Maine's Capital Area

• Do you want to build your team and leadership effectiveness?
• Do you want a healthy team?  
• Do you want to learn from a new perspective in a non-traditional setting?

Well trying something new & different –

EQUINE ASSISTED CORPORATE TEAM BUILDING RETREATS

Our Program:

Our program offers a unique and non-traditional opportunity for organizations to build a stronger team in an outdoor natural setting through our customized Equine Assisted Programs.  Our programs will help develop leaders and improve communication, collaboration and cooperations between all staff members.

What’s not traditional – is team building with horses.  Each session becomes an experiential learning with opportunities to teach grounding skills, emotional regulation, distress tolerance, improve confidence, and improve communications skills.

Our horses will do most of the teaching in the specific activities we have designed to develop problem-solving skills while encouraging participants to work as teams to achieve positive results.

Why Horses:

Horses are 100% honest, 100% of them time.  No matter who you are, the horse will be an authentic team member who will let you know if things are working – or not.  And most often they will give you plenty of chances to get it right.

Without judgement they teach us to be present, honest, clear and committed.  Like people, horses come with a wide range of personalities, moods, and unique quirks.  They react differently to each person and each situation.

The horse’s herd mentality offers powerful leadership lessons. A horse will respect a herd leader who demonstrates awareness, fairness, consistency, and respect when guiding towards a goal.  Horses will challenge a leader who is vague, confusing or lacking commitment to the good of the group.  As a tool of survival – horses are highly sensitive to nonverbal stimuli, they are experts at reading the most subtle behaviors such as body language, posture, expressions, determination, and emotional charge of people.  They seem to sense personal level of trust, confidence, awareness and interpersonal skill providing us with valuable, visible, and uncensored feedback immediately.  With all of this information we learn if, when, or how we need to do something differently to meet their particular needs at that moment.

Effectively Lead & Manage

Our skilled facilitators know how to define the teachable moments in this unique style of the horse/human interaction that makes for an effective approach to building team leaders’ strong team dynamics.

In a very real sense, the horses do most of the teaching – event facilitators are there to provide explanations and guidance through each experience.

Horses have a great deal to t ach us, largely because they have so much in common with humans.  They are also surprisingly good at revealing the hidden dynamics within any team.  These sensitive creatures can actually hear our heartbeat and will react to even the slightest changes within a group.

For many this experience proves to be absolutely life-changing.  It builds trust and communication in a fun, engaging and full collaborative atmosphere.  Because these events make such a lasting impression, participants tend to retain the lessons far longer than in a typical classroom experience.

Programs are offered with certified professionals in both the equine industry and in corporate team building sessions.   Each session is limited to 10 participants.  No horse experience is necessary.  All work is unmounted (no riding required). 

Contact us for more information and to for customized programs and packages.

       207-370-1150

Brickyard Hollow is now open at the Marketplace at Augusta. Located at 1 Stephen King Drive, Brickyard Hollow's newest location is open every day from 11 am to 9 pm. Stop by for the signature craft beer and pizza!

Kennebec Behavioral Health is hosting its annual community fundraiser, a Night Out, in Augusta on November 4th. The event will feature a Maine Horror-themed murder mystery show with Mystery 207, a three-course meal, cash bar and basket raffle (ages 21+). 

Mystery 207 will stage the crime, give clues and interact with attendees as they try to solve who the murderer is. Costumes are encouraged! Attendees can dress up as their favorite horror character with extra points going to Stephen King characters. 

Tickets start at $55/person and are available at www.kbhmaine.org/anightout. All proceeds benefit KBH's College Scholarship fund which supports Maine students pursuing a college education in behavioral health. 

We recently hosted our 9th Annual Cruisin’ for a Cure Car Show at the Waterville Lafleur Airport. Although the weather wasn’t in our favor, we still had over 70 dedicated car owners who didn’t let the rain stop them! By combining the funds raised from the 2023 Cruisin’ for A Cure Car Show ($15,966.11) and the funds from the CO-OP Miracle Match ($5,000.00), our total donation to the Maine Children’s Cancer Program is $20,966.11!!! We would like to thank and attribute a large part of our success to the local businesses that sponsor our largest fundraising event, as they make it possible to raise all the proceeds for the Maine Children’s Cancer Program. 

