Golden Pond Wealth Management’s Bernatchez recognized

Brian Bernatchez, CFP, an independent LPL financial advisor and managing director at Golden Pond Wealth Management in Waterville, has been listed on the 2019 LPL’s Chairman’s Council, according to a news release from the firm. This award is presented to less than 2 percent of the firm’s approximately 16,000 advisors nationwide.

“Being named to the Chairman’s Council is a reflection of the extraordinary team of financial professionals we have at Golden Pond, who collectively have over 100 years of experience providing comprehensive wealth management services to Maine families and institutions,” Bernatchez said, according to the release.

 

Game Warden Of Year honored at annual awards banquet

WINSLOW — Game Warden Josh Bubier was honored as the Maine Game Warden of the Year as the Maine Warden Service celebrated its 139th Anniversary on March 28 at the Winslow Veterans of Foreign Wars post with an annual awards banquet. Bubier is stationed in Division D in Greenville.

Gov. Janet Mills attended and spoke at the banquet, which gives recognition to game wardens for their performances in 2018. It includes the recipient of the Maine Game Warden of the Year Award, recognizes the Game Warden Supervisor of the Year and the Legendary Game Warden of the Year, and highlights individuals and groups who assisted the Maine Warden Service.

Achievements that were recognized included incidents in which people’s lives were saved. Other awards highlighted the conservation of Maine’s fish and wildlife resources. The following were recipients of this year’s annual awards.

• The 2018 Maine Game Warden of the Year is Game Warden Investigator Josh Bubier, an investigator at the Maine Warden Service. Bubier is assigned to assist with searches, manhunts, countering illegal hunting activity, search warrants and more. In 2018, Bubier was selected to be a part of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. He often assists with training at the Advanced Game Warden School, instructing topics such as hunting incident investigation as well as search and rescue, and he is a member of the Evidence Response Team.

Bubier has been a mapper and planner for the Maine Warden Service Incident Management Team for many years. During a high-priority search last summer for a missing elderly woman in Millbridge, his work saved her life, according to the warden service. He also responded to the most serious and important call of his career in Norridgewock, playing a crucial role in the search for a suspect in the death of Somerset County Deputy Cpl. Eugene Cole. Bubier also was assigned a seat at the 2019 National Conservation Law Enforcement Chiefs Leadership Academy.

• The 2018 Maine Game Warden Supervisor of the Year is Sgt. Aaron Cross, of Morrill. Cross has been a member of the Maine Warden Service for over 12 years. Through this time, he has been a district game warden, corporal, Washington county field sergeant and now the section six sergeant.

The Outstanding Supervisor Award is presented annually to the supervisory officer who has demonstrated superior knowledge and leadership in conservation law enforcement supervision and by doing so has gained the respect of administrators, supervisors, fellow officers, other department employees, other agencies and the public regarding expertise and performance in the field of supervision.

• The 2018 Legendary Game Warden Award was presented to retired (1970-2006) Game Warden Michael Eaton, of Dover-Foxcroft, whose career spanned more than 36 years, most of which was spent patrolling the woods and waters of Piscataquis County. The department cited his knowledge of the habits of hunters, trappers and fishermen, as well as intentional violators, and said he “developed a keen knack for being at the right place at the right time.”

• 2018 K9 Search and Rescue of the Year Award: Game Warden Jeremy Judd & K9 Tika, of Mechanic Falls. The team is recognized for a May 2018 search for and rescue of a 58-year-old woman from Sanford.

• 2018 K9 Conservation Case of the Year Award: Game Warden Lucas Bellanceau & K9 Breezy, of Denmark. The team is recognized for efforts during a November 2018 illegal deer hunting investigation, in which they detected valuable case evidence.

 

Kennebec Savings Bank donates $25,000 to Whitefield Library

Kennebec Savings Bank, of Augusta, has made a $25,000 gift to the Whitefield Library in support of the purchase and restoration of the town’s historic Arlington Grange Hall. The gift will complete the first phase of the library’s campaign and fully fund the purchase of the building, according to a news release from the bank.

The Whitefield Library opened in July 2017 in response to a letter from a local second-grader, who asked the town’s selectmen to establish a library to provide children with a place to spend time during summer vacation. The library is completely volunteer-run and occupies space in the Grange at no cost.

The Arlington Grange was built in 1884 to serve as a meeting hall for an organization of Civil War veterans. Local Grange officials invited the Whitefield Library to use the space in 2017. In 2018, because of decreasing membership, the Arlington Grange decided to close. Bolstered by support from the community, the library plans to buy the building from the Maine State Grange and complete renovations that will improve its services and allow the organization to remain self-sustaining.

The first phase of the $155,000 capital campaign will fund the purchase of the building for $25,000 — a goal that has been reached as a result of the bank’s donation. Phases two and three will pay for a wide range of improvements, such as installing Wi-Fi and renovating the second floor to create an events space and community center.

 

Day’s hires Barnett-Parker as master goldsmith

Jordan Barnett-Parker has joined the Waterville store of Day’s Jewelers as its master goldsmith, according to a news release from the company.

Barnett-Parker’s love of metalsmithing started more than 20 years ago. As a senior in high school, he said, he “took a jewelry class because my father didn’t want me to get early release,” according to the release. He said he had a passionate teacher that sparked his journey into metalsmithing. “I had ideas, but I didn’t have the skills to make those ideas a reality,” he said, referencing his desire for more knowledge, leading to his long-spanning educational career.

His pursuit of education and metalsmithing skills led him to apprenticeships. By July 2000, he apprenticed at Michael Good Designs in Rockport. He continued to develop his skills in metalsmithing, attending college at the Maine College of Art in Portland, the University of Maine at Orono, and attending international Masters’ programs in Austria and Germany.

Barnett-Parker said that the traditions of European goldsmithing led him to Goldschmiedeschule Uhrmacherschul, a 250 year-old university in Germany that he refers to as “the Harvard of goldsmithing.” He obtained his master goldsmith degree in Germany and has since put those skills to use.

His passion for gold and silversmithing extends into teaching as well. He has more than a decade of experience in lecturing students and working with apprentices. In 2011, he was a featured artist and lecturer at Dartmouth College.

 

Compiled from contributed releases