Meeting Dates for 2023
February 28
March 28
April 25
May 30
June 27
No Meeting in July
August 29
September 26
October 31
November 28
No Meeting in December
Hello Member-Owners,
We would like to introduce you to the Rising Tide Board of Directors.
We would like to introduce you to the Rising Tide Board of Directors.
Graham Walsh, President, has been a patron of Rising Tide since the early days when the location was what is now the “Woman of Substance” building. He is a regular face at Rising Tide, often times visiting more than once a day to shop. Walsh enjoys assisting patrons, tidying up if he sees the need, engages in conversation with staff and customers, and provides suggestions when appropriate. While the Shop Manager and Director of Admissions and Sales for the Apprenticeshop in Rockland, Walsh oversaw daily operations, managed the physical plant, and acquired materials for traditional boat building programs. Currently, Walsh works in Advertising at the Lincoln County News, which keeps him connected to the community on many levels.
Beth Polhemus, Vice President, has been a member of Rising Tide for 10 years and brings her small business expertise and passion for food and sustainability to the Board. After thirty years of restaurant operations, she’s aware that she is still learning about the impact she can and should have as a business owner. She brings that sensibility along with enthusiasm, creativity, and a heartfelt desire to contribute to the Rising Tide community to her role as a board member. Beth enjoys the challenges and opportunities that come with cooperative governance.
Sara Rauschenberg, Secretary, is passionate about the quality of food and where it comes from. She believes local, sustainable food is important to the health of our planet and our society. Rising Tide promotes these values and shares her interest in educating others about responsible food choices. Sara has been a member-owner for over a decade and became a board member to play a more active role in helping the Co-op grow and succeed. She brings her analytical and organizational skills from her science career to help Rising Tide achieve its goals. She enjoys being more involved in the Rising Tide community and introducing others to the Rising Tide experience.
Sean O’Neill, Treasure has been a member of the Rising Tide Co-op for four years and recently joined the Board to further support co-op education and sustainable development outreach. Sean is a biologist and educates students and community members about Ocean Science Research. He enjoys using his experience to work and communicate with the cooperative membership
Beth, Sean, and Sara are great examples of member-owners stepping into the role of board members. Member-owner participation is crucial to a healthy Board and cooperative. The Board is always looking for interested member-owners to get involved in cooperative governance.
Judy Bernier has been with Rising Tide as a consumer and member. She is a fan of grocery stores and bodegas in general and likes perusing them for new and interesting items. In the ’90s as an interior designer, she worked on the design and layouts for the “big Y” chain of supermarkets, researching buying behavior and how color and design can influence sales. She approaches issues in a holistic manner and then quantifies results with data. She believes that at the end of the day, you want your shopper to have a good experience in the co-op so they will return and tell their friends. She feels that staff should feel good about working at the co-op, and vendors who supply the store to feel good as well. She understands that it’s a balancing act and there are a lot of personalities and egos involved so you have to remain objective.
Ed Ross and his wife, Sandra, have been year-round Damariscotta residents since 2010, but Rising Tide customers since 1980. They recognize that the member-owned co-op is one of the organizations making Lincoln County a great place to live. With his business background, Ed has a special appreciation for the hardworking farmers and small businesses partnering with Rising Tide so locally produced products can be offered. Ed hopes to be a positive contributor to Rising Tide’s board.
Hide (pronounced hee-day and short for Hideaki) Mizuno is delighted to be a member-owner of the Rising Tide Coop, with its healthful food and other products, local producers, and the vital role it plays in the well-being of the community. Hide has over 30 years of experience in finance and investment management, working in Tokyo, New York, Paris, and Algeria, in addition to San Francisco. For the past 10 years, he has worked in the not-for-profit sector, including endowment management, development, board relationships, governance, and fiduciary responsibilities, with a recent focus on ESG (environment-, social- and governance-focused investments). He has a wife, June, a son, and a daughter who went to college in Maine and settled here. Hide is passionate about food, wine, and bluegrass music and looks forward to helping Rising Tide Coop continue to thrive.
Deb Singer, is thrilled to be a newly settled resident of Maine- being where her passion and heart have led her (living closer to nature.) Discovering Rising Tide has been a joy and aligns well with her commitment to healthy eating/living and supporting local food. She is passionate about Rising Tide’s success now and into the future. A Social Entrepreneur, Deb brings decades of experience working in both retail (Whole Foods for 12 years in leadership roles) and as a supplier of sustainable products to retailers across the US. She is squarely focused on making an impact on our plastic pollution crisis. Since 2007 after leading the ban on plastic shopping bags at Whole Foods, her work and passion have been directed toward the elimination of single-use – supporting the reuse movement. She is committed to creating a radical shift in consumers’ mindsets and behaviors away from single-use plastic. She resides in Nobleboro with her partner Bruce, who has been a loyal shopper at Rising Tide for 15 years and shares their home with a blended pet family (2 cats and a dog!)
Tammy Lee has been a patron and member-owner for 20+ years and cares deeply about Rising Tide as her primary source for local, organic food, natural medicine, cleaning products, and so much more. After graduating from Dartmouth College, she spent many years working and traveling between Maine and Northern California as a marketing professional and yoga teacher. In 2012, she helped to form Destination Wellness MidCoast Maine, a non-profit organization whose mission is to make health and wellness a mainstay of life in Midcoast Maine; she was its founding president from 2012-2014. She has also been an active volunteer for Bioneers, PopTech, National Ski Patrol, and World Cup Soccer. She is a member of Coastal Rivers, MOFGA, and the Sierra Club. With deep family roots going back generations in New Harbor, she was raised in NH, spent nearly every summer in Pemaquid Beach, and now lives here year-round. She looks forward to supporting Rising Tide’s sustainable growth as a valuable community resource
The Rising Tide Policy Register contains the most concise definition of the Board’s role: “Acting on behalf of our member-owners, the Board ensures that our co-op produces benefit and value while avoiding unacceptable actions and situations.” The Board does this through the completion of monitoring reports in collaboration with the General Manager. The Board is also responsible for communicating to the membership updates, and plans for the business. Together, the member-owners, the Board, and the General Manager chart the course for Rising Tide and its vital role in an increasingly dynamic business climate.
If you’re interested in attending a board meeting via Zoom or have any questions for the board, please contact them at board@risingtide.coop. Our next Board Meeting is on February 28 at 5:30 pm. We hope you will join us. There will be no Board Meeting in January.
In Cooperation,
The Rising Tide Board of Directors