Heritage Days greets new Main Street Bath director

BATH — Jake Korb will know soon enough if he’s made the right career move.

The 23-year-old became Maine Street Bath’s new program director June 17. Heritage Days, the city’s annual crowd-drawing Independence Day festival, is this weekend.

But Korb has experience with such events, and said he’s had the help of the Bath community to get ready.

“I feel as prepared as one can for a ‘baptism of fire,'” he said Monday, noting that Heritage Days coordinator Ed Rogers “has done a great job planning and has been briefing me on what to expect this week.

“Ed is just one of a number of people who make sure that Heritage Days happens,” Korb continued, “and all of the committee chairs and members have been wonderfully supportive during this transition.”

Korb comes from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and replace Mari Eosco, a city councilor who had been the organization’s interim director.

The “overwhelming sense of community that is present in Bath” is what drew him to the job, Korb said, adding that Main Street Bath “is an amazing organization that is driven by a passionate group of volunteers,” and that “their drive to make this organization successful could draw anyone in.”

Kord is no stranger to the City of Ships. His aunt and uncle, Mark and Amy Hranicky, moved to Bath a decade ago to open the Benjamin F. Packard House Bed & Breakfast.

Bath became a second home for him during that time, Korb said.

He previously worked as a development associate at The Neighborhood Academy, a Pittsburgh-based independent college preparatory high school serving at-risk youth, according to a Bath city press release.

“In his time at the school Korb has worked to improve the school’s relationship with local and state government, as well as implement programs for the better management of school volunteers and the school calendar,” the press release said.

Korb has also helped organize a community festival the past 10 years in his hometown of Girard, Pennsylvania.

That festival, Dan Rice Days, is comparable in some degree to Heritage Days, Korb said.

“The festival is smaller in the number of vendors we see, but the program is very similar, with the mainstays like a parade,” he said, noting that Heritage Days does have unique aspects, including the fireman’s muster.

Ruminating on his new job, Korb noted that he he hopes to “help the community continue to rise as a must-see for people traveling through Maine,” and that he would also like to encourage other young people to make their home in Bath.