. After the pandemic shut down most businesses in Maine, Scott led the “Ad Hoc Rock Doc” team to advise MAMM as to how to reopen and provide in-person programming safely.

“We have such immense gratitude for how Danielle has so graciously given her time and energy to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our students and staff,” MAMM Board President Zoe Hull said. “She has made it possible for us all to keep rocking during these challenging times.”

The 2020 Music Community Leader Award goes to the Maine Music Relief Fund, a coalition of donors and statewide music arts administrators brought together by SPACE to help offer direct financial relief grants to artists in need during the pandemic.

The 2020 Foundation Partner Award recognized PRBB Foundation, which supports skill-building and cultural enrichment opportunities for youth, especially if it involves girls, has supported MAMM since 2013.

Wireless Partners LLC is the winner of the Community Sponsor Award. Understanding MAMM’s common goal of serving students in rural Maine, Wireless Partners has been generously sponsoring MAMM events for years.

Giving back

To mark the end of a challenging year for so many people and to ring in 2021 with a new beginning, Town & Country Federal Credit Union’s “Local Helping Local” initiative is provided hundreds of meals to front-line health care workers, including those working with COVID-19 patients at Maine Medical Center in Portland and Southern Maine Medical Center in Biddeford. The credit union partnered with local businesses to have the meals prepared and delivered safely to both facilities.