Keith and Mollie Dinsmore, as Batman and Batgirl, chat Thursday night with Patti Gagne at the Lewiston Auburn Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce “Breakfast for Dinner” event at the Gendron Franco Center in Lewiston. The two superheros were on hand to promote the Great Falls Comic Expo on May 4 and 5. Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn
This week the Buzz has kickball, “plaque flak” and a hearty serving of statistics on the menu.
It is an all-Lewiston Auburn Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce “Breakfast for Dinner” Buzz. The let’s-switch-things-up event took place Thursday night at the Gendron Franco Center, with Batman and Batgirl working the crowd — a fine way for any evening to start.
Were they there to promote the upcoming Great Falls Comic Expo or where they there to … yeah, they were there for the expo. The event is May 4 and 5 at the Norway Savings Bank Arena in Auburn.
Kickball! Coming!
Daniel Bourgeois-Capozzi, chair of Uplift LA, announced the group will host a kickball league this summer. Details coming soon.
“I was home-schooled so I missed out on middle school activities,” he said. “I’m really pumped to be able to play kickball with everyone. We’re going to have a ton of teams and a lot of fun.”
Plaques are back!
Chamber President Beckie Conrad jokingly brought attention to a new member’s new plaque.
“We get a lot of plaque flak, let me tell you,” she said. “People still have them up that say, ‘Androscoggin County’ and it looks like we went out of business in 2015.
“We’re going back to plaques. Everyone’s going to get one on ‘Thank You Day.’ You’ll be hearing a lot more about that soon. It will say, ‘Proud member, your business, of LA Metro Chamber since’ the first year you joined us, so you can leave it up in perpetuity. And please pay your dues. If you don’t, you’re a branding opportunity for us.”
Stat!
Guest speaker Tom Hinman, local market manager for the America Red Cross’ biomedical division, brought an array of quick-hit numbers. Among them:
- In 2018, its Lewiston donation center collected 13,388 red cell units and more than 3,000 platelet units.
- The Red Cross collects 300 to 350 units a day statewide.
- Nationally, it is one of 75 blood bank organizations, responsible for 42% of all collections. In Maine, it is responsible for 100%.
Nationally, 38% of the population is able to donate, but “less than 5% do,” Hinman said.
“That’s our challenge,” he said. “The No. 1 reason people don’t donate: Nobody ever asks them.”
Hinman also gave a shout-out to a local event scheduled for Saturday, April 27: The Red Cross and local fire departments are partnering for Sound the Alarm, hoping to install 333 smoke detectors in Lewiston, 333 in Auburn and 333 in Augusta.
To volunteer or request a free smoke alarm, see SoundTheAlarm.org/Maine.
Quick hits about business comings, goings and happenings. Have a Buzzable tip? Contact staff writer Kathryn Skelton at 207-689-2844 or kskelton@sunjournal.com.
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