PORTLAND – The Maine Innkeepers Association, a leading provider of information and support to the lodging and tourism industry of Maine, recently presented member awards at the 84th annual meeting and conference at the Holiday Inn by the Bay. The Community Service Award was given to Jan Barrett of the Ware Street Inn in Lewiston.

The award is presented to an active lodging operator member who has taken part in community activities and who has made a contribution personally, or in the name of the industry or his/her property, toward that community.

Barrett opened the Ware Street Inn with her husband, Mike, after she received a degree in hospitality management (summa cum laude) in 1997 in preparation for her second career. Prior to becoming an innkeeper, Barrett worked for Sens. Edmund Muskie and George Mitchell for nearly 20 years followed by consulting and lobbying positions at the state level.

Barrett serves on the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce board and is a Rotary Paul Harris fellow. She is also a member of the Maine Innkeepers Association, the Maine Tourism Association, the Professional Association of Innkeepers International, participates on the Maine Lakes and Mountains Tourism Council and is a USM Corporate Partner.

She serves on the board of directors of Southern Maine Community College’s Hospitality Education Program and the board of directors of the Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council, is a member of Maine Congressman Mike Michaud’s Small Business Advisory Team and is a founding member and past president of the Inns of Central Maine. On a lighter note, she is a founding co-Queen Mother of the Scarlet Chapeaux, Lewiston-Auburn’s first chapter of the Red Hat Society.

The Ware Street Inn has been voted by its guests as one of the top 15 B&Bs/Inns in North America; as the Best Near a College or University; and appeared in Arrington’s 2005 Book of Lists. The inn will appear in the 2006 Book of Lists for serving the “Best Breakfast in New England.”

“Being involved in serving my community – my home town – has always been one of my passions; and watching Lewiston-Auburn prosper and knowing I’m playing a small part in that process is rewarding,” said Barrett. “To be recognized by the Maine Innkeepers Association, the trade association made up of my peers across the entire state, is an incredible honor … and I am very grateful.”

Also presented: Allied Member of the Year Award, Tim LaPlante, Prudential Northeast Properties, Camden; Hall of Fame Award, Marjie Wright, Bowdoinham; President’s Award, Ron Churchill, Bear Spring Camps, Rome; Special Service Award, Carolyn Manson, Maine Tourism Association; and Innkeeper of the Year, Gus Tillman, Holiday Inn by the Bay, Portland.