Beautiful Bethel #268

Dana Bullen:

So we're part of an organization called Schemain, which Greg Sweetser leads, and the biggest goal is to make sure that these small areas have the resources they need to stay in business. Both Sunday river and Sugarloaf try to do what we can to support them, not only from a resource standpoint, but from a knowledge standpoint where we're able

Robin Zinchuk:

to I learned from so many other people who were in the work, other community leaders around the state of what they were doing in their organizations and that really helped to inform what we could do.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

This is Dr. Lisa Belisle and you are listening to Love Maine radio show number 268, eight beautiful Bethel airing for the first time on Sunday, November 6, 2016. Nestled in Maine's Oxford Hills, the town of Bethel has long welcomed homeowners and recreational enthusiasts alike. Today we speak with people who know and love this beautiful Dana Bolen, resort President and General Manager of Sunday River Ski Resort and Executive Director of the Bethel Area Chamber of Commerce, Robin Zinchuk. Thank you for joining us.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Today it is my great pleasure to have Dana Bullen in the studio with me. Dana has served as the Resort President and General Manager of Sunday river since September 2004 and brings to the position more than 25 years of ski industry and management experience. Prior to his promotion to resort President and General manager, Dana served as Vice President of Partnership Marketing for American Skiing Company where he oversaw corporate partnership programs for the company's entire resort network. A native of Farmington actually knew Sharon, Dana tells me. Dana worked his way up to the ski business ladder shortly after college, holding Various positions at Sugarloaf and their award winning Sugarloaf Golf Club as their golf pro. Thanks for coming in.

Dana Bullen:

Good morning.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So I have actually been through New Sharon. We were talking about this and it's interesting because I haven't met a lot of people who are from there. It's a pretty small town.

Dana Bullen:

It is pretty special place. I guess the reason I'm in the ski industry is because very close to New Charon is a small resort or small ski mountain called tick'.

Robin Zinchuk:

Em.

Dana Bullen:

And when I was two years old, my parents started taking me and I skied pretty much every weekend from that point until 50 years later today. It's been a great journey that started very close to New Charon.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, believe it or not, I've actually been to Tickum, so I have actually, I think skied there myself quite a while ago. But I would agree with you. And I love the fact that we still have in Maine the smaller ski resorts that are almost feeders for the bigger mountains sometimes.

Dana Bullen:

Yeah. They're not only feeders for the mountain, but they're feeders for the industry as a whole. So we're part of an organization called Ski Main, which Greg Sweetser leads. And the biggest goal is to make sure that these smaller areas have the resources they need to stay in business. Both Sunday river and Sugarloaf try to do what we can to support them, not only from a resource standpoint, but from a knowledge standpoint where we're able to.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And they also, I mean, I don't want to just say that they are feeders for bigger mountains because they are very active and vibrant communities in their own right.

Dana Bullen:

They sure are. Both my kids were ski racers. And so we went back, if you'd have it, and I came from Tickham, went to Saddleback, started work at Sugarloaf, went to Sunday River. But then when the kids got on the race circuit, we had the opportunity to go back to every ski resort in the state of Maine. There's something really, really special about each one of them.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I would absolutely agree with that. And I remember from my own cross country ski racing days and being on the Yarmouth Ski Team, that was something that was so interesting was to go into the communities to be at these smaller places to see really the support of the community members for skiing in general. People who are not skiers would come out and they would help organize the races, which was, I found really fascinating.

Dana Bullen:

The heritage. You mentioned the Yarmouth team still today. Right. The folks that create the passion pass that on from place to place, whether you're talking about Black Mountain or tick'. Em. There's these folks that pass on that passion for being outdoors, for cross country skiing, for alpine skiing, and the heritage that goes along with that's really special.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So when you were growing up in New Charon, did you think that you would have this lifelong affiliation with the ski industry?

