Time4Printing buys Brown Fox Printing - By Michelle Libby

Time4Printing, owned by Kelly and Niels Mank, purchased Brown Fox Printing out of Scarborough for an undisclosed amount on January 2. The transition into the merger may take a week to as long as a month to iron out all of the wrinkles, meanwhile customers for both printing companies will barely notice a difference. 

“Our plan is to service their clients and expand the products being offered to them like signage, vehicle wraps, vinyl lettering and more,” said Mank, who also owns Time4Pictures, Time4Wrapz and The Windham Eagle newspaper. “We saw an opportunity to buy another business that was like-minded and had similar ethics,” she added.

Owner of Brown Fox Printing, Russ Burleigh, just celebrated his 75^th birthday and wasn’t really looking to retire, but his wife had other plans for him, he said. 

“It’s a huge transition,” said Burleigh. The company has clients from Wells to Bath and beyond, he said.

“We’re excited about it happening,” said Mank. “2014 should be a big growth year for us.” 

The Brown Fox Printing location will be closed and all business will be relocated to Time4Printing Windham corporate office. 

The distance between Scarborough and Windham is his one concern, but the customers need to see it’s a state of mind with the Internet bridging miles like never before. Burleigh will stay on as a consultant to his customers and he said that he and Mank will be visiting many of the customers. “She’s infectious in her enthusiasm,” he said. 

Time4Printing will be offering delivery service to Brown Fox Printing customers.

“I wasn’t looking for anyone in particular (to purchase the company), but I made new friends in Kelly and Niels,” Burleigh said. “I’m giving up part of my family. I want you to take good care of them,” he told them.

“Service, service and service are my three favorite words when it comes to printing,” Burleigh said. The merger will fit with the philosophy of Time4Printing. 

With the tag lines “Your image is our business” and “Design, print, results.” The Time4 family makes sure they treat every client as if it were their own company. They want results, whether it’s from business cards or direct mailings, said Mank. 

“It’s a very difficult time to expand a business. Most grow through acquisitions,” Burleigh said.  Mank is excited to see what 2014 will bring.

Firefighter Andrew Jordan promoted to lieutenant

Raymond - December 19, 2013- The Town of Raymond Fire-Rescue Department is pleased to announce the promotion of Andrew Jordan from firefighter to lieutenant. Andrew has been a member of the department for nine years, starting as a junior, moving to a live-in student firefighter and then a firefighter. He is the grandson of long time community volunteer and Fire-Police captain Jane Jordan. The promotion took place on December 18 at the department's annual Christmas gathering. Chief Bruce Tupper said, “It has been a pleasure to watch Andrew's progress, and I am confident that he will be successful in his new leadership role.”

Manchester School awarded grant from Mr. Mike's store - By Michelle Libby

Windham’s Manchester School was nominated and awarded a $500 grant from ExxonMibil’s Educational Alliance Program to enhance math and science learning. On Tuesday, Sue Jones from Mr. Mike’s convenience store in Windham presented the check to assistant principal Danielle Donnini, Title 1 math teacher Danielle Burian and fifth grade teacher and science curriculum representative Tracey Butler.
 

“It will really come in handy,” said Donnini. “It’s like Christmas presents for the math and science departments,” she added.

The teachers started brainstorming all of the new materials they could buy. Manipulatives for math, owl pellets for science and white boards for students to use. 

Over 200 schools in New England received one of the grants. Since 2000, ExxonMobil has donated over $18 million to schools through the grant program.

Manchester school was nominated by the former manager of Mr. Mike’s most likely because of its proximity to the school, said Jones. 

“We buy a lot of coffee up there,” said Donnini.

Santa receives help from Windham Police Department - By Michelle Libby

It makes people smile to see police officers in uniform shopping for toys. Not only did it make people smile, it had some digging in their pockets for cash to help at checkout time. 
 

On December 12, the executive board of the Windham Police Association union stopped by the North Windham Walmart to spend $1,000 that was raised through phone solicitations this past year. 

Officer and president Jason Burke, vice president and DARE officer Matt Cyr, secretary and officer Gene Gallant and officer and treasurer Jim Cook all went shopping with the mission to “get as many presents as we could,” said Cyr. They left with bicycles, board games, safety equipment, balls, matchboxes, dolls and iPod shuffles for older children, all to be donated to Windham’s social services program to give toys and gifts to children in need within the community. 

 

“As for the people that walked up to us in Walmart and handed us cash to help at the register, thank you. Your kindness was not unnoticed and will not be forgotten,” said Cyr.

This is the second year in a row the department has done shopping for Christmas gifts. However, according to Cyr, there was a time in the not too distant past that it was an annual tradition. He hopes the project will continue every year going forward. 

As far as there being need within the Windham community, Cyr said. “As police officers we see it pretty regularly. We see when parents’ priorities aren’t where they should be. We also see parents who can’t provide for their kids the extras in the way they want to at Christmas time. We help out through social services.”

Local business owner's generosity helps three families - By Elizabeth Richards

Three local families will have a brighter holiday season thanks to the generosity of a local business owner. Jason Rickett, owner of JT Construction, LLC in Gorham, is helping to make Christmas a little bit merrier for these struggling families by donating gifts and oil to help get them through the winter.
 

Rickett said that last year his company decided to help out a grandmother they’d heard of, who had recently adopted her two grandchildren right before Christmas and was unable to do much for the holiday. “It was just a good deed, and a good way to give back to the community,” he said. 

This year, the company decided to help out once again, and do a little more. A message was posted to their Facebook page asking if anyone knew of a local family that could use some assistance to make their holidays a little better. Rickett said they had many responses from that post, and narrowed it down to try and do the most they could for as many people as possible. 

That’s how they ended up with two Windham families in need of gift assistance. One is a single mother with two children, and the other is a two parent family with two children, where one parent is unable to work due to recent health issues. A third family in Gorham was having trouble keeping oil in their tank for the winter. Rickett is working with Pit Stop Fuel to provide oil for all three families. Pit Stop will match any fuel that Rickett purchases gallon for gallon. 

Being able to help other families feels great said Rickett. “My family is very fortunate for what we have, and the greater Portland community has helped me build what I have now,” he said. Helping others during the holidays is a way to give back and say thank you, he added. “It just feels good to be able to give others a Christmas that they wouldn’t have been able to have if we weren’t able to assist them,” he said. 

Rickett is a 2001 graduate of Windham High School. He said he has worked in construction since he was 16 years old, and started his company eight years ago. In those eight years, he said, he’s been able to build a successful company. JT Construction does mostly residential work, and can do anything from roofing, siding, additions, and remodels to building a house from the ground up, said Rickett. “We’re a smaller construction company, and we try and help out our customers as much as possible with keeping our prices down, which has helped us out a lot in staying busy,” he said. Rickett lives in Gorham with his wife and two children.