Linda Dale Brown of Salisbury and more than 60 members of the Massachusetts Justices of the Peace Association Inc. have volunteered to officiate free of charge at the weddings of any active-duty U.S. serviceman or servicewoman currently serving in or being deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.

Service personnel must already be deployed or about to be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. The service also applies to those active duty military personnel who are home on leave from Iraq or Afghanistan.

A list of Justices of the Peace participating in this service can be found at www.mjpa.org by clicking on the home page link "Click here for the 2006-2007 JPs who volunteered to officiate at Military Weddings - Pro Bono." Servicemen and women are encouraged to call the justice nearest to where the wedding will take place. Brown can be contacted at 978-462-3531 or at Chapellbjp@aol.com.

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Realtors honor Toomey for community service

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors recently presented three Massachusetts Realtors with the association's 2006 Good Neighbor Award. The awards, which recognize real estate professionals for their community activism, went to Lucianne Giguere of Landmark, Realtors in East Longmeadow; Catherine Toomey of Stone Ridge Properties in Amesbury; and David Willette of RCI Real Estate in Williamstown. They were presented at the annual MAR Professional Awards Dinner Oct. 9 in Boston.

The annual awards, established in 2004, recognize Realtors who have demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to community service through volunteerism and civic and charitable contributions that improve the lives of local residents and make their community a better place to live.

Toomey is a director and active fund-raising volunteer for the Pettengill House, a social service agency on the North Shore that operates a food pantry and offers outreach programs and assistance to homeless families and at-risk children in Amesbury and Salisbury. A Realtor since 1984, Toomey has donated more than 1,000 hours in the past two years to organize and implement food and clothing drives, as well as a series of fundraising events for the agency.

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LaFlamme joins North Shore Bank

PEABODY - The Board of Directors of North Shore Bank has appointed David LaFlamme of Newburyport to the position of president and chief operating officer. In his new position, LaFlamme assumes responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the bank. Francis McCormack continues as the bank's chief executive officer, with a primary focus on strategic initiatives.

LaFlamme has 30 years of banking experience, primarily in Essex County. For the past 10 years, he served as executive vice president of TD Banknorth Massachusetts, with responsibility for commercial lending activity including a 40-member lending team and loan commitments of nearly $2 billion. Previously, he served for 10 years as senior vice president of Family Mutual Savings Bank in Haverhill.

LaFlamme is a graduate of Holy Cross College and the Commercial Lending School at the University of New Hampshire. He is actively involved in the community as a trustee and former chairman of the Home Health Foundation, a community-based, not-for-profit providing home health and hospice care. He also serves on the boards of Anna Jaques Hospital, Northeast Family YMCA, North Shore and Greater Newburyport chambers of commerce, Catholic Charities North and the Lowell Development Finance Committee.

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Strand launches Web portal

NEWBURYPORT - Strand Marketing, an integrated marketing and advertising agency specializing in high tech, designed the Web interface for a new Web portal for Hook Mobile of Alexandria, Va., a leader in multimedia messaging. Strand designed the interface for this first-of-its-kind mobile marketing campaign offering TV viewers the opportunity to receive, trade and collect mobile trading cards in an effort to win cash prizes and merchandise. The concept was launched by Hook Mobile with CBS's hit reality TV show, "Survivor," this October.

To visit the Web portal, visit tradingcards.cbs.com.

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Park Place Real Estate opens on the North Shore

GEORGETOWN - Park Place Real Estate has opened a new agency on the North Shore. The real estate agents and administration behind it include some former RE/MAX agents, some of whom have served the North Shore for more than 30 years. The team includes Richard Beaulieu, broker; Kathleen Graham, ABR and manager; Martha Fazio-Carter, ABR, CRS, SRES, GRI; Gail Mastrangelo, ABR, CRS; and Benjamin Fazio-Carter, transaction coordinator.

Park Place Real Estate is located at 1 Broadway, Salisbury Beach and 156 Jewett St., Georgetown. For more information, call 978-992-4505, or e-mail to ParkPlace@ParkPlaceLiving.net.

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We want to publish news about your business - new contracts, new hires, promotions and events that are open to the public - on the pages of BizNorth. Send a brief notice with the basics. Please be clear about the person's connection to the region. Include the name and phone number of someone we can call if we have questions. Send your news by mail to BizNorth, The Daily News, 23 Liberty St., Newburyport, MA 01950; by fax to 978-465-8505; or by e-mail to bneumyer@ecnnews.com. Direct questions to Bette Neumyer at 978-462-6666.