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Monthly: August 2013

Archived News
August 13, 20130

Biddeford Savings Funds Maps to Biking Adventure on the Eastern Trail

Charles Petersen, president & CEO of Biddeford Savings (at left), and Bob Hamblen, president of the Eastern Trail Alliance (ETA), review one of the 10,000 maps the bank donated to the ETA to help the organization encourage use of the 65-mile greenwaysBiddeford, ME – Funding from Biddeford Savings is helping thousands of hiking, biking and outdoor enthusiasts enjoy southern Maine’s Eastern Trail.

The bank provided full funding for the printing of 10,000 maps of the Eastern Trail, a 65-mile section of the East Coast Greenway, a transportation-recreation greenway connecting Kittery, in southernmost Maine, to Casco Bay in South Portland. The Eastern Trail has a growing span of off-road sections, as well as scenic on-road trails designed to follow primarily quiet country roads. Experienced bike riders and hikers can enjoy a beautiful journey from South Portland’s Bug Light Park on Casco Bay to Kittery on the Piscataqua River.

“We couldn’t be more pleased to partner with Biddeford Savings on our map initiative,” says Bob Hamblen, president of the Eastern Trail Alliance, the organization founded to vision, build, promote and use the Eastern Trail. “The public was immediately sold on the maps, so much so that we went through the first printing in a matter of months. Biddeford Savings stepped up and agreed to fund a second printing. This is a wonderful opportunity for residents and tourists to use the Trail this summer and throughout the year.”

Along with the map effort, Biddeford Savings also provided support for The Saco Bikes for Kids campaign, an effort sponsored by the Saco Parks and Recreation Department to promote healthy lifestyles and the use of the Eastern Trail by area youth. A total of 46 contributors provided funds to purchase 25 new bikes and equipment for local children.

“At Biddeford Savings, we help define the path to prosperity for our customers,” says Charles Petersen, bank president and CEO. “And prosperity can come in many forms. When we were approached by the Eastern Trail Alliance to support the printing of the maps, we thought it was an excellent way to demonstrate how we put concepts into practice. The Saco Bikes for Kids campaign also seemed like a perfect fit to encourage healthier lifestyles. By using the Eastern Trail, people of all ages will prosper by enjoying the healthful benefits of the outdoors in our beautiful coastal region. The Eastern Trail is truly a gem that we want everyone to discover.”

You can download PDF files of this brochure here.

Biddeford Savings, an independent, community-focused mutual savings bank founded in 1867, has offices in Biddeford, Kennebunk, Scarborough, and Waterboro. To learn more, visit biddefordsavings.com.

Archived News
August 13, 20130

New bridge links Maine, N.H.

The opening of the Memorial Bridge renews a connection between Kittery and Portsmouth.

The Associated Press

ETA at the Memorial Bridge Reopening!PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — New Hampshire and Maine celebrated the opening of a new bridge Thursday that has become a steel symbol of their past cooperation and their commitment to future commerce.

The $81.4 million Memorial Bridge between Portsmouth and Kittery, Maine, replaces one that was built in 1923 and closed two years ago.

As she did 90 years ago at age 5, former Portsmouth mayor Eileen Foley did the ribbon-cutting honors, riding across the bridge in a golf cart with a bouquet of flowers on her lap. The crowd cheered as she cut the ribbon, then sang “God Bless America.”

New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan noted that the bridge includes state-of-the-art technology to meet the needs of modern commerce and travel, yet echoes the look and feel of the original.

“The new bridge reminds us all of the historic connection between Maine and New Hampshire as well as our shared economic future,” she said. “The new Memorial Bridge will once again link the downtown areas of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Kittery, Maine, and support the business, social, tourism and cultural activities of both communities and the entire seacoast region.”

After the ceremony, hundreds of people swarmed over the bridge, the only one of the three over the Piscataqua River that is open to pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Joanne Bisson, who lives just over the bridge in Kittery, said she was thrilled to cross it once again.

“It’s a vital link. We walk in and enjoy Portsmouth,” she said. “It’s just community.”

