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Active participation in the meeting was encouraged from the very start, with each attendee asked to introduce him- or herself and share a favorite aspect of the organization. Twice later, attendees marched to the front of the room to cast ballots for favorite programs and activities. The votes were evenly spread, and many voters complained about being limited to one choice, but the winner for 2007 was Union Supported Agriculture (USA) and for 2008, the Worker Center of Eastern Maine.
USA links area consumers with local farmers, providing to the buyers an environmentally-friendly source of nutritious food; and to the farmers, consistent sales without a middleman. The Worker Center aims to empower employees and provide to the unorganized many of the services of a union.
Brief presentations on these and other FAM programs were made by Board President Laura Millay, Secretary William Rice, director Jack McKay and intern Martin Chartrand. The meeting was preceded by a potluck dinner.
Before being tallied by hand to produce the real results, the votes on the favorite program from 2007 were deposited in a cardboard "Diebold voting machine" which mysteriously calculated that the most important event of the past year for working people in Eastern Maine had been a local Chamber of Commerce luncheon honoring WalMart. Voting--both of the real and parody variety--was purposely emphasized at the meeting because of the importance of state and national elections this year, elections FAM will be participating in to ensure that the voice of working people is heard.
The new board members are Peter Coppa, Meredith Defrancesco, Linda Fairbrother and Bob Toole.
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