AUBURN — Celeste Yakawonis will be the guest speaker of the Lewiston-Auburn Rotary Lunch Club from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, May 3, at the Village Inn, 165 High St.

Yakawonis has been a self-employed real estate paralegal for more than 30 years. She is a lifelong resident of Maine and attended Lewiston High School and the University of Maine at Orono, graduating in 1974. In 2003, after joining the then Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce, she began to take a greater interest in the community around her.

She decided that one business was not enough and launched Gift Baskets by Celeste. Under various names the business lasted 18 years. She then established a new business, Party’n With Plants, which hosts garden terrarium design classes.

Yakawonis is a member of Central Maine Community College Foundation board and treasurer/board member of the Androscoggin-Sagadahoc Extension Agency. Recently, she joined a group at Tri-County Mental Health Agency to address the issue of the opioid crisis that is facing the community, state and country.

Yakawonis was recently sponsored by Christine Wilson to reactivate her membership with the Lewiston-Auburn Rotary Lunch Club. She lives in Turner with her husband, Peter, dog Bruce and six cats. She loves spending time with her grown daughters, Katherine and Margaret. 

Reservations are not required at the luncheon. Visiting Rotarians and community members are welcome to attend.

FMI on future Rotary speakers, contact president and program chairwoman Monica Millhime, 207-713-7045 or email millhime@myfairpoint.net. Events and other club information are posted at www.lewistonauburnrotary.org and www.facebook.com/lewistonmainerotary/.

Celeste Yakawonis

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