Dana Bullen:

You know, it's funny, I guess I thought I was going to be a schoolteacher. That's what I got a degree in. And I felt like that's where I was going to spend the rest of my life. I showed up at Sugarloaf to work for just half a winter and I never left. I fell in love with working in the industry almost immediately and quite honestly set the goal of I wanted to be the guy that was respons for that resort very early on in my career, was able to get passed around from job to job within the ski resort, which helped me have the background to do what I do today.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I remember when we did a wellness story on the Sugarloaf Ski Patrol and there were people who had kind of similar stories that they understood that they were going to be part of this bigger industry. They got their education, they came into the industry and they learned a variety of different. I mean, the ski patrol is obviously very highly qualified, but they had a really broad experience. Is that common within the industry?

Dana Bullen:

We have such an array of folks that come in for different reasons. We have retired folks at Sunday river that show up and want to make the rest of their life part of the ski industry, which is great. We have kids coming right out of college at Sunday River. We work with the UMF Industries program. We bring kids there who, one of whom now is out at Big Sky. Very successful. There's such a wide array of people that when you have 1200 team members, the background of them is very diverse.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What has it been like for you to go from spending quite a lot of time at Sugarloaf to now being at Sunny river and being like the guy?

Dana Bullen:

It's been an incredible life. The ability to work at two great ski resorts is amazing. But the number of people I've come in contact with throughout the whole thing is special. It's really fun for me to watch people grow. And if you look at Sunday river, there are nine active general managers and resort presidents that are out there and that have come through Sunday river in the last 15 years. That's a pretty special feeling to work somewhere that's a feeder to the rest of the industry. It's fun to get up every day and work with people who. Who are motivated and excited to be outdoors. Outdoors is a big piece of my life. Whether it's skiing or hunting or fishing, I truly enjoy every minute of it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You also have the opportunity to work with people, not just here in Maine. You've been able to network with people really all over the country, maybe even all over the world.

Dana Bullen:

It's funny, one of the things that I got thinking about before I showed up down here was people that have influenced. Influenced me. They have been from all over different resorts all over the world, different people mentoring me on different subjects, working with people from Steamboat, working with people from Big sky, working for family like the Kirchers. The Boyne family that's been with us the last seven years has been amazing to come back into a ski resort family. It's been quite a ride.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

The ski industry has interesting challenges that maybe not every industry has. For example, last winter there was a little bit of scarcity of snow, which I know that you have snow making, so that's not something insurmountable. But as I said, it's almost like being a farmer where you're kind of watching the skies all the time and wondering how this is going to impact you economically.

Dana Bullen:

Well, speaking of being a farmer, the Farmer's Almanac came out yesterday, today and said, we're going to have a cold and snowy winter, which makes me really excited. We have the luxury in the ski industry. It's changed a lot, right? I've been in it for the last 30 years. It's changed and snowmaking capabilities today, you've seen it, you've witnessed it at Sunday River. And the power we have to make snow, the grooming techniques, the technology we have as it relates to understanding weather and how it impacts us, it has a great effect on making sure that even in a tough winter, people can still have a good time at the ski resort.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

How do you work with the fact that if it's not snowing in Massachusetts, maybe people are thinking, well, it's not snowing in Maine, maybe I don't need to go skiing.

Dana Bullen:

We attack it from a number of different angles, one of which, you've experienced the Red Bull frozen rush at Sunday River. And. And so when you immediately say to somebody, we're going to hold a truck race with 800 horsepower trucks on the side of a ski resort, they kind of look at you strange. Nick Lambert, who does an incredible job as vice president of marketing, decided that this was something he was going to attack because it was going to put our name out there with folks and it was going to show people how much snow we had even on a challenged year, which I did last year. There's events, the Santa Sunday events, those help as well. But there's no question there's no substitute for when it snows six inches right where we're setting in Portland.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I like the fact that Bethel has become a destination in its own right. So you're not just talking about Sunday river and skiing at Sunday River. You're also talking about the ability to get really world class food at some of your restaurants. You're talking about being able to go to the outdoor discovery center for some of your summer stuff. I mean, you're doing so much in that region to make it a year round experience for people.

