SNHU announces winter 2024 honors

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Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), in Manchester, New Hampshire,  announces the following students being named to the Winter 2024 President’s List.
Justin Drescher, of Augusta,  Ivette Hernandez Cortez, of Augusta, Grant Brown, of Augusta,  Matthew Bandyk, of Jefferson, Jennifer Anastasio, of Jefferson, Talon Mosher, of Winslow,  Quincy Giustra, of Winslow,  Candice Eaton, of Waterville, Sierra Winson, of Winslow, Andre Coachman, of Waterville, Carrielee Harvey, of Waterville, Heather Hall, of Canaan, Stormy Wentworth, of Fairfield, Misty Ray, of Montville, Zachary Eggen, of Liberty, Christopher Beaman, of Madison, Emily Hernandez, of Embden, Blake Laweryson, of North Anson, and Van Boardman, of Oakland.
The following students were named to the Winter 2024 dean’s list:
Brandon Stinson, of Augusta, Nicholas Stutler, of Sidney, Jaimie Thomas, of Sidney, Grace Marshall, of Waterville, and Ashley Parks, of Anson.

MaineGeneral’s comprehensive spine program

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MaineGeneral Medical Center comprehensive spine team. (contributed photo)

Mary Beth Ranger, nurse navigator for spine and osteoporosis, is several months into her role helping patients with back issues find the right care, with the right clinician, as part of MaineGeneral Orthopaedics’ Comprehensive Spine Program. Not long ago, Mary Beth was sitting in the chair as a patient.

“I had chronic low back pain that was radiating down my legs. My doctor referred me to Stephen Clark, MD. I had tried non-operative interventions and ended up needing lumbar surgery. I had full confidence in Dr. Clark, and had a fabulous experience from beginning to end.”

Mary Beth is grateful to be in this role navigating and supporting patients to achieve the best possible outcome, like she did. MaineGeneral Orthopaedics’ Comprehensive Spine Program connects people with back issues to the care they need. The care team evaluates and diagnoses spine problems, and designs and carries out a treatment plan tailored to each individual’s needs and lifestyle.

Depending on their treatment plan, patients have the following care team members from the comprehensive spine program available to them:

• Nurses
• Orthopaedic Spine Surgeon
• Physiatrists
• Physical Therapists
• Counselor
• Advanced Practice Practitioners (nurse practitioner, physician assistant)
• Medical Assistants

“Some patients are surprised to learn that we don’t automatically recommend surgery,” she says. “We believe a multifaceted approach works best to help you get back to living as actively and pain-free as possible. Spine surgery can be an effective treatment for some patients’ spinal problems. However, we know it is not the solution for many patients, and we nearly always attempt conservative management before surgical consideration.”

The Comprehensive Spine Program welcomes referrals from both medical professionals as well as directly from patients self-referring. “Many people feel fear because it’s their spine,” Mary Beth says. “I tell people it’s worth a discussion to see what your options are. Call to discuss next steps or learn more about the program.”

To learn more about MaineGeneral’s Comprehensive Spine Program, call (207) 621-8700 or visit www.mainegeneral.org/medical-services/ ortho/spinal-surgery.

Area students receive Husson University academic award

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Husson University Online, in Bangor, celebrates the academic achievements of students recently named to the president’s list, dean’s list and honors list for Term 3 of the 2023-2024 academic year.

President’s List: 3.80 to 4.0 semester grade-point average
Dean’s List: 3.60 to 3.79 semester grade-point average
Honor’s List: 3.40 to 3.59 semester grade-point average.

The students are:

Jazzmin M. Johnson, of Augusta, President’s List;
Melissa Lyon, of Waterville, – Dean’s List;
Olivia Brooke Roy, of Augusta, – Dean’s List.

Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce’s premiere tradeshow to be held May 21, 2024

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Central Maine’s largest tradeshow, Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce’s Business to Business Showcase, has been scheduled for Tuesday, May 21, noon to 6 p.m., at Thomas College Field House, West River Road, Waterville.

Reservations for booths at the showcase are still available to Mid-Maine Chamber member businesses only. For the most current list of exhibitors, please visit www.midmainechamber.com The showcase features nearly 100 exhibitors, free attendance and parking, cash bar, as well as a drawing for a $1,000 cash prize.

