All living Maine governors featured in Maine State Chamber of Commerce's annual dinner; Patrick Dempsey delivers keynote speech

The Maine State Chamber of Commerce's annual dinner honored former and current governors, Bangor's Chamber president, and a Lewiston native actor best known for his role as "Dr. McDreamy."

They celebrated Maine's bicentennial with a special video presentation featuring all seven of Maine's living governors.

"I think that legislators in those days spent much more time together and I don't think they don't see each other as much socially as they used to," said former Maine Governor Ken Curtis in an interview at the event. "So they don't have the time to become friends and work out matters amongst themselves. And that's what I thought was very good in those days."

Curtis served from 1967-1975 and is Maine's oldest living governor.

Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce President Deb Neuman was honored with the "Chamber Professional of the Year" award.

Guests also got to hear special guest Patrick Dempsey speak.

"I'm a very proud Mainer," said Dempsey in an interview during the event Wednesday night. "I mean a lot of the values, a lot of the things that I learned very early on here that I still carry on as an adult and I'm very grateful for that. And I love coming home. There's something about returning to the Maine woods; the smell and the people are really quite remarkable."

Dempsey spoke a lot about the work that his cancer facilities in Lewiston and South Portland, the Dempsey Center, do for Mainers facing cancer and their families.

He says that he's looking to add a Dempsey Center, which provide all-free services, more accessible to Northern Mainers, possibly in Bangor.

For more information on the Dempsey Center, you can visit dempseycenter.org.