Dana Bullen:

I think we are. I think the expectations have changed drastically. Twenty years ago, you could say it's all about the snow. Today it's about the snow and people's expectations of what they're going to do with their families, what they're going to do on the time that surrounds their outdoor time, whether that's skiing or hiking or golf, the food, the other amenities, the lodging components. The expectations have increased and I think we're doing a pretty good job of meeting it. I also understand that Sunday river as a resort is part of a big community in Bethel and Newry, and we rely on a whole bunch of other folks to bring that experience to our guests as well.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I was thinking about, I think about my own ski experience. And very early on I would get my college ski pass. And then in order to kind of make sure I got the value out of it, I would be there like as the lifts opened and then I would ski till as the lifts close. And I could do it through any sort of weather and any sort of temperature drops. Now I'm a little bit older. I don't necessarily want to be on the slopes all the time. My kids are a little bit older. Sometimes they want to be on the slopes the slip, sometimes they don't. And I love that flexibility. I love that you don't have to feel like all you can do when you go out there is ski. Is this something that you're noticing, that this changes over someone's lifespan?

Dana Bullen:

Yeah, it sure is. And now the good news is backing you up is the next college kid who will be out there during the rainstorm and be out there being out there early season and late season. But as people, people grow, we've seen a lot of changes. We do night skiing at the resort. The biggest users of Night skiing, first of all, is teens that are kind of stuck in the middle of what do they do and how do they do it. But right on their heels are grandparents and grandkids. So mom and dad are out having a nice dinner, and either grandma or grandpa has got the young child out with them skiing at night. And watching those demographics change, you see it in our hotels with our lodging. You see it with the condos. The demographics change. But I think we're doing a pretty decent job of meeting the needs of everybody.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Tell me about some of the things that you've been putting in place over the last three or four years at Sunday River. I've eaten at your restaurant, which was really quite wonderful several years ago when it first opened. And I know that Harding Lee Smith is bringing another restaurant up there. I mean, what's the vision behind that?

Dana Bullen:

So the vision behind Camp was to take a restaurant that really wasn't branded, really didn't have a personality, and turn it into a place that was comfortable, turn it into a place that when folks walked in, they could drop out and feel like they're part of a community. When you say the word camp in the state of Maine, you could be referring to a lake house, you could be referring to an outdoors hunting camp. You could be referring to a place on the coast. People have this. Camp is not so much a place as it is a state of mind. And so when we created Camp, and David Pooley helped us brand that, we did that restaurant, trying to create that sense, along with making sure that the. The food was the type of food you could get throughout the state of Maine. We partnered several years ago with a woman named Puck Sun Lane, and she brought Cho sun into our base lodge. It has been an incredible experience for our guests to be able to, in ski boots, eat some of the best sushi in the state of Maine. Harding Lee Smith, who is, you know, undoubtedly one of the best restaurant operators in the the Northeast, is coming up to do something in the North Peak Lodge. And we're really excited to work with them on that.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I actually really love the idea of doing things out of places like the North Peak Lodge. I love the places that you can. It almost feels like you have to work a little to get there, but then the reward is so great. And I think this is one of the things that really appeals to people who like to ski.

Dana Bullen:

The sense of adventure it is and part of skiing is that sense of. And you make a choice every time you get on a lift. Which lift you gonna get on? Where you're gonna ski where you're gonna sneak off to for lunch. And people love having those special places that they can call their own out there.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I also love about skiing that it's such a family oriented activity that I brought my children up there when they were quite small. I think my child who was born in February, I probably had her on some skis the following winter. And it's something that really can age with you as a family and bring you together.

Dana Bullen:

It sure can. As I said earlier, mom and dad started taking me skiing when I was 2. That translated several years later to my wife and I taking our children skiing when they were two. It's become a lifestyle for us. It's become a family activity. And every, every weekend I see families and next generations of families and new kids coming up. And that's a really fun part of the job.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I've also seen that it creates a bond between parents and teenagers during a time that can be a little challenging. But when I've skied with my kids who are teenagers, you know, sometimes they'll go out and they'll have their GoPro on, or they'll be over at the snow park and they'll be doing completely different activities. But at the end of the day, we all come together, we all have dinner, we all talk about what's been going on. And that's something that you don't always get during that age range.

Dana Bullen:

It is. And the great news is it's really hard to use a cell phone when you're on a chairlift. So some of the best family conversations can happen when there's not a thing else to do other than to be in nature and be together. I think that's special.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

It's also special talking about chairlifts just off the cuff when you, you are, I don't want to use the word forced, but you are given the chance to ride a chairlift with somebody that maybe you've never ever met before. And you can really come up with some interesting conversations. You can really meet some interesting people. And that's not an experience that a lot of us have.

