Talk of the Towns

Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves
Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording.

Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities

This month:
– What is the history, mission and current picture of Maine Outdoor School for All?
– What are the benefits of learning out of doors?
– What is it like to be a grade-school teacher today… what are some of the pressures and expectations they face?
– What do teachers say are some of the barriers they face in getting students outdoors to learn?
– And how do members of the network help classroom teachers (grades 4-8) overcome those barriers?
– What are some of the benefits that teachers report from participation with organizations within the Maine Outdoor Schools for All network?
– What is the background and current status of the Act to Support Outdoor School for All Maine Students, introduced in 2023 by State Senator Stacey Brenner

Guest/s:
Ryder Scott Executive Director, University of Maine 4-H Centers 
Kara McCrimmon from Cobscook Institute
Anica Miller-Rushing MOSFA Network Coordinator

FMI:
mosfa.org
extension.umaine.edu/4h/camps/
cobscookinstitute.org

About the hosts:

Ron Beard is producer and host of Talk of the Towns, which first aired on WERU in 1993 as part of his community building work as an Extension professor with University of Maine Cooperative Extension and Sea Grant. He took all the journalism courses he could fit in while an undergraduate student in wildlife management and served as an intern with Maine Public Television nightly newscast in the early 1970s. Ron is an adjunct faculty member at College of the Atlantic, teaching courses on community development. Ron served on the Bar Harbor Town Council for six years and is currently board chair for the Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor, where he has lived since 1975. Look for him on the Allagash River in June, and whenever he can get away, in the highlands of Scotland where he was fortunate to spend two sabbaticals.

Liz Graves joined Talk of the Towns as co-producer and co-host in July 2022, having long admired public affairs programming on WERU and dreamed of getting involved in community radio. She works as the Town Clerk for the Town of Bar Harbor, and is a former editor of the Mount Desert Islander weekly newspaper. Liz grew up in California and came to Maine as a schooner sailor.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves
Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording.

Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities

This month:
– What are the elements of the sauna experience and culture?
– What are the traditions in sauna and what are the growing edges, such as portable saunas and links to cold water swimming?
– What led Garrett Conover to research and write his book, Sauna Magic?

Guest/s:
Jackie Stratton, Cedar Grove Sauna, Montville
Jeneve Parish, Rest Day Sauna, Monson
Gail Gladstone, Selkie Sauna, Bar Harbor
Garrett Conover, author of Sauna Magic, Maine Authors Publishing, 2019

FMI:
maineauthorspublishing.com/sauna-magic/
www.cedargrovesauna.com
www.cedargrovesauna.com
www.selkiesauna.com

About the hosts:

Ron Beard is producer and host of Talk of the Towns, which first aired on WERU in 1993 as part of his community building work as an Extension professor with University of Maine Cooperative Extension and Sea Grant. He took all the journalism courses he could fit in while an undergraduate student in wildlife management and served as an intern with Maine Public Television nightly newscast in the early 1970s. Ron is an adjunct faculty member at College of the Atlantic, teaching courses on community development. Ron served on the Bar Harbor Town Council for six years and is currently board chair for the Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor, where he has lived since 1975. Look for him on the Allagash River in June, and whenever he can get away, in the highlands of Scotland where he was fortunate to spend two sabbaticals.

Liz Graves joined Talk of the Towns as co-producer and co-host in July 2022, having long admired public affairs programming on WERU and dreamed of getting involved in community radio. She works as the Town Clerk for the Town of Bar Harbor, and is a former editor of the Mount Desert Islander weekly newspaper. Liz grew up in California and came to Maine as a schooner sailor.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves
Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording.

Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities

This month:
– What is the history of civic halls in Maine?
– What role did the Grange play in rural America in the 19th and early 20th century?
– What gave rise to the Maine Civic Halls initiative and what is the role of Maine Preservation?
– What role did Greenhorns play in raising the present profile of Maine’s civic halls?
– How are civic halls being repurposed and taken care of today? As an example, how does Lamoine Community Arts collaborate with the Lamoine Grange?

Guest/s:
Severine Welcome, Founder/Director of Greenhorns/Smithereens Farm.
Tara Kelly, Executive Director, Maine Preservation.
Carol Korty, Lamoine Grange and Lamoine Community Arts.

About the hosts:

Ron Beard is producer and host of Talk of the Towns, which first aired on WERU in 1993 as part of his community building work as an Extension professor with University of Maine Cooperative Extension and Sea Grant. He took all the journalism courses he could fit in while an undergraduate student in wildlife management and served as an intern with Maine Public Television nightly newscast in the early 1970s. Ron is an adjunct faculty member at College of the Atlantic, teaching courses on community development. Ron served on the Bar Harbor Town Council for six years and is currently board chair for the Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor, where he has lived since 1975. Look for him on the Allagash River in June, and whenever he can get away, in the highlands of Scotland where he was fortunate to spend two sabbaticals.

