LA Metro Chamber April Breakfast

April 9, 2026·30 min·2 clips

A clerk noticed boys in trouble had single mothers, so he matched them with mentors—starting Big Brothers 120 years ago.

1. Lydia's Lunch Bunch broadcasts live from Burnt Ends Barbecue at 120 Center Street in Auburn during the Lewiston-Auburn Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce April breakfast. 2. Hosts Mark and Sarah conduct the broadcast together, interviewing four new chamber members across the episode. 3. The episode functions as a community bulletin, mixing local news headlines with business spotlights for chamber newcomers. 4. Auburn Public Works is closing the southbound lane near 186 Turner Street for sidewalk repairs on April 9th, and Lewiston City Council holds a fiscal year 2027 budget workshop at City Hall at 6 p.m. that evening. 5. The 32nd Lewiston Auburn Balloon Festival is set for August 21-23 with a patriotic red, white, and blue theme timed to America's 250th birthday and an expected crowd of over 100,000. 6. Lewiston Middle School's Chris Roy was named Maine Middle School Athletic Director of the Year, and Sonny Gray threw six and a third innings of shutout ball as the Red Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-0. 7. Famous People Birthdays for April 9th include Kristen Stewart (36), Keisha Knight Pulliam (47, Emmy-nominated for Rudy Huxtable on The Cosby Show), Paulina Porizkova (61, first Central European woman on the Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover), Jimmy Tingle (71, Boston comedian), and Dennis Quaid (72). 8. On This Day highlights include The Lion King surpassing Phantom of the Opera as the highest-grossing Broadway show in 2012 ($2.2 billion since 1997), the Colorado Rockies' first home game drawing a record NL crowd of 80,227 in 1993, and the Astrodome opening in 1965 with Mickey Mantle hitting the first home run. 9. Jennifer Cartmel, Androscoggin director for Big Brothers Big Sisters, explains the organization began 120 years ago in New York when a justice system clerk matched boys raised by single mothers with mentors — lawyers and businessmen — who kept them from reoffending. 10. Big Brothers Big Sisters has served Androscoggin-area children for 40 years; the Bowl for Kids' Sake fundraiser at Just In Time Recreation in Lewiston runs May 7th, with the nationwide event now in its approximately 50th year. 11. Lily Kreitzberg, founder of Seeds to Smiles, is helping Edward Little High School install a 30-by-40-foot greenhouse that was part of the school's original rebuilding plans and now has funding. 12. Kreitzberg's background includes two years as an apprentice on a small-scale sustainable farm in New England and two years in AmeriCorps doing garden-education work before founding Seeds to Smiles. 13. She describes the impact of hands-on gardening for high schoolers as empowerment through seeing a carrot seed grow to harvest, combined with mental health and screen-time reduction benefits. 14. Christina Albee launched Main Street Business Consulting after leaving the Lewiston-Auburn Chamber of Commerce, where she worked after a prior stint at AVCOG's Maine SBDC providing free confidential advising. 15. Albee says she identified an unmet local need for relationship-driven advising after two years of daily conversations at the chamber and was inspired by a colleague named Shanna who started her own business. 16. Her target clients are mom-and-pop operators — restaurants, chiropractors, hairstylists, welders — who need help with cash flow, structure, and business planning but got into business for their trade, not the paperwork. 17. The episode is conversational and warm in tone, with Mark and Sarah frequently sharing personal asides and comedic banter between segments, including jokes about Brazilian waxes and bell-ringing reflexes. 18. Interviews are short (roughly 5 minutes each) and conducted live at the chamber breakfast, lending an informal energy with background noise and audience presence. 19. Local business owners, chamber members, and residents of the Lewiston-Auburn area interested in community events and small-business spotlights will find this episode most useful. 20. Listeners outside the Lewiston-Auburn region or those looking for in-depth analysis of any single topic will find the coverage too brief and hyper-local.

As heard by us

A chamber breakfast broadcast that keeps a neighborly, service-first rhythm.

Lydia's Lunch Bunch settles into a chamber-breakfast rhythm from Burnt Ends Barbecue in Auburn, with Mark and Sarah moving through news, events, and the people shaping the greater LA area.

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For a chamber-breakfast listen with headlines, sponsors, and new-member intros.

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