Dana Bullen:

Saturday mornings, I ski every day. That's part of what I view as my job is to go out and see what our guests are going to, to ski. Really unique in the fact that I get to go out early, watch the sunrise, be out there with ski patrol, spend some time with them. But it's also fun when the chairlift's open to the public. I stay out for about an hour and a half and just Ski around. And some of the chairlift conversations are just very, very interesting. We have a Canadian gentleman who lives right next to Mount Tremblant that actually skis and rents a place at Sunday river because of the snow and the difference, and bumping into people like that just makes your day.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Sunday river has also become known for adaptive skiing, which I think is great because the more people we can get out on the slopes, the better. You've been doing it quite a number of years.

Dana Bullen:

We have. It's truly a part of who we are at Sunday river now. It's part of the DNA. It's something that is long as Sunday River. There main adaptive will be there with us as well. Pretty unique folks in that group of people as well. Very motivational to watch what some of these people go through and still just have an incredible time. There's a young man graduated from Boston College that skis there every weekend now, and it's a struggle for him to get to the slopes, but once he's there, it's an art form to watch this kid up on the hill. It's amazing.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

It seems to me that what you're trying to do is really just create greater access, greater access for different people at different stages in their lives or with different levels of ability or really different, I don't know, passions for the sport. Is that a fair or something?

Dana Bullen:

It is one of my. One of my favorite pictures as it relates to Maine Adaptive. They sent me. They had a Wounded Warrior project up there, and they sent me a picture of one of our trails with 12 empty wheelchairs sitting beside it. Knowing that there were 12 people out on sit skis was really impactful.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So doesn't that also speak to this sense of adventure that probably is within all of us, if not many of us anyway, that maybe you are a wounded veteran or maybe you were born with some different ability and you need adoptive services, but there's still something within you that doesn't. That never. That doesn't get blunted.

Dana Bullen:

It doesn't. It's interesting you bring that up. We work with the Hope association as well at Sunday river, and they bring folks to us that have challenges, that have disabilities of varying forms. And what I've come to learn from them is every person has something to contribute. We have this one gentleman named Richard who I'm not sure what his disability is, but he talks very slowly and I see him every morning. And you need to be prepared when you say hello to Richard, because it's going to take a minute, but last winter when things were going pretty rough, Richard stopped saying, have a good day to me to have a good destination. And I thought that was part of Richard's handicap, that maybe he was confusing his words until I realized one day that he could tell that I was becoming more sullen as it didn't snow. And I finally got what he was communicating. And it was funny because once I dusted myself off and got going again a couple days later, Richard went right back to have a good day. Every person has a chance to contribute. And that, that's something I've learned from that Hope association.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So how do you, let's say, weather the storms or weather the lack of storms? How do you keep a positive perspective on and look at the longer term goals when things are not going well?

Dana Bullen:

So that's a job, right? That's the, that's the key to it all. If you're going to lead, it needs to be serving everybody else. Part of serving everybody else is making sure you're the guy that tries to maintain that attitude. It isn't always easy. Things always don't go right. We don't always meet all the needs of our guests. But if we can get our entire leadership team focused on positive energy and taking care of the team members, the team members will take care of the guests, and it just rolls right through. We've gone through this incredible process of servant leadership that Boyne introduced to us seven years ago, and it's had a pretty big impact on our resort all around.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So what would be the single biggest lesson that you've learned in all of your years of working in the ski industry? And now with Sunday River

Dana Bullen:

Boy, if I, if I could go back and teach myself to talk less and listen more, I spent a lot of time leading and charging the hill. And what I realized is that asking more questions, getting more people involved and putting their thoughts into the future has far more impact sometimes than. Than doing that. So listening more than listening more than talking.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You're still a young guy, so it seems likely that you're gonna be able to put that into practice moving forward. I would think I hope to be

Dana Bullen:

there 20 more years. As I've said earlier, it's so much a part of your lifestyle. I can't imagine not getting up and going there every day. I'd also be remiss if I didn't tell you that I loved it. I love going to work. I love the skiing, I love the outdoors. Outdoors, it's really, it's really a great lifestyle.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I've been speaking with Dana Bullen, who has served as the Resort President and General Manager of Sunday river since September 2004 and who brings to the position more than 25 years of ski industry and management experience. I really appreciate your coming in and talking with me today. We will put the link to your website in our show notes and I don't think it's hard for people to find Sunday river, so I encourage them to do so. Thanks for coming in.

