STAY CONNECTED  
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Friends of Midcoast Maine Assists 
with the Gardiner Heart & Soul Action Plan
In collaboration with the City of Gardiner, the Gardiner Main Street program, the Gardiner Heart & Soul Community Advisory Team (CAT) and the Orton Family Foundation, Friends of Midcoast Maine is helping to turn community ideas into actions.
Over the past two years, the Heart & Soul project and the Community Advisory Team have worked to find new ways to engage the public, and ensure that the ideas and voices of all who live, work, play and do business in Gardiner are represented. To that end, there have been numerous public forums, discussions, events and activities to gather ideas, as part of the City's Comprehensive Planning Process.
As the Comprehensive Planning process is evolving, the project partners have noticed that many of the great community ideas might be led by community members, businesses and community organizations and the City could be a supporter instead of the leader. This type of collaboration and local leadership can be extremely powerful and can strengthen the City. Activities might even be spearheaded, carried out, developed or accomplished without tax payer money!
In mid-October, two community workshops were held to prioritize the community actions. Each of the eighty community generated actions were assessed as to their Impact and Feasibility. The definitions of Impact and feasibility are:
IMPACT- High, Medium, Low
- Has a strong positive effect on the City of Gardiner, its citizens, and quality of life
- Makes a positive difference to the lifestyle, business climate or family life
- Addresses a need in the community
- Has a positive effect on Gardiner's community values
FEASIBILITY- High, Medium, Low
- Has the potential for attracting leadership
- Has community support
- Is an easy win in the short term (or is a harder win but over a longer time)
- Is less expensive (or more expensive but accomplishable with fund-raising or community support)
- Is likely to be accomplished due to leadership, importance, volunteers, finances, need, community or stakeholder motivation
From this process, many items rose to the top. A few examples of the top items are:
- Hold outdoor concerts on the Common and at the waterfront.
- Hold outdoor movies.
- Develop community gardens and/or container gardens in vacant lots and other locations around the City.
- Develop a map hand-out that identifies businesses and special places in Gardiner.
- Establish a beautification program for downtown including flower baskets on buildings and/ or light poles.
- Install a large display map at the waterfront showing businesses and amenities.
AND THERE ARE MANY MORE!
These will now be reviewed by the Heart & Soul partners, the Citizens Advisory Team, and community organizations, and an action plan developed for short, medium and long term actions. In January, a Community Action Summit will be held to celebrate the plan and to work toward completion of several of the actions in 2014.
Stay tuned for more information or visit http://www.gardinermainstreet.org/gardiner-heart-and-soul/
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Knox County Towns Invited!
 | | Camden Conducts Rural Active Living Assessment |
Friends of Midcoast Maine is working with the Knox County Community Health Coalition to identify 6 towns in Knox County that might be interested in conducting a Rural Active Living Assessment.
Assistance and training will be available from Friends of Midcoast Maine. Camden completed one this past month.
This assessment can help communities assess the locations, proximity and quality of community amenities that promote active, healthy living. The information can also be helpful in a community's Comprehensive Planning process. To take part in an community-led assessment, contact Jane Lafleur at info@friendsmidcoast.org or call 236-1077.
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Rockland and Rockport Commercial Re-Envisioning Project -  Design Work In-Progress
Friends of Midcoast Maine has been working with Rockland and Rockport on a Re-Envisioning the Commercial Neighborhood Project. Several properties have been selected with the property owners collaboration, to unlock the potential for these properties and find a new vision for the public spaces and places that meets the community members and the property owners vision for the long term future of this area.
At the end of November, designs and design principles will be presented to REDAC and the Rockland City Council and Rockport Board of Selectmen for initial review.
This E-News contains the entire history of the project, including the technical assistance received by Dan Burden of the Walkable and Livable Communities Institute, Joe Minicozzi on the economic potential of the area, and GrowSmart Maine as well as the month to month technical planning and coordinating assistance from Friends of Midcoast Maine.
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Interesting Articles
Take a look at some recent articles that might be of interest.
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FMM Community Ambassadors
In early 2013, Friends of Midcoast Maine launched its Community Ambassador Program. Community Ambassadors are invited to work with FMM, providing a valuable link between FMM and its 55 communities. See FMM Community Ambassador Brochure for more information about the Ambassador program.
The ambassadors will be meeting for a breakfast meeting this Friday, November 8 at 7:30 am in Camden. The agenda includes community development educational programs and a special visit and talk by the Orton Family Foundation Executive Director David Leckey. If you or anyone you know might want to be considered to be an ambassador to FMM, please e-mail Jane Lafleur at info@friendsmidcoast.org.
One of the first initiatives of the ambassadors was to provide issues of interest to midcoast communities. These were then addressed at the June 2013 FMM Annual Meeting when almost 50 people gathered to learn about innovative and replicable Midcoast initiatives in community collaborations, community development, economic development, local farms and foods, our aging communities and strengthening the village center. Six panelists from the Midcoast region shared their experiences.
