Former Waterville resident honored
Former Waterville resident and registered nurse Sherri Lorette was recently chosen from more than 19,000 home health care professionals as the BAYADA Home Health Care RN Hero of the Year.
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Lorette, who works with the BAYADA Hospice specialty practice in Norwich, Vt., “exemplifies the highest standards of care and demonstrates the company’s core values of compassion, excellence and reliability,” according to a press release.
BAYADA President and Founder Mark Baiada presented Lorette with the award during the company’s annual awards ceremony on May 17 in Charlotte, N.C. BAYADA is a national health care company.
“When people find out I work in hospice, they say, ‘Oh, you work with dying people.’ I say, ‘No, I work with people who are living,'” Lorette said. “They want to use the rest of their time actually ‘living,’ and want to use that time wisely. It’s amazing to me that I can help them do that. It’s an honor for me to help families care for their loved ones and keep them at home.”
A former resident of Waterville, whose mother currently lives there, Lorette has been a nurse for almost 30 years, spending nearly a decade in hospice care.
Established in 1999, the Hero on the Home Front program recognizes care professionals who consistently demonstrate the BAYADA core values of compassion, excellence and reliability, according to the release. Each quarter, patients and peers nominate their local heroes. From the local heroes, division heroes are selected and ultimately four national heroes are chosen among five disciplines: registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, therapist, home health aide and social worker.
Lakewood Theater gets Skowhegan Savings grant
Skowhegan Savings Bank announced Wednesday that it will award $4,500 to the Lakewood Theater in Madison.
Established in 1901, the summer theater on Lake Wesserunsett offering musicals, comedies, dramas and children’s shows from late-May through mid-September.
It’s the 10th consecutive year the bank has provided lead underwriting support for the theater, according to a press release, and is one of several donations the bank has made this year to area nonprofit groups.
Madeline Snow, Lakewood Theater office manager, said in the release that ticket sales can’t cover the cost “of maintaining our aged buildings, our beautiful costumes and the quality performances that make up the grand legacy of Lakewood.
“In fact, upkeep at a historic place like Lakewood — where cracked ceilings, old floorboards and roof repairs are the norm — is unyielding,” said Snow. “Lakewood relies on financial partners like Skowhegan Savings to keep the lights on and the curtain rising each summer.”
For more information, go to lakewoodtheater.org or call 207-474-7176
Farr joins Crisis & Counseling Board of Directors
AUGUSTA — Jonathan Farr, of Winslow, a T-Mobile recruiter with years of leadership experience in Maine and beyond, was recently named to Crisis & Counseling Centers’ Board of Directors, replacing his mother, Mary Darling, who left the board in May after more than five years of service.
A Maranacook Community High School graduate, Farr served three years as a noncommissioned officer in the U.S. Army, working as a helicopter crew chief and an aviation life support equipment technician. He then managed a local Motel 6, was an apprentice engineer at Wrabacon Inc. in Oakland and now works as a recruiter for T-Mobile in Oakland.
Crisis & Counseling Centers, based in Augusta, serves individuals with behavioral health needs, including substance abuse, mental health and co-occurring disorders. The nonprofit agency is the sole provider of crisis services for Kennebec and Somerset counties and administers 24-hour-a-day crisis services to those in need.
Hallee, Gergais elected to MEP board
AUGUSTA — George Gervais and Jason Hallee have been elected to the board of directors of the Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership.
Gervais is commissioner of the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development and Hallee is Alere operations director.
“Their demonstrated leadership skills and knowledge of Maine’s manufacturing sector will serve Maine MEP well,” said Bruce Pulkkinen, chairman of the Maine MEP board of directors, in a press release.
Gervais has been economic and community development director for three years since May 2011. A graduate of the University of Maine, Gervais has been with DECD since 2008, previously serving as acting commissioner, assistant commissioner, development program manager and business development specialist. Prior to joining DECD, Gervais spent more than 20 years in the private sector managing and owning businesses.