Dana Bullen:

Thank you very much. That was fun.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

of the Bethel area and skier and I guess enjoyer of foods in that area and the lovely landscape, I can't really say more to help people want to enjoy this except I think that our next guest can probably do an even better job than me. This is Robin Zinchuk who is the Executive Director of the Bethel Area Chamber of Commerce, a position she has held since March of 1986. In her professional career, Robin has brought the Chamber from a tiny non profit organization with a post office box and a telephone answering machine to one with more than 225 business members, three full time staff and a budget of more than $350,000. Amazing. You're doing great stuff out there in Bethel.

Robin Zinchuk:

It's been a wonderful journey. Incredible. Groups of people have helped along the way pretty much work with all volunteers, the board members, the volunteers that come and help at projects and events and we've all together made it a really great organization and have really I think helped to put the Bethel area on the map in all four seasons. I mean one of the very first things you said was that you a lover of skiing and I think that's that's what a lot of people think about when they think about Bethel and the Bethel area and obviously Sunday river and Mount Abram as ski destinations. But it's so much more than that. And I think that we've really helped to bring people forward that can help to tell the story of why it's such an incredible place to visit. But we've seen a steady stream of people who have maybe originally been visitors there. Maybe they were skiers or they came and hiked or whatnot, but they really love the vibe of the place and they've come and brought now their talents from wherever it is they came from and really have enriched the community in so many ways that the Bethel area is really becoming a terrific place for young retirees to come because they really value that community life that maybe the small town that they were from at one point in one of the southern New England states or mid Atlantic states, and they've seen so much change and growth that they're yearning for the more simpler, community centered existence. And those folks obviously coming with almost a whole lifetime of experiences and perspectives have really enriched the area. So I've really enjoyed kind of leading in a way that helps to facilitate people to come forward. That's what I think my biggest gift to the community has been.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You began doing this back in 1986.

Robin Zinchuk:

I was just a very, very young girl, I guess, young woman, 29 years old.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

That was a long time ago.

Robin Zinchuk:

That was a long time ago.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So you've made an incredible commitment to

Robin Zinchuk:

this area, you know, And I don't think that when I started, I foresaw doing it for my life's ambition. I don't think I got into it thinking of that that way. I was a business owner. I owned a bed and breakfast. My husband and I bought a big old home right on the Bethel Common. And we didn't really know what we were going to do with it. And somebody suggested a bed and breakfast because Sunday river was starting to grow and there wasn't enough room base for the skiers. And so it was in being a business owner first that I got interested in the Chamber of commerce. I really didn't even know what a chamber of commerce was when I first moved to the community. But we were. It was just a group of volunteers. And at the time that I came onto the scene, the group that was very involved was starting to get tired and a little burnt out. And so a few other young business owners and myself got together and we started dreaming about what the community could use and what the business community needed. As Sunday river was starting to grow and more people were coming to open small business. And so it was very, very part time back then because I had little kids. When I first started with the Chamber, I had two small children under the age of two and a half. And then I quickly got pregnant with my third and it was oh my. And then the fourth came and it was oh, oh my. And so I did the Chamber as I could with lots of other helpers. And it's just really grown. I didn't really do the work full time until all of my children were in school. And I had lots of people helping me. My husband's always been self employed, so we kind of did our kids as a team. They were all active little boys involved in lots of different things. And so the Chamber work just happened as we could make it happen. And I learned from so many other people who were in the work, other community leaders around the state, of what they were doing in their organization, organizations. And that really helped to inform what we could do. And it's just been a journey. I think one of the biggest turning points in the work was the year that I spend in Leadership Maine. And the intention of that program is to take 40 some odd different individuals from all over the state and help us to understand about the Maine economy, all the different facets of the Maine economy. And one of the very first trips that we took was up to Aroostook county after Loring Air Force Base had closed. And we heard the story of the people of Aroostook county determined not to all have to leave because there was a big majority of people who had somehow been employed by the base or in conjunction with the prosperity that the base brought to Aroosta County. And that was just one that was really inspiring. But there were lots of other stories. We came here to Portland and we learned about Congress street and the rebirth of Congress street and how nonprofits and the municipal government and private businesses work together to ensure that Congress street could prosper. And they brought the Maine College of Art downtown and they reinvigorated Merrill Auditorium and they rebuilt the organ and the multicultural center up at the other end of Congress Street. And it was just those were each month's topics and went around and learned about these incredible entrepreneurs in different corners of the state who were really making things happen. So I've always taken those lessons back to my own community and said, wow, if people can do what they have done, despite all kinds of difficult circumstances, working against them, we can work with our assets to make this community and this region. Great. And so that was a gift. That leadership main year was a real gift. Gift.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