8 of the 10 Run Amok meads that competed at the recent Orpheus Mead Fest came home with medals.  These are them!  Come and try some!   (Medals are in the mail.)

Summer Hours at FairWeather, our Tasting Bar(n) are:  Fri 4-7, Sat 2-7, Sun 12-5. 

Come and Run Amok with us!  (What could possibly go wrong?  😉)

Run Amok Mead is located at 1043 High Street in West Gardiner, Maine and we CANNOT WAIT to see you!

Would your business benefit from a Free IT Evaluation ? From Data Backups, Cloud Solutions, Phone Systems, Cyber Security, Remote Access and More. We can provide the solutions you need. You can email  or call 207-544-5510 for more information and scheduling! Find out your how your current Network is doing.

Secondly, as a fellow Member of chamber you will also be entitled to 1 month of complimentary Anti-Virus protection, should you choose to work with us for your IT Needs. 

Did you know that all of our non-profit members are eligible to use the energy procurement services of Maine PowerOptions?

Maine PowerOptions (MPO) is an energy-purchasing consortium that serves as an energy aggregator and educational service for Maine's public, governmental and non-profit organizations.

Their group-purchasing programs are designed to increase the buying power of member organizations for the purchase of fuel oil, electricity supply and related services.

The result is lower energy costs for Maine's non-profit organizations, higher education institutions, health care organizations, water, sewer, and school districts, and municipalities.

Membership and participation are voluntary and come at little or no cost to the members.

MPO hosts monthly, educational webinars on timely energy topics and produces an e-newsletter for members that includes grant and other funding opportunities available to its members.

Maine PowerOptions is a program co-sponsored by the Maine Health and Higher Educational Facilities Authority and the Maine Municipal Bond Bank.

Please contact Kay Mann, Program Officer at 620-1469 for membership information, or visit the MPO website.

We are incredibly excited to announce that New Dimensions FCU’s Financial Education department received CUNA’s 2023 Desjardins Youth Financial Education Award recently! Ryan Poulin, CEO, accepted the award at the Maine Credit Union League’s Annual Convention awards dinner on behalf of our entire team and financial education department for outstanding work around financial education. CUNA created the Desjardins program to recognize leadership within the credit union movement regarding financial literacy for all ages. Naming these awards after Desjardin emphasizes the movement’s long-time commitment to financial literacy.

We are very proud of our financial education department’s work headed by Carrielyn Reynolds, Financial Coach, who has led by instructing and crafting age-appropriate lessons to share with students from kindergarten through college levels. Her passion for financial education shows with every trip to a local school or business. Under her tenure, she has reached more students and school districts than ever before, and the feedback from educators has been overwhelmingly positive. Alongside Carrielyn, Brett Mulligan joined our financial education team and has begun undertaking new projects to educate a broader range of students and community members!

We commend all of our staff for the teachable moments that educated a member on a product or service, provided credit counseling, helped members pay off debt, saved money on loan interest, lowered loan payments, or saved for their financial goals. Ryan states, “We are in the dream fulfillment business and help our members achieve their dreams. Every day we have multiple opportunities to provide a member, even our youngest members, with the sound advice, products, and tools they need to achieve their financial goals. We are proud of our work as the Desjardins Award is a significant achievement to receive.” We are honored and inspired to continue expanding the financial education department to its fullest potential in the years to come.  

We are already almost to the halfway point of 2023! The Keller Agency wants to express a huge thank you to all of you for your support and understanding as we navigated the waters of this new agency. We are thankful that State Farm gave Paul the opportunity to be an agent in Augusta and we are thankful to the community for their support. Collectively, our team has 46 years of service in State Farm and though our agency is new, our team is not, and we have lots of experience to help you with what is important to you. In this agency, we pledge to treat every customer as we would our own family and provide you with choices and appropriate products and services to meets your individual needs. Thank you again for your support through our transition in the new agency, and we look forward to many years of service to you!!

We are pleased to announce that Katherine Higgins, Relationship Manager has successfully completed the requirements for her Series 7 investment securities license. The exam focuses on stocks and bonds, investment risk and interactions with clients. Katherine is now preparing for the Series 66 Uniform Combined State Law exam.

Securities and Advisory Services offered through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor. Member FINRA/SIPC. Katherine Higgins holds her Series 7 license with LPL Financial.