“The connections at the Showcase are unparalleled for a one-day event. If you are looking to get the word out about your business and network with other professionals, the Business-to-Business Showcase is really an unmatched opportunity for our region. Job-seekers will also find that many businesses are also hiring, offering the chance to speak directly to decision makers all under one roof,” said Cindy Stevens, Program Director for Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce.

The Business-to-Business Showcase event is made possible by major sponsors Allen Insurance & Financial, Brookfield Renewable US, Central Maine Motors Auto Group, Central Maine Power, Colby College, Kennebec Savings Bank, Maine Technology Group, Maine State Credit Union and Northern Light Homecare & Hospice. Other sponsors include Kennebec Valley Community College and Northern Light Inland Hospital.

Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting and advocating for business prosperity and regional economic improvement. Its region includes the towns of Albion, Belgrade, Belgrade Lakes, Benton, Branch Mills, Burnham, China, Clinton, Fairfield, Hinckley, Norridgewock, Oakland, Rome, Shawmut, Sidney, Thorndike, Unity, Vassalboro, Waterville, Weeks Mills and Winslow. For more information on the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce, including how to become a member, call (207) 873-3315 or visit www.midmainechamber.com.

Waterville Farmers Market open for the season (2024)

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One of the vendors Rachel Chapman, of Seven Moon Farm, in Etna. (contributed photo)

The Waterville Farmers Market will open Thursday, May 2, 2 – 6 p.m., at Head of Falls, in Waterville. It is open every Thursday, 2 – 6 p.m., rain or shine, until November 21. This year they have 23 vendors offering seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables, cheese, eggs, meat, fresh baked items, local crafts, maple syrup, honey, and plants/seedlings.

To address critical shortage Northern Light welcomes psychiatry residents

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In 2023, Northern Light Acadia Hospital launched a Psychiatry Residency Program to help fill a void left by the dwindling number of psychiatrists currently practicing in Maine. From 2020 to 2022, the number of licensed psychiatrists practicing in Maine dropped by more than half, from 110 to 50, according to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

On the first day accepting applicants to its newly-launched residency program, Acadia Hospital had nearly 500 people apply for one of its four openings. Ultimately, 95 candidates were interviewed by program faculty and then ranked for the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) selection process. Each spring the NRMP matches graduating medical students with residency programs at hospitals and universities across the nation. Candidates rank their favorite programs, and the programs in each specialty rank their favorite candidates. The NRMP then uses a computerized algorithm to determine where the budding physicians will train. Think of it as the NFL draft of medicine!

“We could not be more pleased to welcome these brilliant future psychiatrists to our new residency program,” says John Campbell, MD, FANPA, vice president and senior physician executive for Northern Light Acadia Hospital. “More than the quantity of candidates, which was certainly noteworthy, it is the quality of the applicants that really struck the selection committee. These four individuals are unquestionably the best of the best and we can’t wait to welcome them to Acadia Hospital, to Northern Light Health, and to Maine this June to begin their studies.”

On Friday, March 15, Acadia’s Residency program participated in its first “Match Day” and are pleased to introduce Acadia Hospital’s inaugural class of psychiatry Residents:

Kelly Anne Kossen received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Sciences from Colorado State University. She will soon graduate from the University of Queensland, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, with her medical degree. Kelly’s work over the past two years with The Trevor Project, a 24/7 crisis service focused on suicide prevention in LBGTQ+ youth, exemplifies her passion for service.

Adrielle Grace Massey earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Dartmouth College and a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree with a concentration on Human Biology from the University of Montana. This spring she will graduate from the University of Washington School of Medicine, in Seattle, with her medical degree. As part of her medical training, Adrielle was also engaged in the Indian Health Pathway, a certificate program providing educational opportunities and experiences in American Indian/Alaska Native Health.

Emily Rose Schiller received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of Michigan prior to obtaining a Master of Arts in a postbaccalaureate premedical program at Mount Holyoke College. She went on to attend Rutgers’ Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, in Piscataway, New Jersey. Emily has an impressive world/community health perspective built on a post-college internship in Liberia, as well as presentation on women’s health in rural Malawi for the National Institutes of Health Academy on Health Disparities.

Karen Jit Singh is a local resident of Hampden. She completed premedical training at the University of Toronto, in Ontario, Canada. Following that, she attended the Medical University of the Americas (St. Kitts and Nevis.) Karen is currently finishing a transitional year of Internal Medicine at Merit Health Wesley Hospital, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. She has been involved in research activities at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center including work on the opioid epidemic.