It is interesting to think about Maine because we are a state that's been in transition really, from the very beginning. I mean, we've had paper mills and other sorts of mills come and go, and sometimes they linger a little bit longer, sometimes they don't. At one point, Bethel was considered a great farmland and was supplying fruits and vegetables to people, I think, really in this part of the world, somewhere around the Civil War, if I'm remembering correctly. And we've been lots of things to lots of people for hundreds, well, thousands of years, if you consider the Native Americans who have lived here. So if we decide that we're going to be whatever it was that we. Whatever it is we are now, and we need to stick with that identity, then we're probably not going to be successful. We probably do need to be able to transition as you've described.

Robin Zinchuk:

Yeah. And when I first moved to Bethel in 1984, there were seven working mills. And right now we're down to Hancock Lumber, which is a fantastic employer. But when you think about how many people those mills employed and then suppliers to those mills, it's pretty incredible, the transition that just our little community has gone through. And, you know, Sunday river, as Sunday river grew, became a real impetus for the hospitality industry, too, which has. Bethel has long had a history of hospitality. For a couple of hundred years, a couple hundred years ago, the trains came and brought people from Boston and New York, and we had these incredible, beautiful homes that were built in what's now the National Historic District. These statesmen and stateswomen and whatnot and composers and conductors and people that came to Bethel to rest, they actually came to seek rest from the city life. And that's been part of Bethel's story as well. And so we've had this spirit of hospitality for a long time. But, you know, when we were really relying on the mill economy, it was not the focus. And really it is. Has become the focus, I think, of our community. But, you know, the hospitality story and the hospitality assets that we can market have brought all these interesting people. You know, we've got this huge wellness movement that is really very alive and well. You know, lots of people that have brought their interesting talents. And so there's a real vibe around wellness. And then we've got the incredible Maine Mineral and Gem Museum that is soon to open in 2017, and that has amplified the gem and mineral story that has, again, been very, very much a part of Maine's story in general, especially Oxford county, which has this incredible repository of natural gemstones. And there's a circle of people that have known that. But the main mineral and gem museum will be able to tell the story to a much broader audience. And it's going to be an incredible attractor of individuals that will each. I think, you know, oftentimes, and I think we all experience this when we travel, we don't necessarily know how the experience of going to a place is going to impact us. And we hear that story time and time again. I came to Bethel 15 years ago for a season, and the story is now, you know, I mean, it just lives on. And people, I think, feel very blessed to be in a place that is where folks know one another, they see each other, they grew up, greet one another, they're looking out for one another. And yeah, it's a really pretty special place.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You know, all about coming somewhere and staying because you actually came to Maine to visit your sister and then you stayed. We gave you a questionnaire to fill out and you said, we asked what kept you here. The landscape, the people, the promise of a fulfilling life in a more rural place. But you came from New Jersey.

Robin Zinchuk:

I did.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So tell me about that. Tell me about that contrast or maybe comparison. Maybe there's some similarities between where you came from and where you have lived now.

