Kennebec Behavioral Health was recently named as one of the 2019 Best Places to Work in Maine in the large business category. The awards program was created in 2006 and is a project of the Society for Human Resource Management – Maine State Council (MESHRM) and Best Companies Group.

Kennebec Behavioral Health’s Chief Executive Officer Tom McAdam expressed that the organization’s designation as one of the 2018 Best Places to Work in Maine validates the purposeful attention that the agency has made around recruitment and retention. McAdam stated, “We are very pleased that our staff participated in the Best Places survey. They have acknowledged our efforts to create a workplace where people feel valued and enjoy coming to work every day. We also recognize the competitive workforce environment and will continue to do more for our staff around culture, compensation and benefits.”

For more information on the Best Places to Work in Maine program, visit www.BestPlacestoWorkME.com or contact Jackie Miller at 717-323-5237.

Kennebec Behavioral Health was founded in 1960 and operates clinics in Waterville, Skowhegan, Winthrop, Augusta and Farmington. For more information, or to schedule an appointment for any KBH service, call 1-888-322-2136. Information can also be found at www.kbhmaine.org.

Mid-Mine Chamber of Commerce, located in Waterville, welcomes Cindy Stevens as its new program director. Cindy has been named Chamber Program Director, replacing Kelly Smith who is leaving October 16 to pursue employment at the Snow Pond Center for the Arts, following two and a half years in her position.

Stevens, who retired October 1, had served 41 years in various sales, marketing, human resources, finance and management roles with the Morning Sentinel and Kennebec Journal, part of the Masthead Maine newspaper group. Her most recent position was regional advertising director for both papers, serving in that role since 2013. She was responsible for all advertising print and digital revenue, events, and internal promotions. Stevens was a former member of the founding board of directors of Waterville Main Street.

A graduate of Mt. Blue High School, in Farmington, Stevens graduated from Kennebec Valley Community College, in Fairfield, with a degree in marketing, and from the University of Maine at Augusta with bachelor of science and bachelor of arts degrees in business and marketing. She holds a masters degree in management/marketing from Thomas College, in Waterville, and earned her real estate broker’s license while employed with Century 21 Surette Real Estate.

Included in her new duties as program director will be oversight of dozens of the Chamber’s signature events, working with multiple volunteer committees, as well as marketing and communications of these events. Mid-Maine Chamber President and CEO Kimberly Lindlof said of Stevens, “I have known Cindy since my days in ad sales when she was steering the ship of my competition. I have great admiration for Cindy, the wealth of experience she has compiled, and the relationships that she has built over the years with the regional business community. The Chamber is hoping to capitalize on that connectivity as well as Cindy’s vast understanding of the market in the mid-Maine area. Our team is pleased to welcome her aboard.”

Stevens resides in Winslow with her husband, Gary, and son, Jonathan.

Come away to a private island where the plants, stones, and water are alive. Considered one of Shakespeare’s best fairytales, The Tempest is a magical journey through love, loyalty, and power. Recycled Shakespeare Company, now in it’s sixth season, will be performing at 7 p.m., on Friday, October 18 and Saturday, October 19, at Skills Inc. Ervin Center, 46 Front Street, Waterville.

With original music and direction by Emily Rowden Fournier, of Fairfield, co-director Helena Page, of Clinton, and stage manager Debra Achorn, of Waterville, the scene comes alive as the exiled Prospero, (Raymond “Wingnut” Wing, of Waterville) creates a magical storm in order to shipwreck the queen and her courtiers. Prospero’s daughter, Miranda (Omm Stilwell, of Vassalboro) does not realize her father’s plan to introduce her to Prince Ferdinand (Cody Curtis, of Bath), but soon learns how she and her father came to be exiled on this island which is inhabited only by them, the monster Caliban (Aaron Blaschke Rowden and Joe Rowden, both of Fairfield) and Ariel, the musical spirit of the island played by nine singers and dancers. With would-be assassins afoot, can Ariel protect the queen and Prospero and still be freed from enslavement? Live accompaniment will be by Fournier on flute and Mia Fairman, of Waterville, on violin.

Recycled Shakespeare Company was founded with the mission of making theater accessible to all while using recycled and repurposed materials. The nonprofit group is Northern New England’s only grassroots Shakespearean community theater and has been featured at the Shakespeare Theater Association’s annual conference in Prague, Czech Republic, for their efforts in creating ecological theater.

This family-friendly production will be presented in the round, with the audience getting a 360 degree view of the stage, and is free to the public. Best view seats can be reserved with a $10 donation. Themed refreshments will be sold.

For more information or to reserve seats call 207-314-8607 or email RecycledShakespeare@gmail.com.

Northern Light Inland Hospital is once again offering an amazing evening of musical entertainment at its annual Fall Pops Concert on Friday, October 25, at the Waterville Opera House.

The hospital welcomes the Portland Symphony Orchestra and guest conductor Erin Freeman, who was a recent finalist for Performer Today’s Classical Woman of the Year. Freeman serves in multiple capacities throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia and maintains a national presence through guest conducting engagements. She holds a joint position as director of the Richmond Symphony Chorus and director of choral activities at Virginia Commonwealth University. Additionally, she is the artistic director of Wintergreen Music and resident conductor of the Richmond Ballet.

She will be joined by guest soloist, soprano Alyson Cambridge, who is currently performing in Broadway’s Rocktopia, and has extensive experience as a singer, model, actor, and host. Cambridge has been hailed by critics as “radiant, vocally assured, dramatically subtle and compelling, and artistically imaginative,” by the Washington Post.

John Dalton, Inland Hospital president, says, “We are excited to share this special night of music and talent with the greater Waterville community. We know how much people look forward to this event, almost as much as we do! We want to thank our community for its support of the Pops concert and Inland Hospital.”

Proceeds from this year’s event will help Inland purchase upgrades to its cardiac monitoring system that have the latest patient safety technology for patients.

Tickets are available at www.OperaHouse.org or 207-873-7000. The cost to attend the concert and a special pre-event reception at Amici’s Cucina is $50; concert tickets without the reception are $25.