Acadia Hospital’s Residents begin their journey to becoming psychiatrists on June 17.

To learn more about Northern Light Acadia Hospital’s Psychiatry Residency Program, visit northernlighthealth.org/PsychiatryResidency.

EVENTS: Waterville Memorial Day ceremony planned

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American Legion Post #5 invites community members and families to the St Francis de Sales Cemetery wreath laying ceremony to honor deceased members of Canadian Legion Post #67, Forest J. Pare VFW Post 1285, Waterville Fire Department, Knights of Columbus #13486, Waterville Elks Lodge #905, McCrillis-Rousseau VFW Post 8835, and Law Enforcement Officers.

The ceremony will be held at St Francis Cemetery on Grove St on May 27, 2024 and begin at 9:00 a.m.

KVYSO is a place of growing for these five seniors

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by Eric W. Austin

For these five high school seniors, the Kennebec Valley Youth Symphony Orchestras have been a place to grow, to build friendships, and to nurture their passion for music. This Spring, they are preparing for their final concert before heading off to college, on Mothers Day, May 12, 5 p.m., at the South Parish Church, in Augusta.

“I was such a rascal,” says Sophia Scheck with a rueful grin. “I didn’t just learn music, I learned to make friends, and sometimes how to lose them, and that’s okay.”
– Waterville High School senior Sophia Scheck

Sophia Scheck

“I was such a rascal,” says Sophia Scheck with a rueful grin. Scheck, a senior at Waterville High School, plays the viola (which is similar to a violin but a little bigger with slightly different strings). “Pineland Suzuki (school) has affected my life in so many ways,” she says. “I didn’t just learn music, I learned to make friends, and sometimes how to lose them, and that’s okay.” Scheck hopes to head for the Boston Conservatory next year to major in viola performance.

Carolyn Phelps Scholz

Carolyn Phelps Scholtz, a senior at the Ecology Learning Center, a public charter high school in Unity, plays the fiddle and has found her musical experience incredibly rewarding. “I’m still playing music with people that I started playing with when I was four,” she says. “We’ve grown up together, as people and musicians, and we’ll always have that.”

Diana Estes

Diana Estes is a homeschooler and has spent her life playing music and singing with her parents and six siblings. In her sixth year playing the cello, she sat as principal cellist in the Mid-Maine Youth Orchestra and now holds that place in the Kennebec Valley Youth Symphony. In 2023, she won the Anna Bereziuk and Lindley Wood Prize for Ensemble Endeavors in the Bay Chamber Prizewinner’s Competition. Outside of music, she is a devoted student, book enthusiast and soccer player. She has been accepted to Cedarville Univ­ersity, in Ohio, as a cello performance major, where she plans to double-major in biology before heading to medical school on her way to becoming a chiropractor. “I almost gave up playing cello in August 2021,” she admits. “I was prepared to sell my instrument, but my parents encouraged me to continue for just one more week, so I did. Three years later I’m on my way to college for cello, something I used to not like! The community and friendships built during my time at Pineland Suzuki School have been invaluable to me.”

Eben Buck

Silas Bartol

Eben Buck, who attends Cony High School, in Augusta, and Silas Bartol, from Maranacook High school, the remaining seniors in the orchestra, have been friends since childhood. “I still laugh about the “time Silas Bartol stuck his finger in Eben’s ear on stage during a rehearsal,” says Buck’s mother. “Eben calmly took Silas’ finger out of his ear and stuck Silas’ hand in his own pocket. They were four or five years old.”

The KV Youth Symphony Orchestras are a nonprofit initiative spearheaded by the Pineland Suzuki School of Music, in Manchester, with the aim of bringing the string musicians of the Suzuki school together with other local students of wind, brass and percussion instruments for a complete orchestral experience. Their May concert will feature music selections from Mozart’s Violin Concerto #3, Brahms’ Variations on a theme by Haydn, Bizet’s L’Arlesian Suite #2, among other pieces.

For more information about their upcoming concert or to find out how to enroll a student in the program, please visit their website at www.kvyso.org.

Maine Pond Hockey Classic raises record $52,000

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Despite unseasonably warm winter weather, the 12th annual Maine Pond Hockey Classic, held at Snow Pond, in Sidney, raised a record $52,000 for the Alfond Youth & Community Center in Waterville, which serves more than 5,000 youth in Maine. Hammond Lumber Company was the presenting sponsor.

