Winner for Wayside

MaineHealth took home the Community Choice Award during United Way of Southern Maine’s annual can sculpture contest at Wayside Food Programs in Portland last month. The sculpture, named “Angel Hope,” depicts a health care worker wearing angel wings. Eleven MaineHealth volunteers worked together to create it from 1,200 of cans and bags of food donated by the health care team. It represents the heroes who have been working tirelessly to treat patients since the start of the pandemic. The angel is wearing boxing gloves to symbolize the advances in COVID treatment, and she’s supported by vials of vaccines used to protect the public. Contributed / MaineHealth

Recognition

The Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition announced that Southgate in Scarborough is a 2021 recipient of a Charles L. Edson Tax Credit Excellence Award, recognizing affordable housing options that demonstrate impactful use of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit.

Southgate, developed by Avesta Housing, is a historic landmark repurposed to create affordable housing in a high-cost growing community. Southgate provides 38 affordable homes, with eight reserved for people who have experienced homelessness.

Maine Dentistry was named as one of the 2021 Best Places to Work in Maine. Receiving this award in the small business category, Maine Dentistry employs close to 25 medical and clerical staff in Maine with offices located in Gray, Portland and Auburn. Focusing on cosmetics, implant, Invisalign and TMJ, but with a focus on overall patient health, Maine Dentistry practices comprehensive, in-depth treatment for its expansive patient base.

SeafoodSource recognized Portland-based Bristol for its efforts on sustainability and conservation, which earned it a spot on the top 25 most innovative seafood products in North America for the second year in a row. The award-winning product is Bristol’s Seafood Singles, a retail line of sustainably sourced salmon.

Giving back

The front walkway of St. Mary Church in Bath, long roped off because it was in need of repairs, is in use once again, thanks to the generosity of Knights of Columbus Council 249. The council paid for two new sets of granite steps, for re-bricking the pathway that connects them and for new handrails. The project cost more than $20,000, far more than the $4,000 originally anticipated, but the Knights were committed to getting it done. They raised $2,000 by raffling a birdhouse handcrafted to be a replica of St. Mary Church and then used money they had from the sale of their building to pay for the rest.

The Greater Freeport Chamber of Commerce held its 6th annual Great Golf Ball Drop at Gritty’s in Freeport, with 2,000 golf balls were sold. The numbered ball closest to the pin was purchased by Scott Libby, owner of Royal River Heat Pumps in Freeport, who won $2,500 cash. Libby, who donated his prize back to the chamber, was also the winner two years ago at the same event. The Freeport Chamber will be able to now create two larger Budding Entrepreneur Scholarship funds with this donation to benefit two Freeport High School seniors in 2022.

Volunteers from Point32Health, the not-for-profit health care parent company of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan, helped perform trail maintenance at Portland Trails on Sept. 22 as part of the company’s inaugural Volunteer Week.

New ventures

Ground was broken recently on the first Scarborough location of Aroma Joe’s, which will be located off Saco Street. The expected completion date by Great Falls Construction is early 2022. Aroma Joe’s has 79 locations across six states and 30 in Maine. This Aroma Joe’s will be 1,010 square feet and will include both a drive-thru and walk-up window.

Kalo’s new THC-infused seltzers have launched exclusively in Maine, entering all 40 dispensaries open across the state. Kalo is a weed seltzer brand founded by Hillview, a family-owned ag-tech innovation company pioneering the water-soluble THC extract that gives Kalo its classic rapid onset effect.

Evergreen expands

Evergreen celebrated recently the completion of major renovations to the credit union’s branch based on Broadway in South Portland. The five-month project included a new exterior and a redesigned interior. Participants in the renovation celebration included board members, Evergreen staff and representatives of the building contractors.  Contributed / Evergreen Credit Union