Hallee is director of operations for Alere Scarborough Inc., a medical device developer and manufacturer specializing in rapid human diagnostics. As a member of the company’s senior management team, Hallee has more than 17 years of experience in medical diagnostics manufacturing. He earned a BA from Colby College and completed the immunology master’s program at the University of Southern Maine.
The Maine MEP is a program of the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development and an affiliate of the National Institute of Standards and Technology under the U.S. Department of Commerce. The national MEP system is a network of manufacturing extension centers that provide business and technical assistance to smaller manufacturers For information on the Maine MEP program, go to mainemep.org or phone 1-800-MEP-4MFG.
Hallowell auto shop wins AAA award
Don Foshay’s Discount Tire and Alignment of Hallowell has been awarded the 2013 AAA Approved Auto Repair Independent Facility of the Year award, according to a press release from AAA Northern New England.
The award is presented by AAA Northern New England to one dealership and one independent repair center in each of the three Northern New England states. Scoring is compiled through customer satisfaction ratings. Don Foshay’s Discount Tire & Alignment of Hallowell scored the highest AAA rating among all independent repair shops in Maine, according to the release. Don Foshay’s Discount Tire, a Maine owned and operated company with seven locations throughout Maine, has been in business for over 30 years.
The business is managed by Chris Crocker, and AAA said he and his team achieved a 100 percent satisfaction rating, with every respondent saying they would return for service and recommend the facility to others.
“This award recognizes the best of the best, said Tom Giasson manager of AAA Approved Automotive Programs in the release. “Winning this award is no easy task and to achieve a 100 percent customer satisfaction rating is a tremendous accomplishment.”
Foshay said that Crocker and his crew “epitomize the customer service ideals we strive for as an organization.”
Riley named to Day’s finance post
WATERVILLE — Dorcas Riley, of Waterville, has been named vice president of finance for Day’s Jewelers.
Riley is a Colby College graduate who completed her accounting education at Thomas College in Waterville, according to a press release.
She had been with the firm Ernst & Young in Portland, then worked as chief financial officer for several central Maine companies, including PFG NorthCenter Foodservice and Kennebec Savings Bank, before Day’s Jewelers.
Riley is also an active volunteer in the Augusta and Waterville area, serving on the Board and as Campaign Chair for United Way of Kennebec Valley, and on the boards of Thomas College and the Waterville Opera House.
Riley will oversee finance, information technology and in- house credit departments at the six-store retail chain, including its e-commerce division, www.daysjewelers.com.
Sheepscot Valley Health Center welcomes new provider
COOPERS MILLS — Colin McCabe, FNP, is joining the medical team Sheepscot Valley Health Center this month, according to a news release from the center.
McCabe recently graduated from the family and community nurse practitioner program at Husson University in Bangor. He earned a bachelor of nursing degree at Binghamton University, in Binghamton, N.Y.
“I was attracted to Sheepscot by the range of services offered to area residents including medical, care management and behavioral health,” McCabe said in the news release. “One of my professional goals is to assist people with chronic diseases in achieving successes through lifestyle changes rather than with medications alone. This involves helping prevent medical problems before they begin.”
He was impressed by the fact that the Coopers Mills/Whitefield community came together in 1980 first by setting up services in a trailer and later by re-purposing a church, which today continues to serve as the community’s health center, according to the release.
McCabe will join physicians Roy Miller and Kathryn Wistar, physician assistants Ann Schaer and Alison Welch, family nurse practitioner Deirdre Vander Schaaf and clinical social worker Judith Day. The group provides primary care and behavioral health services to about 4,000 people of all ages from Coopers Mills, Jefferson, Somerville, Washington, Whitefield, Windsor and surrounding communities.
Sheepscot Valley Health Center is part of HealthReach Community Health Centers, a group of 11 health centers in central and western Maine.
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