There are a ton of events happening in May in the Bath-Brunswick-Topsham region. Next week, I will be assembling a shorter, more bulleted list of all the things happening so you can mark your calendars. However, there are three events I want to take a bit more time for this week, presented in reverse chronological order (because it’s 2025 and everything is a bit backward, amirite)?

The first event I want to highlight is something our chamber is very proud to be a part of, which is the Connecting to Tomorrow Celebration on May 21 at Union + Co. in Bath from 5 to 7 p.m. You may have heard about the Connecting to Tomorrow initiative, workforce programming developed under the Working Communities Challenge grant and created under the leadership of the United Way of Mid Coast Maine with the support of several partnering organizations. Our Bath-Brunswick-Topsham Regional Chamber is a partner in this work, as we helped create the programming that helped execute the initial grant, and recently the team got awarded an extension grant which will allow our work to continue through July 2026.

Connecting to Tomorrow is based around two workforce programs that will be celebrated that evening in Bath beginning at 5 p.m. The Connecting to Tomorrow internship program is where students from Morse, Richmond, Mt. Ararat and Brunswick high schools, have been participating in 20- and 40-hour internships exploring career paths. We will highlight a few of these students and the businesses who were essential in beginning this pilot program in a short video presentation.

The second program is the Connecting to Tomorrow Video Project, which is a series of business profiles where students groups, student editors and some local community members interviewed businesses who have policies or a company culture that “connects to tomorrow.” It’s no secret that the next generation of employees could want different things in their career then our current workforce. This project highlights innovators who have developed different ways to support the needs of employees. On May 21, we’ll be sharing those business profile videos from the students and businesses who participated this pilot program.

It’s important to note that the Connecting to Tomorrow program was a pilot program, and now that we have secured additional grant funding, we’re looking forward to expanding and extending the program into the 2025-2026 school year this fall. In fact, planning is already underway for a school launch week of the Connecting to Tomorrow program in September with the participating schools.

That’s also an important reason why we are inviting interested business, students and community members to the celebration on May 21. Having policies for your employees that can connect to tomorrow can be critical for your success. Why not hear how other businesses make it work, or even sign up to get your business profiled this fall? Same thing for the internships. This program allows for students to get a taste of a career field and see whether it’s a good fit — or maybe finding out that it isn’t. Sometimes knowing what’s not a fit is as valuable as finding the career path to which you want to dedicate yourself. Come hear how these programs influenced and helped our students and businesses, and sign up to have an intern this fall. Finally, for interested community members, we need help spreading the word about these programs and you can be a great advocate for us, so join us to see what it’s all about on May 21.

The next event to highlight is our chamber’s golf tournament, which is next Friday, May 9, at the Brunswick Golf Club. The Hacker’s Ball, sponsored by Darling’s Brunswick Ford, is a ridiculous silly tournament that raises funds for the Bath-Brunswick-Topsham Regional Chamber and goes to our programming including our workforce programming. The tournament splits the four-person teams into two divisions based on your collective handicap so the good golfers compete in the Golfers’ Division, while the rest of us compete in the Hackers’ Division.

In terms of tournaments, we are one of the most affordable around, at $100 per player or $400 per team, which includes coffee and donuts, a boxed lunch, after-tournament food, your greens fees, cart fees, entrance into the long drive competition, the two closest to the pin competitions, and the team prizes where two teams from each division are awarded prizes. If you want to participate in side games for a little extra contribution, you can do the putting contest, the One Ball 50/50 challenge, buy a Hack Pack (that includes golfer benefits including our mystery box item) or shoot the air cannon.

The proceeds go to the chamber, and the networking at the tournament is loads of fun. We still have three team slots open to get us to our 20-team goal, and four hole sponsorships available. All sponsors, regardless of if you play, are invited to the post-tournament gathering on the back porch. Contact me at Cory@midcoastmaine.com if you want to play or sponsor.

Lastly, Bath-Brunswick Respite Care has their Community in Color Art Show and Online Auction this Saturday from 2 to 5 p.m. It’s their biggest fundraiser of the year, and details can be found at www.respite-care.org and questions can be e-mailed to info@respite-care.org or by calling (207) 725-8571.

Their promotional card for this event had these inspiring words which I think will connect with you too:
“Art has a unique power to connect, especially for those with dementia. It provides a way to express emotions and memories when words are difficult, using color to communicate in a universal language. Even as dementia affects cognition, art offers creativity and emotional expression, helping individuals connect with themselves and others. Join us May 3^rd to celebrate the power of art and the accomplishments of our community.”

Couldn’t have said it better myself. More May events featured next week!

Cory King is executive director of the Bath-Brunswick-Topsham Regional Chamber of Commerce.