Thank you Jennifer Ceide for years of service!

We are extremely grateful to and want to thank our board member, Jennifer Ceidi, for her long service to and leadership of FWC. Jennifer truly epitomizes the mission and culture of our organization.

Jennifer moved to Woodfords Corner in 2018 to take a job at UNE. Not only had she never been to ME, she only "knew" one person here. While in grad school in New Orleans, she went to a conference and met a person who had a friend in Portland, a FWC board member named “Heather”. When she got here, she and then board member, Heather Latham, made a dinner date and Teresa, our co-founder and board chair, came along. (Heather and Teresa had been connected by former board member and City Councilor Andrew Zarro, at his former coffee shop, Little Woodfords.) 

During their dinner meeting, they talked extensively about the FWC vision and Teresa was so impressed with Jennifer, that a couple of months later, she asked her to join the board.

Jennifer is a person who says “yes!” to life!  She said yes to joining the board and again when asked to be our Treasurer, without having any prior experience with those duties. She said yes to other boards in Maine--Maine Initiatives, and Good Theater. During her time in Portland, she resurrected her passions in singing and acting and started a new band, Kouchera. She said yes to a blind date with a Massachusetts man, “Jackson”, found love at first sight and married him a couple of years later.  

Despite fearing that Woodfords Corner would be so completely different from her hometown of Brooklyn, NY, and that it would be hard to connect with people here, the opposite happened. As she explained it in 2022, “In a short amount of time familiarity grew... because it mimicked the neighborhood Mister Rogers portrayed. Woodfords Corner will always be the place that exemplifies the neighborly spirit of inclusivity, warmth, and friendship.”

Jennifer has always embraced the FWC mission and been open to everything and everyone new and different. She is always enthusiastic and makes friends wherever she goes. Sadly for FWC, her marriage involved moving to Dover, NH in 2023. Amazingly, she continued her board duties with us until last month. Even from afar, she has participated in important ways: training our new treasurer, helping to start the “Live at Odd Fellows Hall”--Kouchera was the first live act for LOFH--and is staying on that committee going forward. 

We at FWC feel so lucky to have had Jen with us over the last seven years and while we are sad that we’re losing her from our board, are excited by other amazing things that she’ll do going forward.  

Thank you Jen for your enthusiasm, openness, loving spirit and all that you have given to the FWC board and community. We already miss you!