The panelists spoke about Community Collaborations (Mary Kate Reny of the Twin Villages Alliance), Creative Economic Development (Brian Hodges, Camden Economic Development Director), Aging Issues for Communities (Carla Dickstein, Coastal Enterprises Inc.), Innovative Community Development Strategies (David Whittlesey, Bowdoinham Community Development Initiative), Local Farms and Foods (Jan Anderson of Coastal Farms and Foods) and Strengthening the Village Center (Rosey Gerry of Lincolnville Center).
Participants heard descriptions of these grassroots and community efforts and learned new strategies, collaborations and tools they can share with their own communities. One participant noted that "this was the most positive and empowering meeting I have attended in many years" and praised the work of these communities and Friends of Midcoast Maine.
To read the presenters biographies visit Community Congress Panelist Bios
We are developing a resource list on each of these subjects. If you would like to be included as a resource or have an interest in these topics or want to be part of further discussion and workshops on these topics, please e-mail info@friendsmidcoast.org with your contact information.
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LOCAL HEROES AWARDS
 | | Jane Lafleur, Don White, Karen Kleinkopf, Michael Tomko, and Stephen Ryan |
Three local heroes honored!
At the Friends of Midcoast Maine Annual Meeting, three Community Heroes awards were given to individuals who have made a difference in their communities. Nominated by community members and reviewed and approved by the FMM board of Trustees, these recipients were honored at an elegant Community Congress in Bristol.
The award recipients were Karen Kleinkopf of Damariscotta, Don White of Camden and Michael Tomko of Boothbay Harbor. The prestigious Smart Growth Awards are an annual event at FMM's meeting but this year they honored the unsung heroes and change-makers in our communities.
FMM Executive Director Jane Lafleur noted "This year we launched our Community Ambassador Program in an effort to get closer to our communities, to learn about what is happening on the ground level, and to give our Ambassadors a "behind the scenes" understanding of FMM. Through our Community Ambassadors Program, we realized it is only fitting to recognize the Local Heroes in our communities, people who are the change-makers, the zealous nuts, the sparks who ignite the productive fires in their communities, the optimists and the people who are making a clear difference for the greater good."
To read more about these Local Heroes visit Local Heroes Awards_
Also visit Tomko Wins Local Hero Award for the Boothbay Harbor edition.
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A Brand for Knox and Waldo Counties 
Thriving communities and regions know that developing a brand is one of the keys to attracting and retaining people and jobs. Friends of Midcoast Maine has been working with Midcoast Magnet to develop a brand for the Knox and Waldo Counties.
The first step of developing a brand was to identify the most widely held community values. From those values a brand will be developed that can be used in promoting, identifying and bringing cohesion to the region. Over two hundred people responded to a survey conducted for Midcoast Magnet and partners over 4 months to test certain value statements and solicit input about what people value in the region. The highest rated values were natural beauty, outdoor recreation, local farms and foods and villages and downtowns.
When asked which value should be emphasized in a regional brand, the results were noticeably different. The highest percentage of respondents (29%) chose "the Connections between Nature, Art, Culture and Commerce" followed by "Natural Beauty" at 12%.
The steering committee and Friends of Midcoast Maine are working with Pica Design of Belfast to hone in on preliminary words or icons that might best identify a regional brand.
Midcoast Magnet's mission is to develop leaders in support of innovative projects that foster creativity, livability and economic vitality. Midcoast Magnet is a non-profit organization of people dedicated to vibrant culture, entrepreneurship, and socially and professional networking. They work to attract, connect and retain people in the Midcoast so as to create economic vitality.
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Midcoast Town Meetings Use FMM's Key Pad Polling
The Towns of Damariscotta and Newcastle used electronic key pad polling to take the place of a hand help ballot at their Town Meetings in June. This is the second year for Newcastle and the first year for Damariscotta.
After testing the keypads with three sample questions, the voters approved the use of the keypads on the floor of town meeting. Voters found the key pads to be a fun and engaging tool, and the anonymity appealed to many. The town officials and others liked the quick accuracy of the vote tally.
Many other Midcoast communities have enlisted the services of FMM's key pads to tally community preferences, responses to comprehensive plan suggestions and other community issues. FMM director noted that key pads are a great tool to take the assess participant opinions. For more information about key pad polling and the availability for your community, e-mail info@friendsmidcoast.org.
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Midcoast Transit Survey
The towns of Rockland, Rockport, Thomaston and Camden are collaborating on a transit study to determine the potential for a transit system serving these four towns. A survey was launched one month ago and over 600 people have taken the survey. Friends of Midcoast Maine has been working with the Midcoast Transit Committee since its inception several years ago.
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Lafleur Featured in Orton Family Foundation Video
 | | Heart & Soul Minute: Jane Lafleur on Building a Stronger Foundation |
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Shared Border, Shared Vision 
The Rockland and Rockport re-envisioning project received national attention this week with this blog, written by Jane Lafleur on the Community Collaboration. Visit Shared Border, Shared Vision.
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Jane Lafleur, Executive Director
Friends of Midcoast Maine
From Brunswick to Bucksport, helping midcoast communities shape their future.
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