Robin Zinchuk:

Well, I was born and raised in the suburbs of New Jersey, so about 35 miles outside of New York City. And I went to college in New Jersey. My degree was in teaching. And when I graduated in 1978, it was one of those cycles where there weren't a lot of teaching jobs. There was an over, you know, an overage of teachers and not enough jobs. And so I took stock of that. I actually traveled for a few months with a girlfriend out west. And I was blessed, actually to have a father who was a teacher. And my parents met on the west coast, although they were both from the East Coast. And so they had a lot of friends out west. And so we traveled back and forth across the country a lot. Every opportunity that my parents could throw us in the back of the van or the station wagon and take us traveling. And so I saw a lot of places. And when I came to this realization that I don't think, I didn't think that I was destined to stay in New Jersey, it happened that my sister and her husband came to West Paris, Maine, and they were doing kind of the back to the land movement. They had saved up money and they bought a hundred and some Odd Acres in West Paris. And I came to visit them. And actually, ironically, I met my husband, who was the storekeeper down at the end of the road. And he and I were raised about a mile and a half from one another in East Brunswick, New Jersey. And I never knew him there. He was just enough ahead of me in school that I didn't meet him. And so we had that common bond, I guess. And after a few months, I decided to. To move in and help him work in his little general store. You know, those stores that you. If people remember the old TV show Petticoat Junction, you know, it was like that little store where everybody came and sat on the milk crates next to the potbelly stove and exchanged stories about their gardens or hunting or the weather or the neighbors or whatever the topic of the day was. And I saw the beautiful simplicity in people, and I had seen that in my travels, but I was not experiencing that in my hometown. People were in a rush. There was constantly traffic. It just wasn't fitting me. I was fine as a kid there. I feel blessed that I was raised there. I love New York City. Very comfortable with going there, but I just yearned for more, a slower lifestyle, I guess, and that's what I found. My journey from West Paris led to Bethel when the state bought our store, a little general store, to relocate the road. And so we were looking for a place where we could live and operate a business. And that's when we bought the big old house on the Bethel Common and opened what's now the Chapman Inn Bed and Breakfast. And so that's the sort of the beginning of my main journey.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You also seem to get around a lot. I see you at a lot of events in other parts of the state. So as much as you love Bethel, you also love the connections that you've made to people in other places.

Robin Zinchuk:

Yeah, I think that I've been very, very blessed through my career, that my board of directors, whoever is my immediate bosses, have really encouraged me to be active and to be active in tourism related things. In Augusta, I was on the governor's. I was appointed by Governor Baldacci at the time to the Main Quality of Place Council. And they were yearning for someone from a more rural area of the state to be on the council to help to enrich the learning and the discussions. And so I've been really fortunate. I've traveled through my chamber work. We have an organization in Maine called the Maine association of Chamber Executives, and it's a professional development learning opportunity. And so we get together Two or three times a year in different areas of the state. And so I really have enjoyed my travels. My work has taken me to all corners of the state, from Aroostook county to Washington county to southern Maine and every place in between. And I've made friends. And, you know, it's easy. I think it's easier here in Maine, and maybe some might debate this, but it's easy to know people because we're only 1.3 million people here in the state. And if you're a community advocate, it's really easy to get to know people. Now that I've been in the work for a long time, there are folks who want me to be on their advisory committee. I'm finding that sometimes I have to turn down invitations because there's just so much of me to go around, and I don't. I want to do a good job when I agree to do something, but I just love it. I love the coast. My husband and I just bought a home on Orr's island in Harpswell, and we're active and very avid sea kayakers. And so we've been up and down the coast, and it's not until you really get out into the water and look back that you realize how beautiful the coastline is. I mean, you certainly experience the wonderful little seaside towns and whatnot and the economy that they have. But, man, you get out on the water, it's sort of like being on top of a mountain and looking out at this incredible landscape that you can really fully appreciate. It's like you have to be up or out, really, you know, when sometimes when you're in the middle of it, you don't necessarily see it, but being out on the water and it doesn't. I mean, we've been out here in Casco Bay and we just are blessed to live in such an incredible state. The communities, the people are just fantastic. And I've also just realized that the collaborative spirit is alive and well here. People do really want to work together and help one another to be better. And the more we realize that we don't have all the answers, that there's a different perspective, a different way of doing things, the better we all are, and it's been great.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What do you see in the future for Bethel?

