REM Award Honorees (2006) — Gary Poulin (Wateville Main Street)

Waterville Main Street is thrilled to honor Gary Poulin as its Volunteer of the Year. Gary first became involved in the Waterville Main Street program in the summer of 2004 as a member of the Promotion Committee, has since become Co-chair of that committee and joined the Board of Directors in 2005.

Gary is so involved in every single promotion that occurs in the downtown that many business owners have expressed wonder about how he is able to perform his paid job as the “EZ to Use Big Book Man.” While it would be completely impossible to list all of Gary’s accomplishments over the past year, here are just a few examples of the amazing work that he does: Gary single-handedly coordinated a special Hotel Meet & Greet session with downtown businesses, was one of the most active members of the committee that launched the first annual Main Street Madness event in June of 2006, and co-chaired Waterville Main Street’s Brighter Holiday Auction subcommittee.

Gary also serves as one of our primary ambassadors to the business community. We can always count on Gary to keep people up to speed on our events and activities and, more importantly, to come back to us with feedback from these businesses. He has developed relationships with everyone in town and, as a result, is very successful in securing event sponsorships and donations, encouraging participation in various promotions, and generating support for the organization.

Gary volunteers for every downtown event and promotion that occurs, including those that are not presented by Waterville Main Street, such as the Mid-Maine Chamber’s Taste of Greater Waterville, which he chaired this year.

Gary has easily dedicated over 400 volunteer hours to the Waterville Main Street program over the past year. We can’t thank him enough for the work that he has done to make Downtown Waterville a more vibrant place to be!

Editor’s Note: Gary Poulin was also honored by the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce this year, making him the first REM Community Awards recipient to be honored by two different organizations simultaneously.

For more information about Waterville Main Street, please visit its website.