South Portland Maine here. Whether you can take advantage of any of the meetings or not, there is a plethora of information for which joining BRS is my highest recommendation and I would certainly encourage you to do so. I personally have been able to attend only one meeting so far, but the gang in the tank are still loving the bag of Anthony's glop we brought home.
If I have anything to offer (being a newbie myself) it is one suggestion since you mention a sump. No matter what you read or hear, if you are doing anything with silicon make sure it says aquarium safe on the label. The few bucks you can save from using any other product is simply not worth the risk. Take that from someone who wiped out his first tank build in less then 24 hours and rendered all the sand and 85 lbs of Coraline covered live rock completely useless.
Welcome.