Liz Graves joined Talk of the Towns as co-producer and co-host in July 2022, having long admired public affairs programming on WERU and dreamed of getting involved in community radio. She works as the Town Clerk for the Town of Bar Harbor, and is a former editor of the Mount Desert Islander weekly newspaper. Liz grew up in California and came to Maine as a schooner sailor.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard
Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording.

Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities

This month:
Interview with Roxana Robinson author of Leaving, published by W.W. Norton and Company, 2024
– What is the context and overall plot for Leaving?
– Leaving, like your other novels, explores bonds that hold within families, and the forces that test those bonds…. What is your curiosity about families that keeps you returning to them in your writing?
– The main characters Sarah and Warren are late middle age, each with claims made on them by life, family, jobs… as they reconnect after more than 30 years, they each contend with these claims, providing the major tension in the story
– Sarah and Warren also have strong connections to place… Sarah to her home outside of New York City, Warren to his summer home on Mount Desert Island… what is the nature of the claims that these places have on Sarah and Warren
– You are known both as a writer of fiction, and as the biographer of Georgia O’Keefe. That book was recently republished with a new foreward … what led you to research and write O’Keefe’s story?

Guest/s:
Roxana Robinson www.roxanarobinson.com

About the hosts:

Ron Beard is producer and host of Talk of the Towns, which first aired on WERU in 1993 as part of his community building work as an Extension professor with University of Maine Cooperative Extension and Sea Grant. He took all the journalism courses he could fit in while an undergraduate student in wildlife management and served as an intern with Maine Public Television nightly newscast in the early 1970s. Ron is an adjunct faculty member at College of the Atlantic, teaching courses on community development. Ron served on the Bar Harbor Town Council for six years and is currently board chair for the Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor, where he has lived since 1975. Look for him on the Allagash River in June, and whenever he can get away, in the highlands of Scotland where he was fortunate to spend two sabbaticals.

Liz Graves joined Talk of the Towns as co-producer and co-host in July 2022, having long admired public affairs programming on WERU and dreamed of getting involved in community radio. She works as the Town Clerk for the Town of Bar Harbor, and is a former editor of the Mount Desert Islander weekly newspaper. Liz grew up in California and came to Maine as a schooner sailor.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves
Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording.

Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities

This month:
– Many towns, business owners and home owners think about and plan for the future in some way… how has the issue of climate sharpened focus on the need to plan for and adapt to sea level rise and warming?
– What does “climate resilience” look like from each of your perspectives… what examples provide you with inspiration?
– What are the key challenges you face as you engage your communities and plan for climate resilience? Who do you get to answer sceptics?
– Where can other communities get help with these challenges? Other examples of working within and across town boundaries, etc.

Guest/s:
Kathleen Billings, Town Manager, Stonington
Susie Arnold, director Center for Climate and Community Resilience, Island Institute
Carla Guenthher, Senior Scientist, Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries
Linda Louise Nelson, Director of Community Development, Stonington

FMI: 
www.stoningtonmaine.org
coastalfisheries.org
www.islandinstitute.org/priorities/climate-solutions/
www.aclimatetothrive.org

About the hosts:

Ron Beard is producer and host of Talk of the Towns, which first aired on WERU in 1993 as part of his community building work as an Extension professor with University of Maine Cooperative Extension and Sea Grant. He took all the journalism courses he could fit in while an undergraduate student in wildlife management and served as an intern with Maine Public Television nightly newscast in the early 1970s. Ron is an adjunct faculty member at College of the Atlantic, teaching courses on community development. Ron served on the Bar Harbor Town Council for six years and is currently board chair for the Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor, where he has lived since 1975. Look for him on the Allagash River in June, and whenever he can get away, in the highlands of Scotland where he was fortunate to spend two sabbaticals.

Liz Graves joined Talk of the Towns as co-producer and co-host in July 2022, having long admired public affairs programming on WERU and dreamed of getting involved in community radio. She works as the Town Clerk for the Town of Bar Harbor, and is a former editor of the Mount Desert Islander weekly newspaper. Liz grew up in California and came to Maine as a schooner sailor.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves
Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme music for Talk of the Towns is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording.

Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities

This month:
Profiles of three community music organizations: Bagaduce Music, Ellsworth Community Music Institute, and Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Maine.

– Signature programs of each organization? How has each organization evolved?
– Make up of “faculty” and creative leaders? Target participants and audiences?
– What is your organization’s mix of teaching and performance?
– What is your mix of local talent and inspiring musicians from away?
– How does making music benefit those involved?
– How does making music build community? (examples of collaboration?)
– How is each organization led and funded?
– Where might listeners learn more about your organizations and how to get involved?

