Speakers

Bev Uhlenhake joined Rotary in 2002 and has been a geek about it since. She served at President of the Rotary Club of Bangor during its centennial year, 2017, and they celebrated their anniversary the same month that Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico.

Joe Edwards is a graduate of MIT and the Yale Law School who served as Maine’s Insurance Superintendent from 1987-1991.  He was instrumental in reforming the state’s workers’ compensation system and since his departure from state government has administered a number of self-insurance trusts in Maine as well as consulted nationally on insurance legislation.

He is a member of the Maine Bar, the President of the Alliance for Maine, and holds the CPCU, CLU, CEBS, and ChFC professional designations.  He has lived in Readfield, Maine for over 30 years.

Shannon Haines was hired as the president and CEO of Waterville Creates! in October of 2016. From 2012 to 2016, Shannon served as the executive director of the Maine Film Center and as the director of the Maine International Film Festival from 2002 to 2017. Shannon was the executive director of Waterville Main Street from March of 2003 through October of 2012, during which time she oversaw $1 million in downtown revitalization grant programs, the creation of Common Street Arts and the Downtown Waterville Farmers’ Market, and numerous community events such as Kringleville and Harvest Fest. Shannon holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Studies and Japanese from Middlebury College. In 2008, she was named in Maine Biz’s “Next List” of top 10 individuals shaping the Maine economy and was presented with the Ken Curtis Leadership Award from the Maine Development Foundation. She was presented with the Downtown Visionary award by the Maine Downtown Center in 2012.

 

A native of Waterville, Earl Smith graduated from the University of Maine at Orono with a degree in journalism in 1962 when he began a 40 year career at Colby where he served in numerous administrative capacities including Dean of Students, Dean of the College, Secretary of the Corporation and as assistant to three Colby presidents.

He retired in 2002 and continues to serve as the college historian. His public service includes elected terms on the Waterville City Council and the Board of Education, and as a Representative to the Maine Legislature. He served as member and chair of the board of Mid-Maine Medical Center and the Kennebec Valley Community College Foundation, and as a Governor of the Colby Art Museum. 

He has received the Marriner Distinguished Service Award at Colby, the Bernard King Award at KVCC, and the Human Rights Award from the Elijah Lovejoy Society in St. Louis.

Smith has written numerous articles for newspapers and magazines, and is the author of six books including Mayflower Hill, a history of Colby College, and With the Help of Friends, a history of the Colby Art Museum. His novels include The Dam Committee, a comic Maine murder-mystery, and its sequel, More Dam Trouble. His most recent novel, Head of Falls (North Country Press, 2016) is a work of historical fiction, set in the Maine city of Waterville in the mid-1950s. Water Village, a history of Waterville, is his latest work.

 

 

Caroline King has served as the Executive Director of the American Red Cross since 2015.  From offices in Bangor and Caribou, the Red Cross serves six northern most Maine counties from Fairfield to the Fort Kent and covers more than 25,000 square miles.  In her role as “the Face of the Red Cross” in these communities, Caroline works to increase community awareness and participation, along with harnessing their generous support and commitment to the humanitarian mission of the Red Cross of individuals, communities and local businesses.

Caroline will discuss the work of the Red Cross in Maine and how the Red Cross humanitarian work supports those impacted by disaster and how Rotarians can get involved with the organization.  Caroline is a proud Rotarian from the Bangor Breakfast Rotary Club and currently serves as the Club’s Vice President.

Growing up in Montessori Education, alternative forms of education have always been a part of Amarinda’s life. Amarinda graduated from Colby College in 2014 where she studied Sociology and Education. As a student, Amarinda regularly volunteered at the Children’s Discovery Museum, spent two summers interning and working at the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire and completed an internship at the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. After graduating, Amarinda started working at the Children’s Discovery Museum as the Assistant Director where she developed a schedule of programs and planned museum fundraisers. In 2015 Amarinda was hired as the Executive Director. Since then, Amarinda has worked to balance the museum’s budget, pull the organization out of debt, and increase museum attendance. In 2015 she was chosen as an example of exceptional teaching by the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance. In 2016 she began working to relocate the organization to Waterville, Maine in order to ensure the longevity and sustainability of the organization.