Robin Zinchuk:

Well, I see us becoming more and more aware of climate and, I mean, last winter was a real lesson and how dependent we are on our snowy winters. And I think it makes us more when we realize the dependency is not a good thing, that we realize that we have all the tools in our toolboxes to prosper no matter what. But I think we can be sensitive and make decisions, decisions that are going to be better for our environment. And I think our businesses are doing those good things. I mean, Hancock Lumber does an incredible job Sunday. River and Mount Abram are doing incredible things to really be good stewards of our environment. So I see us becoming more diversified and the Mineral and Gem Museum, I mean there's been a lot of anticipation about that facility opening and what it may help to create on Main Street, Bethel. All the major highways bypass the village of Bethel. And in some ways that's a blessing and in some ways it's not because a lot of people miss the village and and as they think the town of Bethel is the blinking light where the intersection of Route 2 and Parkway is because they just miss it despite we put up signs that say historic village and straight ahead. But there are people that miss it. And I think that the intentionality of the visitation to the Mineral Gem Museum is going to have spectacular, lasting effects. It will help to inspire the small business owners on Main street that sometimes they get discouraged because they again this feeling of overdependency on Sunday river on the the snow or on something that is outside of our control. And so it just makes us more resourceful. We have this wonderful Edible Bethel initiative going on that involves everything from the youngest student led initiatives to our active senior community community all working together to bring attention to being closer to the earth. You know, raising vegetables and our food. And there's a lot of really positive things happening there that I feel very proud to be a part of.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, I appreciate your coming in and talking to us about what's going on in Bethel and also appreciate the work that you've been doing. As the executive director. We've been speaking with Robin Zinchuk who is the executive director of the Bethel Area Chamber of Commerce and absolutely a friend of Maine magazine. And I appreciate you just in general and I think about people who are cheerleaders for our place and our state and you are definitely one of them and you are doing a really, really good job. So thank you.

Robin Zinchuk:

Thank you very much.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You've been listening to Love Maine Radio show number 268, beautiful Bethel. Our guests have included Dana Bullen and Robin Zinchuk. For a preview of each week's show, sign up for our e Newsletter. Follow me on Twitter Twitter as drlisa and see my running travel, food and wellness photos as bountiful1 on Instagram. We love to hear from you so please let us know what you think of Love Maine Radio. We welcome your suggestions for future shows. Also let our sponsors know that you have heard about them here. We are privileged that they enable us to bring Love Maine Radio to you each week. This is Dr. Lisa Belisle. I hope that you have enjoyed our beautiful Bethel show. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your day. May you have a bountiful life.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You were born here in Maine?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You grew up in York?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, we'll still let you be.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yeah.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yes. Well, you said you probably crossed the border at a few days of age.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yes. And I was just down in York for the York Hospital fundraiser and it was interesting to have people in the audience come up to me afterwards and say, I knew Spencer Wen. One of them was your piano teacher.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And he was doing piano for the event and he was very excited to have me mention your name during the presentation.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

We gave. But then also somebody that you went to high school with, who is a radiologist now with York Hospital, Jenny Cutts. And you've clearly, you've maintained some. Some strong relationships over the years with your hometown.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, I mean, yeah, it seems like they still. When they think of Spencer Albee, they think of a person who has made a success out of himself.

Dana Bullen:

what.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I honestly had only ever kind of passed through York and had never been to the town itself. It's a really nice little area. You have a beautiful harbor. There's a cliff walk. There's this fascinating. There's Long beach, which starts with a couple of very nicely Maintained mobile home parks at the entrance.

Dana Bullen:

Oh, yeah.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

That's Agamenticus.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And you have a little lighthouse.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So small but mighty.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

It was. Being that we were there in late September, it was really striking to me how busy it was. I mean, that the town was filled. The beach had all kinds of. Of people walking up and down. And there really was an interesting pride. I mean, there was. When I say nicely maintained mobile home park. People had. They had their lawn chairs out front, they had their flags, they had. I mean, this was something that. Absolutely, as you've said, this was something that they was such an important part of their lives to be at their little bit of beach for. However often they're able to get there and it. And it seems like people return year after year.

Dana Bullen:

up until Labor Day.