BANGOR, Maine — It's an age-old image -- ladies tending to the home and running errands, pausing for a lunch out with their girlfriends.
But now, the ladies who lunch have turned into women who do business over bagels -- which is exactly what a certain group of four female leaders was doing on a dreary Tuesday morning at hot-spot Bagel Central in Bangor.
Gathered around the end of a wooden cafeteria-style table were three women, newly elected to Bangor area offices, known among themselves and others as the "sisters" -- Angela Okafor (a Bangor City Councilor), Marwa Hassanien (a Bangor School Board member), and Tania Jean-Jaques (a Hampden School Board member).
RELATED: Three 'sisters' making history
And sitting among the three minority women was Gov. Janet Mills.
"They are what make the state go around, and they're going to be movers and shakers at the local level school board and city council," Mills expressed to NEWS CENTER Maine outside of the busy door leading into the cafe. "I'm sure they have great futures ahead of them."
Mills was in town on a few other agenda items and decided to reach out to the women, who recently made history in their respective positions as the first women of color elected to serve. For the three "sisters", the Governor's interest meant a lot.
"I was sitting right next to her and (got) to ask her all of these questions that I had," Hassanien said.
"It was like friends talking," Okafor expressed with a large smile and a chuckle.
For Jean-Jacques, the effort by the Governor to get together with officials like themselves who have smaller roles made a statement.
"It's not like the government 'over there'. We are seen and heard, and they care about us."
A big conversation during the November 19 lunch -- representation in local politics.
"Diversity matters," Hassanien insisted. "It's the foundation of our country."
"We need all voices, and we need to be represented by different people," Jean-Jacques added.
Mills said that despite Maine's reputation as perhaps not being the most diverse state in the nation -- times are changing.
"Maine is allegedly the whitest state in the nation, but we're also the oldest state in the nation," Mills said. "So we're going to change things."
And that change may already be happening -- a point made with this off-year election in central Maine.
"We were running, and we wanted to be elected and really effect change -- but we didn't expect all of this," Hassanien said with a grin. "It's just been (an) outpouring of support."
Okafor pointed out that Mainers may not be given enough credit.
"The community knows what it wants," Okafor expressed. "Our communities are smarter than we think they are."