Award for design

BANGOR – WBRC Architects-Engineers has received a 2008 Learning By Design Honorable Mention Award for the Belfast Area High School Fine Arts Wing. From the multitude of projects submitted throughout the country, its project was deemed one of the best by a nationally recognized panel of architects and educational facility specialists. Only eight projects out of 142 were singled out for the recognition.

The project also will be included in an exhibit at the 2008 conference of the National School Boards Association.

The Belfast Area High School Fine Arts Department wanted a building addition that identified itself as the arts and music wing of the high school. The addition is a two-story, 14,174-square-foot project that replaces a temporary wood-frame structure that served as the band room and relocates the art classes into one wing of the high school.

The first floor includes the band room and spaces dedicated for drama and music classrooms. The second floor consists of dedicated art studios for work of all media, including a kiln room and darkroom. The spaces have exposed structural, mechanical and lighting designs to tie into the loft design of the facility.

The classrooms are linked by large south-facing corridors with gallery space for the display of student work.

A holiday lunch

BANGOR – Bugaboo Creek Steak House hosted on Dec. 9 a holiday lunch for children on the autism spectrum and their families.

Brian White, a manager for Bugaboo Creek Steak House, said 17 children and their families attended the event. The seven families receive case management services from Penquis Autism Community Services.

White has two young children on the autism spectrum. He understands that children on the spectrum have needs and behaviors that make it challenging for families to enjoy time together in public, said officials for Penquis Autism Community Services. The holiday lunch provided the opportunity for families to eat out and have social time with one another in a supportive setting.

Maine Innkeepers Association

The Maine Innkeepers Association announced that Cornelius “Connie” Russell of Samoset Resort in Rockport has been elected president by the association’s board of directors, and that Bob Smith of Sebasco Harbor Resort will serve as chairman of the board for 2008.

Joining the executive committee for 2008 is Jeanne Carpentier, at-large member.

Other executive committee members are: Woody Woodward, first vice president, Highland Lake Resort, Bridgton; Jim Ostrowski, second vice president, Inns at Blackberry Common, Camden; Sue Ferrell, treasurer, Down East Village, Yarmouth; Jack Donovan, at-large member, Inn at Naples; Alec Rogers, at-large member, Quality Inn and Suites, Augusta; Gus Tillman, senior adviser, Holiday Inn By The Bay, Portland; and Peter Daigle, legislative chairman, Lafayette Hotels, Bangor.

Business Expansion

HERMON – Banners & Signs Unlimited is now offering wireless cell phone service from Verizon Wireless, U.S. Cellular and T-Mobile. Banners & Signs offers more than 150 different cell phones, including camera phones. Ordering from one of these carriers may be done online at www.wirelessgotbetter.com or stop in at Banners & Signs Unlimited, Route 2 in Hermon.

Order online and receive instant rebates on selected phones. The cost after instant rebates is free on selected phones offered by Verizon Wireless, U.S Cellular and T-Mobile.

Banners & Signs has added an embroidering service, along with screen printing of T-shirts hats and mouse pads. Banners & Signs is a supplier of customized job shirts and hats for nonprofit, construction and health care providers in Maine.

Banners & Signs carries more than 400,000 shirt designs including medical, humor, religious and much more. For information, call 848-2321.

Directors on bank board

BANGOR – Bangor Savings Bank has added three members to its board of directors:

. George F. Eaton II of Bangor, a lawyer with Rudman & Winchell. The Bangor native graduated magna cum laude from Bowdoin College and is a graduate of the University of Maine School of Law, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Maine Law Review. He has focused his practice on business and corporate law for more than 20 years. He currently serves as the chairman of the Business Law Section of the Maine State Bar Association.

Eaton has been a member of the board of corporators of Bangor Savings Bank since 2001 and served on several regional nonprofit and governmental boards. He serves on the Eastern Maine Medical Center board of trustees, where he is past chairman and now vice chairman of the board of EMMC’s parent company, Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems. Eaton is a past president of the Bangor Breakfast Rotary Club and a Paul Harris Fellow. He is a managing director of Starboard Leadership Consulting, a subsidiary of Rudman and Winchell providing management and governance consultation services to family owned businesses and nonprofits.

. Kathryn L. Barber of Cape Elizabeth, a civic leader with experience as an executive in product management and marketing. She held a number of leadership positions at IDEXX Laboratories of Westbrook from 1994 to 2001. She is a member of the board of directors of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute.

. William D. Purington of Manchester, president and CEO of Maine Drilling and Blasting of Gardiner. He was Maine’s Small Business Person of the Year in 1989 and chairman of the 2006 Harold Alfond Cancer Center major donors campaign.

Bangor Savings Bank Chairman David Carlisle said, “We are honored and pleased to add such accomplished leaders to the already distinguished group on our board of directors. Like our company, each of them is committed to leadership in both business and community. Their diversity of experience with innovative, complex Maine businesses and involvement in communities throughout Maine will provide wise counsel and prudent judgment to guide the business of Bangor Savings Bank and help us best meet the needs of our customers statewide.”

The three also will serve as trustees of the bank’s parent company, Bangor Bancorp MHC, and as directors of Bangor Savings Bank Foundation.