Guest/s:
Bennett Konesni, Executive Director, Bagaduce Music
Nancy Colter, founder, Ellsworth Community Music Institute
Pepin Mittelhauser, Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Maine

FMI: 
www.bagaducemusic.org
www.ellsworthcommunitymusic.org
www.gilbertsullivanmaine.org

About the hosts:

Ron Beard is producer and host of Talk of the Towns, which first aired on WERU in 1993 as part of his community building work as an Extension professor with University of Maine Cooperative Extension and Sea Grant. He took all the journalism courses he could fit in while an undergraduate student in wildlife management and served as an intern with Maine Public Television nightly newscast in the early 1970s. Ron is an adjunct faculty member at College of the Atlantic, teaching courses on community development. Ron served on the Bar Harbor Town Council for six years and is currently board chair for the Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor, where he has lived since 1975. Look for him on the Allagash River in June, and whenever he can get away, in the highlands of Scotland where he was fortunate to spend two sabbaticals.

Liz Graves joined Talk of the Towns as co-producer and co-host in July 2022, having long admired public affairs programming on WERU and dreamed of getting involved in community radio. She works as the Town Clerk for the Town of Bar Harbor, and is a former editor of the Mount Desert Islander weekly newspaper. Liz grew up in California and came to Maine as a schooner sailor.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves
Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme music for Talk of the Towns is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording.

Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities

This month:
– What are some of the differences and commonalities of these forms of governing: selectboards, town and city councils?
– What motivated our guests to seek an elected position in their community, what do they find satisfying about that role, what are some of the challenges?
– What are some of the issues and concerns in Belfast, Blue Hill and Bar Harbor, and what is the role of elected officials in dealing with them?
– How does what used to be known as “common civility” play out in your community… how does your selectboard or council manage dialogue with citizens? Have you any techniques or projects that have improved public discourse?

Guest/s:
Jill Goldthwait, former Council Member, Town of Bar Harbor
Eric Sanders, Mayor, City of Belfast
Jim Dow, Selectboard member, Town of Blue Hill

FMI: 
www.cityofbelfast.org
bluehillme.gov
www.barharbormaine.gov

About the hosts:

Ron Beard is producer and host of Talk of the Towns, which first aired on WERU in 1993 as part of his community building work as an Extension professor with University of Maine Cooperative Extension and Sea Grant. He took all the journalism courses he could fit in while an undergraduate student in wildlife management and served as an intern with Maine Public Television nightly newscast in the early 1970s. Ron is an adjunct faculty member at College of the Atlantic, teaching courses on community development. Ron served on the Bar Harbor Town Council for six years and is currently board chair for the Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor, where he has lived since 1975. Look for him on the Allagash River in June, and whenever he can get away, in the highlands of Scotland where he was fortunate to spend two sabbaticals.

Liz Graves joined Talk of the Towns as co-producer and co-host in July 2022, having long admired public affairs programming on WERU and dreamed of getting involved in community radio. She works as the Town Clerk for the Town of Bar Harbor, and is a former editor of the Mount Desert Islander weekly newspaper. Liz grew up in California and came to Maine as a schooner sailor.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves
Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme music for Talk of the Towns is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording.

Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities

This month:
– Background on the work of Maine Municipal Association and the apprenticeship program of Maine Department of Labor
– With Maine municipalities facing a wave of retirements, what opportunities are there for folks new to the workforce and those with experience who might want to change careers?
– What is the range of jobs and careers within municipal government?
– What are some of the more traditional pathways into careers in municipal service?
– How does the Maine Apprenticeship Program work? Can you actually get paid while apprenticing in a job in your town government? What are the other advantages to participating in apprenticeships?

Guest/s:
Peter Osborne, Director of Educational Services, Maine Municipal Association
Rebecca Dansereau, Career Center Consultant, Maine Apprenticeship Program, Maine Department of Labor

FMI: 
www.mainehometowncareers.org
www.mainehometowncareers.org/videos.php
www.maine.gov/labor/jobs_training/apprenticeship/

About the hosts:

Ron Beard is producer and host of Talk of the Towns, which first aired on WERU in 1993 as part of his community building work as an Extension professor with University of Maine Cooperative Extension and Sea Grant. He took all the journalism courses he could fit in while an undergraduate student in wildlife management and served as an intern with Maine Public Television nightly newscast in the early 1970s. Ron is an adjunct faculty member at College of the Atlantic, teaching courses on community development. Ron served on the Bar Harbor Town Council for six years and is currently board chair for the Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor, where he has lived since 1975. Look for him on the Allagash River in June, and whenever he can get away, in the highlands of Scotland where he was fortunate to spend two sabbaticals.

Liz Graves joined Talk of the Towns as co-producer and co-host in July 2022, having long admired public affairs programming on WERU and dreamed of getting involved in community radio. She works as the Town Clerk for the Town of Bar Harbor, and is a former editor of the Mount Desert Islander weekly newspaper. Liz grew up in California and came to Maine as a schooner sailor.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download