Click here to read the whole article online

View two related stories:

Community feels ‘whole again’ with Memorial Bridge opening (SeaCoastOnline.com)

Portsmouth, Kittery, two states celebrate new Memorial Bridge (SeaCoastOnline.com)

 

Archived News
August 13, 20130

Community feels ‘whole again’ with Memorial Bridge opening

By Charles McMahon
cmcmahon@seacoastonline.com
August 09, 2013 2:00 AM

PORTSMOUTH — They came on foot and by bike, Segways, motorized carts, kayaks, Jet Skis, boats and even antique cars. Some brought their dogs, others brought their babies. Many carried cameras, hoping to capture the historic moment.

The opening of the Memorial Bridge on Thursday, a moment nearly two years in the making, drew a few thousand people to both downtown Portsmouth and Badger’s Island in Kittery, Maine.

And by all accounts, from transportation officials to local elected officials to civilians and veterans alike, the sentiment was much the same.

“It’s a glorious day on the Seacoast,” said Keith Cota, project manager for the N.H. Department of Transportation, the agency in charge of the $82.7 million bridge project.

“I feel whole again,” said Portsmouth Mayor Eric Spear, who was among the first people to ride across the bridge in a 1926 Model T Ford.

For most of the spectators who gathered on either side of the bridge Thursday, the momentous occasion marked a reconnection of two states and two communities.

“The bridge brings two communities together who have supported and stood by each other throughout this process,” said George Dow, chairman of the Kittery Town Council.

Click here to read the whole article online

View two related stories:

New bridge links Maine, N.H. – The opening of the Memorial Bridge renews a connection between Kittery and Portsmouth (Portland Press Herald)

Portsmouth, Kittery, two states celebrate new Memorial Bridge (SeaCoastOnline.com)

Archived News
August 13, 20130

Portsmouth, Kittery, two states celebrate new Memorial Bridge

By Deborah McDermottdmcdermott@seacoastonline.com

August 09, 2013 2:00 AM

KITTERY, Maine — The sense of anticipation was palpable Thursday morning on Badger’s Island. This was the day. This was the moment Memorial Bridge would open. People were smiling. Hugging. Slapping each other on the back.

What a day!

It was a day to celebrate one state, New Hampshire, working with its sister state, Maine. It was a day to commemorate the bond of the city of Portsmouth, N.H., with the town of Kittery. It was a day of community and pride, a historic day for a 21st-century bridge.

It took years, and more than years, to get to this point. In January 2009, Kittery resident Ben Porter put out a survey. “How important is this bridge?” he asked. From that moment, the Seacoast began to coalesce.

I think what it does for me is it reinforces the power of the whole community,” said Porter, who went on to form the citizens group Save Our Bridges. “I may have sparked it, but once it took hold, it took on a life of its own.”

Porter joined hundreds of people who processed across the bridge Thursday morning — people who each played a part. U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., held the hands of her children as she walked. Members of the bridge advisory committee hobnobbed with U.S. senators from Maine and New Hampshire. Hard-hatted construction workers strolled with state transportation officials.

Their walk ended where, just a short time later, a frail but smiling Eileen Foley, a beloved former mayor of Portsmouth, officially cut the ribbon to symbolically open the bridge. Now 95, she was just 5 years old on that long-ago day in August 1923, when she cut the ribbon for the first Memorial Bridge.

As throngs of people cheered her on, Foley rode up in a golf cart, family members in tow, to the sounds of “Rocky Fanfare” played by the Portsmouth Brassworks.

“We love you,” some in the crowd yelled.

When the cart stopped, her daughter, Mary Carey Foley, asked the former mayor whether she wanted to stand up to cut the ribbon.

“Yes,” she said decisively.

Click here to read the whole article online

View two related stories:

Community feels ‘whole again’ with Memorial Bridge opening (SeaCoastOnline.com)

 

New bridge links Maine, N.H. – The opening of the Memorial Bridge renews a connection between Kittery and Portsmouth (Portland Press Herald)

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