Rockland Main Street hosts volunteer appreciation, recruitment reception
Members of Rockland Main Street, Inc. include Jason Merriam, Glenn Billington, Sierra Dietz, Kathleen LaBree, Megan Williams, Brian Harden, Paul Benjamin, Karyn Rizzo, Janet Page, Jake Miller and Gordon Page. (Photos by Chris Wolf)
Volunteers look over committee positions and chose events to help on.
Lots of food and drink for volunteers at the Eclipse Restaurant in the Trade Winds Motor Inn.
Members of Rockland Main Street, Inc. include Jason Merriam, Glenn Billington, Sierra Dietz, Kathleen LaBree, Megan Williams, Brian Harden, Paul Benjamin, Karyn Rizzo, Janet Page, Jake Miller and Gordon Page. (Photos by Chris Wolf)
Volunteers look over committee positions and chose events to help on.
Lots of food and drink for volunteers at the Eclipse Restaurant in the Trade Winds Motor Inn.
ROCKLAND — Rockland Main Street, Inc., hosted an informal volunteer appreciation and recruitment reception Tuesday evening at Eclipse Restaurant at the Trade Winds Motor Inn. The event was held to thank those volunteers who were involved with committees, programs and projects in 2014. It was also held to encourage new participation.
“The organization feels it’s important to recognize the dedicated volunteers who spend so much time and donate so many hours helping the organization,” said Gordon Page, executive director for Rockland Main Street, Inc. “We do a handful of events throughout the course of the year, and we also have four standing committees.”
Page said some volunteers donate hours during an event, while some donate several hours throughout the year.
“You can clock lots of time over the months they serve on committees,” he said. “There are meetings and they are also involved in events. We need a lot of legs on this organization.”
Page took over from Loraine Francis in March 2014.
“It was a learning year for me,” said Page. “My board is very solid. They took the lead in a number of areas and we have some really dedicated volunteers. Loraine was available to me by phone and email, so I don’t think we missed a beat in 2014. The beauty of it is that we have dedicated volunteers. That’s what this event is all about.”
Page said Rockland Main Street, Inc. also receives much help from the U.S. Coast Guard. Rockland, Maine, is designated as a U.S. Coast Guard city by an act of Congress.
“The men and women of the Coast Guard, whether they’re on a boat, ship or stationed at the base, have been instrumental in helping out, especially during the Lobster Trap Tree build in December,” he said. “It’s usually the coldest day at the end of the year and they send a couple of dozen people to that event. The strength and engineering expertise they have is instrumental in making sure we build a tree that doesn’t fall down. They are happy to help.”
The event held at the Eclipse Restaurant, formally the Chowder House, was hosted by Kathleen LaBree, who serves on the board of Rockland Main Street, Inc.
We took the opportunity to ask her how the name change and décor for the new restaurant is working out.
“It’s going amazingly well,” LaBree said. “We are open three days a week right now and sales are great. It’s funny how just a name change can do that. We’ve added some things to the menu. We were hesitant about the name change at first, but that is far, far behind us now. We have seen so many new faces.”
Coming up for Rockland Main Street, Inc. on May 27, is the Rockland Has Style, and Taste of Rockland, spring fashion show and food sampling at the Samoset Resort.
June 9, is the Rockland Has Talent… or Not! variety show to be held at the Strand Theater.
June 20, a Saturday, is the Summer Solstice Celebration and Street Party, an open air street party on Main Street in Rockland.
Event Date
Address
United States
