Jean Yarbrough is Professor of Government and Gary M. Pendy, Sr. Professor of Social Sciences, with teaching responsibilities in political philosophy and American political thought at Bowdoin College. She has twice received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, first in 1983-84, when she was named a Bicentennial Fellow and again in 2005-2006, under a “We the People” initiative. She is the author of American Virtues: Thomas Jefferson on the Character of a Free People (Kansas, 1998), has edited The Essential Jefferson (Hackett, 2006) and, her most recent book, Theodore Roosevelt and the American Political Tradition, (University Press of Kansas, 2012) won the Richard E. Neustadt Award for 2013 (awarded annually by the American Political Science Association (APSA) for the best book on the Presidency). 

Ms. Yarbrough is the author of numerous articles and essays in American political thought and public policy, as well as other topics in political philosophy. She serves on the editorial boards of The Review of Politics and Polity, and is a past-President of the New England Political Science Association.

A graduate of Cedar Crest College, she earned her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees at The New School for Social Research in New York City.
 

Carolyn Nishon, Executive Director of the Portland Symphony Orchestra, took us behind the scenes to share the work of the orchestra on the greater Portland community. She told us when she joined the orchestra in 2008, the organization had been experiencing year-over-year deficits, and had completely drawn down its line of credit. “We came to the realization,” she said, “that we could shut down or choose to live. We chose to live.” The enterprise implemented ten percent pay cuts, scaled back rehearsals, and eliminated some concerts. Watching their contributions and revenue efforts carefully, she said, “we decided on funding knowns with knowns,” and not take any risks. “We finished the 2009 to 2009 year in the black for the first time in years.” 

With their finances beginning to come under control, Nishon said their next order of business was to understand what the orchestra could do for its community. ”We asked the community to send us two words to describe the Portland Symphony Orchestra,” she said. “We got words like ‘stuck-up’ and ‘stodgy.’” Recognizing the PSO had a problem, Nishon said a task force was formed with members of the orchestra, trustees, and players who met to sort through piles of strips of paper with the words the community had submitted to describe the orchestra. The group’s work resulted in a new statement of mission for the PSO: “Serving community by enriching lives through music.” Nishon related that this statement created a shift in programs to meet community needs. “We created a series of Family Events,” she said, “including an instrument petting zoo where kids could come and touch the instruments.” This resulted in more kids taking lessons to learn how to play instruments. “We started PSO Explorers, a program to increase literacy after we found research that reported that kids who are on reading level in Grade 3 are more likely to graduate.” The program put musicians into the schools working with teachers to improve literacy. Special concerts were created to entice young people to learn about the PSO, including “Harry Potter & the Magic of Music,” and “John Williams & Star Wars.” 

As the finances of the PSO improved, their ability to attract musicians and guest conductors increased. One of the guest conductors was Eckard Preu, who so impressed one of the PSO musicians with his infectious energy: “There’s something special about him. How do we get him back?” Ironically, when the PSO searched for a new conductor, the result of their three-and-a-half-year search was the unanimous selection of Eckard Preu, who everyone expects to be a “transformative conductor.”

Now, Nishon said the orchestra’s endowment has increased; the PSO has operated ten consecutive seasons in the black; musicians come from all over the country to play; and kids from all over Maine come by the busloads to attend their first concert. And, for many, the musical event of the year is “The Magic of Christmas.” “This concert series,” she said, “is the biggest show of the year. And, the great thing about it; it was started by your own Russ Burleigh.”

We all arrived to see well-organized Sweetheart Auction tables, ready to receive and process items. Inside the ballroom, tables were lining the room, offering up many items, so everyone was circulating to get their bid in.

President John Curran brought the meeting to order by welcoming 52 members and 3 guests. Bruce Jones provided our invocation, Jerry Angier led our Pledge of Allegiance, and Gracie Johnston led the group in singing “God Bless America.”

After the meal, John started with the introduction of guests. Michael Reed brought both his wife and his son. John then offered a special welcome back to Julie Chase.

President John introduced our animated auctioneer for the LIVE auction part of our program, Tom Ranello (photo below at right), along with the qualified assistance of PP Don Zillman (photo at left), who read the descriptions of the LIVE items as they were presented to the audience. We kept the items presented to a mere 6 items, due to time constraints, and the speaker, Carolyn Nishon, added a seventh item of 2 tickets to any PSO performance. Bidding started slowly on an Old Port Pub Crawl, but then Paul Tully turned it into a party by getting seven women and two other men to each bid $50 each to join in the "group crawl." 

Gracie Johnston (photo at left) told us that our Club’s volunteer night at Preble Street Soup Kitchen is February 27, and she still needs volunteers. Don’t use her old work email, as she has joined the Portland Radio Group. Her current email is: graciej1010@gmail.com  Gracie also told us about a nice letter from the Salvation Army, thanking us for raising $970.45 by ringing the Red Kettle Bells at Christmas time.

PP Kris Rosado (photo at right) told us about 'The Summer Leaders Experience' at West Point for high school juniors, which is a one-week immersive experience as a cadet to inform their college selection decision. (westpoint.edu/admissions/summer-program) The deadline for application is March 31, and the cost is only $400. Talk to Kris for more info. 

Ben Millick (photo at left) talked about the Greenhouse program at the immigrant welcome center. The program includes: one-on-one mentoring from experts to help start and grow a business; advice and training on important business topics from professionals in the marketing, legal, financial and technology fields; office space at their location in downtown Portland and all the other benefits the IBH has to offer; connections to other immigrant entrepreneurs and the Maine business community at large. (Go to: https://www.welcomeimmigrant.org/bizhub/) They are looking for business mentors who will go through the SCORE training program to work with a participant throughout the program. They are also looking for subject matter experts willing to give one or more classes. Contact Ben if you can help: bmillick@clarkinsurance.com.

President John reminded us all about the “Make It Happen” program at Portland Schools. This program needs volunteer academic coaches. For more information, go to: mlc.portlandschools.org/programs/make_it_happen

As the weekly raffle was presented to the group, a ticket bearing the name "3H" was picked. Representing our 3-H team, Roger Fagan surprised everyone by finding the Queen of Hearts and winning $252 for the Hearing, H2O, and Hands project in the Dominican Republic. Speaking of which, click here to view a link to the article that the media published about the team's recent 3-H Dominican Republic trip.

John ended by thanking PP Loretta Rowe, 2nd VP Ellen Niewoehner and the rest of the committee for a great auction.

If you would like to mark your calendars,
we are scheduled at the following locations
through March 2019:

2019
Feb 15 - The Clarion
Feb 22 - The Clarion

Mar   1 - The Clarion
Mar   8 - The Clarion
Mar 15 - The Clarion
Mar 22 - The Clarion
Mar 29 - The Clarion

Blue BOLD dates are scheduled Board meeting days.

Any questions, please contact Loretta at: lrowe@maine.rr.com