This year’s highly-popular event attracted 70 teams and 560 players from New England, other U.S. states, Canada, and as far away as Australia. Due to the success of this year’s tournament, the 2025 Maine Pond Hockey Classic has already been scheduled for February 14-16, and is now accepting registrations at mainepondhockey.org.

“We’re extremely excited that the Maine Pond Hockey Classic has become Maine’s largest pond hockey tournament,” said Patrick Guerette, the tournament director. “We are beyond grateful to have so many players, young and old, return year after year to support our tournament and cause. Their passion and loyalty allows the Alfond Youth & Community Center to have an even greater and more positive impact on the lives of Maine youth.”

Guerette also noted that the Maine Pond Hockey Classic has adjusted to the warmer weather experienced in Maine this past season. “Adapting to the conditions is part of pond hockey; this year was no different, and we were able to play the best boot hockey ever on Snow Pond,” he said. “Everyone had so much fun we actually created a ‘Boot Hockey Division’ for next year’s event.”

New procedure at Northern Light Podiatry helps bunion sufferers

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Dr. Jared Wilkinson talks with a patient about bunions at Northern Light Podiatry, in Waterville, which is on the Inland Hospital campus. Contributed photo

Bunions, those bony bumps at the base of the big toe, can be painful and disrupt a person’s daily living – even making walking painful. Approximately 25 percent of people in the U.S. have bunions, including Cherie Merrill, from Monroe, who suffered in pain for nine months.

“I’m on my feet 90 percent of the day as executive director of the Belfast Food Kitchen, and my seven grandkids keep me very active,” says Merrill. But Merrill notes, “After this awful bunion developed, I had to slow down, and by the end of each day, I was in so much pain, I couldn’t even walk. It started as a minor pain in my left foot, and progressed to worse pain as the months went on.”

After being told that different shoes could fix her issue (which it did not), Merrill was happy to learn about an innovative new bunion surgery performed at Northern Light Inland Hospital, in Waterville, and Northern Light Sebasticook Valley Hospital, in Pittsfield. Podiatric surgeons are helping people like Merrill get back on their feet using a new tool in their toolbox – a special surgery called Lapiplasty® 3D Bunion Correction®.

Dr. Ashley Mychak, who performs surgeries at Northern Light Sebasticook Valley Hospital, in Pittsfield, says the Lapiplasty 3D procedure is an exciting new way to help bunion sufferers. Contributed photo

Dr. Ashley Mychak, DPM, podiatric surgeon with Northern Light Podiatry, in Pittsfield, is very excited about Lapiplasty®. Dr. Mychak explains, “It offers a 3D correction of the bunion at the root of the problem which is an unstable joint in the midfoot. Addressing the bunion where the deformity occurs allows for better long-term correction and decreases the risk of the bunion returning. We have seen that this special surgical procedure allows for earlier weightbearing on the foot in a surgical boot and a quicker return to normal shoes than with other types of bunion surgeries.”

Dr. Jared Wilkinson, DPM, with Northern Light Podiatry in Waterville shares, “A common misconception is that a bunion can just be shaved off, but bunions are much more complicated than that. Lapiplasty® allows us to return the bone to its proper alignment.” Dr. Wilkinson adds that the procedure is still bone surgery, which takes time to heal. “Each patient’s experience will be individual, but we are typically seeing great results overall. It is very gratifying to help people get back to their favorite activities and walking in their regular shoes without pain.”

Bunions can appear in people of all ages, both male and female. While Lapiplasty® addresses the unstable joint, it also corrects the cosmetic appearance of the protruding bunion.

Dr. Wilkinson and Dr. Rich Samson perform the special surgery at Inland Hospital and Dr. Mychak at Sebasticook Valley Hospital.

At Merrill’s eight-week post-surgery checkup, Dr. Mychak called her progress excellent. Merrill is walking without her surgical boot, and she’s feeling very encouraged about her recovery so far. While each situation is different, typically, patients can get back into comfortable shoes, like tennis shoes, approximately eight weeks after the procedure.

Merrill is grateful for this new step forward. “It’s exciting to think about getting my quality of life back. I am determined not to be limping and missing out on activities when we go camping this summer with all the kids. And I’m motivated because I still have a long bucket list of dreams to achieve!”

Most insurances cover the surgery if medically necessary. Ask your primary care provider for a referral to Northern Light Podiatry, in Pittsfield or Waterville, or for more information visit northernlight.org/Bunions.