Summer Extravaganza Promises Fun Family Activities

Join Healthy Acadia on Saturday, August 5, from 1:30pm to 3:30pm, for a Summer Extravaganza in Knowlton Park, Ellsworth. This free, family-friendly event will offer fun for all ages with activities such as yoga, kickboxing, and Tai Chi, food demos and taste tests, seed planting, sweet treats, art activities, and more. All are welcome and invited to attend – make it a full-day outing by attending Ellsworth Rotary's Annual Blueberry Pancake Breakfast in the morning and checking out local artisans with the Island Arts Association who will be selling their creations throughout the day. 

"For Healthy Acadia, the Summer Extravaganza represents a great way to celebrate our communities with fun, healthy activities that bring people together. As a community health non-profit organization, we love connecting with the community through a wide array of programming and across both Hancock and Washington counties. We look forward to seeing new and familiar faces at the Summer Extravaganza and celebrating some lucky raffle winners!"

Healthy Acadia’s Summer Raffle drawing will be held at 3:00pm as part of the Summer Extravaganza, with tickets available up until that time. Raffle winners are in for some incredible experiences, as all raffle items are things to do in Hancock County. Items include: a fishing expedition, spa day, yurt stay, afternoon on Long Pond with a picnic and boating opportunities, tickets to the water park, cooking class, whale watching tickets, bed and breakfast stay, glass blowing class, and round-trip airfare between Bar Harbor and Boston.

Thanks to business donors Honeycomb Botanical Hair Haven, Acadia Yurts, Wild Acadia Fun Park, Chow Maine, Bar Harbor Whale Watch Co., The Inn at Southwest, Atlantic Art Glass, and Cape Air for making this raffle possible. Tickets are t $5 each or 5 for $20. Visit www.healthyacadia.org for additional prize details or to purchase tickets online through FarmDrop.

Healthy Acadia’s Summer Extravaganza is generously sponsored by Wallace Events, Mortons Moo Ice Cream, Cleary Law Office, Pemetic Purveyors with RE/MAX Hills and Harbor Realty, and Wyman’s of Maine. While this event is free to attend, donations in any amount will be gladly accepted to support community health programs and services.

Healthy Acadia is a purely grant- and donations funded community health organization working to empower people and organizations to build healthy communities. Their initiatives include preventing substance misuse, increasing access to healthy foods and physical activity, preventing and managing chronic disease, supporting businesses to create healthier workplaces, tackling hunger, improving school health, creating healthier environments, supporting healthy aging, and more. To learn more about Healthy Acadia, visit www.HealthyAcadia.org, call 667-7171, or visit us on Facebook.

Welcome to new Chamber member ArtWaves!

Welcome to new Chamber member ArtWaves!

"At ArtWaves, we connect the community with art. A simple concept with boundless opportunity. Art for everyone and in multiple forms. Children, high schoolers, summer visitors, seasonal workers, year-round professionals. Working and emerging artists. Drawing, painting, sculpting, printing, dancing.

"Stop by. Take a class. Attend a workshop. Become a member. We need your support to sustain a rich, vibrant and enlivened arts culture on Mt. Desert Island.

"We offer a wide array of classes and workshops for the beginner, intermediate, advanced and curious artists in our community.

• Drop-in for Figure Drawing
• Spend an evening Sipping and Printing (21+)
• Try your hand at Sculpting or painting – Plein Air, oil, watercolor, charcoal
• Take a class or attend a workshop in monoprinting, fiber arts, stained glass
• Bring your little ones to Art for Those Under Three
• Send your older kids to get an art studio experience with artists working in a variety of media
• Come for a swing or salsa lesson
• Art is for everyone and that includes you!

"Check us out at ArtWavesmdi.org.

"Our campus is located in Town Hill. We have four studios including a dance studio and beautiful grounds. Parking lot is available between the dentist office and ArtWaves."

Letter to the Community from Elsie Flemings, Executive Director, Healthy Acadia

Dear Community Members,

As many of you may be aware, the biennial state budget that was passed last week included a cut of $5 million per year to the Fund for a Healthy Maine's allocation for prevention services aimed at improving public health.

We will know more in the coming weeks about how exactly this cut will impact the various components of the Fund, including local tobacco prevention efforts, obesity prevention programs, and vital youth engagement work (all of which are coordinated by Healthy Acadia for Hancock and Washington counties). We will work closely with our partners across the state to do our best to mitigate these cuts and preserve critically needed local public health and prevention efforts. 

While the cuts will certainly impact Healthy Acadia, we will continue to serve the residents of Washington and Hancock counties with dedication and determination, and we will work harder than ever to secure additional resources to meet the health needs of all community members across our region.

We greatly appreciate our many incredible partnerships with individuals and organizations throughout Washington and Hancock counties, and we look forward to continuing to work with you in the months and years ahead to support the health and wellbeing of our communities.

Elsie Flemings

Executive Director

Healthy Acadia