WATERVILLE, MAINE - April 20, 2023  - Golden Pond Wealth Management’s founder and managing director,    Brian Bernatchez, CFP®, was recently named to Forbes' Best-In-State Wealth Advisors list for the fourth consecutive year.

“According to Forbes, the annual list spotlights the nation’s top performing advisors, who are nominated by their affiliated firm and evaluated based on a methodology developed by SHOOK Research. Advisors are also evaluated based on personal interviews, industry experience, revenue trends, a review of compliance records and a focus on those that encompass best practices in service to their clients.

“Although Forbes recognizes the individual advisor, being included in the Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Advisors list with a top 4 ranking for Maine is a reflection of our entire team, our clients, and their continued confidence in and support of our efforts to grow and protect their wealth,” said Brian Bernatchez, CFP®.

Golden Pond Wealth Management is based in Waterville, Maine. They provide retirement planning and comprehensive wealth management to individuals and families, and investment & endowment management to non-profit institutions.

Brian Bernatchez is an independent financial advisor affiliated with LPL financial, the nation's largest independent broker-dealer* and a leader in the retail finance market, providing resources, tools and technology that support advisors in their work to enrich their client's financial lives.

Securities and Advisory Services offered through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor. Member FINRA/SIPC

*Based on total revenues, Financial Planning magazine, June 1996-2022

LPL Financial, Forbes magazine and Golden Pond Wealth Management are all separate entities. The Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Advisor ranking, developed by SHOOK Research, is based on in-person and telephone due diligence meetings and a ranking algorithm that includes: client retention, industry experience, review of compliance records, firm nominations; and quantitative criteria, including: assets under management and revenue generated for their firms. Portfolio performance is not a criterion due to varying client objectives and lack of audited data. Neither Forbes nor SHOOK Research receives a fee in exchange for rankings.

RSVP to Nichole Rutherford at  or 207-221-2306.

The Augusta Civic Center is celebrating their 50th Anniversary in 2023! To commemorate this milestone, they plan to publish a special 50th Anniversary section scheduled to run in the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel on Thursday, December 29, 2022.

The Augusta Civic Center has hosted thousands of events over the 50 years from concerts to sporting events, conventions to corporate meetings, expositions to trade shows, and more! They have delivered space and support services for all groups-both large and small with great service and a professional and friendly staff for over half a century.

They truly value their business partnerships and friendships they have gained along the way and hope you will support their 50th Anniversary celebration by being part of this special publication. We look forward to working with you in helping to celebrate this milestone with the Augusta Civic Center.

If you would like to be part of this special commemorative section, please contact Bridget Campbell, Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel Advertising Operations Manager at or call 207-861-9155.

Riverview Psychiatric Center (RPC) is seeking volunteers to fill two (2) vacant positions on our Advisory Board. The Advisory Board meets every other month, on the third Thursday from 10:30am-12:00pm and is currently meeting via Zoom/Teams.

If interested, please submit a letter of interest to Amanda Esler in RPC's Superintendent's Office (). Candidates will be reviewed by the Superintendent and presented to the Board to be considered for appointment. Additional details about the Advisory Board are provided below.

Riverview Psychiatric Center (RPC), located in Augusta, Maine, is a hospital for the mentally ill established under the laws of the State of Maine, owned by the State of Maine, and operated by its Department of Health and Human Services.

The mission of RPC is to provide state-of-the-art care to persons with serious and persistent mental illness in collaboration with the community and to be a center for best practice, treatment, education and research for such individuals.

Riverview offers medically directed inpatient and outpatient psychiatric services for the diagnosis, treatment, care, protection, and rehabilitation as indicated of individuals admitted with psychiatric disorders.

Riverview’s Advisory Board helps achieve its mission and vision, ensure compliance with applicable mandates, and ultimately improve the quality of client care. Inclusion of members of the community on the Advisory Board will result in valuable input and involvement from the community and more collaborative dealings between the two.

The collaborative and cooperative efforts of the Advisory Board, the Medical Staff, the administrative staff, and others are necessary to achieve the mission and vision of Riverview Psychiatric Center.

Happy fall!

Please come and join Right at Home for our GRAND OPENING happening Monday, October 17th from 12:00-2:00. We are located at 2540 US-202, Winthrop, ME 04364.

We will be serving a light lunch and beverages for everyone who joins us in celebrating our new business. 

Everyone who joins us will be entered for a chance to win a door prize. 

Hope to see you all soon!