Talk of the Towns 2/22/13

Producer/Host: Ron Beard, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Engineer: Amy Browne

Issue: Community concerns and opportunities

Program Topic: Collaboration and Conservation: Stories from Maine and the Middle East

Key Discussion Points:
a) You have described yourself as “a serial collaborator”… what led you down that dark path? Trace some of the elements of your own path, (experiences from childhood? Education?) then as Director of Portland Trails, and your work a facilitator of cultural and environmental exchanges in the Middle East through the Quebec Labrador Foundation, etc. (Give listeners the overview, then we will go back and go deeper)
b) Portland Trails- how did that project begin, who was involved, what did you accomplish, what did you learn about collaboration?
c) That and other experiences led you to write your first book: Groundswell, in which you tell the story of Portland Trails and several other community based conservation collaborations.
• Highlight one of those other stories…
• If there are key lessons from the stories in Groundswell, what would current community and conservation leaders take away, either to adapt and put into practice, or just to ponder?
d) You are currently at work on a second book, stemming from your work with Quebec Labrador Foundation in the Middle East (Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan and Oman) and the people and communities you encountered.
• What did you learn about the people of that region, their values, their communities? Tell a story or two to share with listeners.
• What are some of the misconceptions we in the US have about the region? Did the people you worked with from those communities have misconceptions about the people of the US? How did the exchange process bridge them?
• What are the values you sense we hold in common, about our communities and the land, the local environment?
e) As you work on the book, you have said you stay grounded in your work in Biddeford, a project that links the rive and the main street… tell us about that project… who are the partners, what are the goals, what results are you seeing?
f) Imagine you are around the campfire with a mix of community folks interested in saving their favorite places, some young, just starting out, others with more experience. Are there two or three lessons or stories you might share?
g) What is still to do, for you? Where do you see your work and your own values taking you?

Guest:
Alix Hopkins, consultant, project director, Riverwalk, Biddeford, author of Groundswell: Stories of Saving Places, Finding Community

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Talk of the Towns 1/25/13

Producer/Host: Ron Beard, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Engineer: Amy Browne

Program Topic: Co Housing Alive and Well in Maine
Key Discussion Points:
1. What is the concept of co-housing?
2. What motivated you and others to create this option for folks in the Belfast area?
3. How would you describe your mission and long term vision?
4. What were some of the high points and challenges over the last 5 years?
5. Where are you now? What would we see if we drove on to the site? (housing, amenities, agriculture, woodlands)
6. Introduce us to the community of residents in general, and then the guests you have brought along.
7. What attracted you most about co-housing and the ecovillage in particular?
8. What are the highlights of living in this community, for you and your families?
9. What was the process like for you as a homeowner/community member (describe the process/path that led you to where you are?
10. Alyne Cistone—what led you to take on the role of Executive Director of Island Housing Trust? what do you understand about the history and mission of Island Housing Trust?
a.What tools do you use to try to create affordable community workforce housing?
b. (including affordability covenants)
c. What is the history of the Ripples Hill Project and where are you now?
11. Annika—what attracted you and your family to Ripples co-housing project?
a. What was the process like to get to your home?
b. What do you and your family value most about living there?
12. Wrap-up For Sanna– What lessons have you learned from helping to birth and nurture the Belfast Co-Housing and Ecovillage? Advice for other communities/organizers?
13. Resources, including your website….What are your hopes for the future?

Guests:
A) Sanna McKim, Belfast Cohousing and Ecovillage
B)Nessa Dertnig, Resident, Belfast Cohousing and Ecovillage
C) Jon Ippolito, Resident, Belfast Cohousing and Ecovillage
D) Alyne Cistone, Island Housing Trust
E) Annika, resident Ripples Hill co housing project, Mt Desert

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Talk of the Towns 1/11/13

Producer/Host: Ron Beard
Engineer: Amy Browne

Issue: Community concerns and opportunities

Program Topic: Maine’s Own Organic Milk and Betting the Farm, a documentary film
Key Discussion Points:
a) Questions for Bill
What is your own background and how did you become involved in MOOMilk?
What is MOOMilk doing that is so rare and inspiring in today’s “economy as usual”—what is different about your business model? (low profit corporation)
What has been the sometimes difficult road from start-up to present day, some of which was covered in Betting the Farm?

Questions for Aaron Bell (by phone at about 10:15)
Give us an overview of Tide Mill Organic Farm, that you and your wife Carly DelSignore operate in Washington County
How did you learn that you were being dropped by Hood Milk, and what led you to consider another model, that became MOOMilk?
How would you describe the difference in approach that MOOMilk is taking to selling your milk?
What signs do you have that this approach will work in the long run?
What does this approach say about the future of small farms in Maine?
Betting the Farm chronicles your lives as you faced very difficult challenges… looking back, what led you to persevere in the face of those challenges?
What are you most pleased viewers will take away from the film? What do you want your customers to know about your life, your way of farming?

Interview with Cecily and Jason (from October 26 Talk of the Towns)
How did you come to work together? What led to the creation of Pull Start Pictures?
What do you remember about your own introduction to film, growing up?
How did you each get started telling stories through film?
How do you approach the process of making a film?
What led you to the story of Maine’s Own Organic Milk, and what inspired you to believe there was a full-length documentary there?

Guests by name and affiliation:
A) Bill Eldridge, CEO, MOOMilk
B) Aaron Bell, Tide Mill Organic Farm (733 2551)
C) Cecily Pingree, Pull Start Pictures (recording)
D) Jason Mann, Pull Start Pictures (recording)

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Talk of the Towns 12/14/12

Host: Ron Beard, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Engineer: Amy Browne
Issue: Community concerns and opportunities

Program Topic: Someone’s in the Kitchen: New Life at Halcyon Grange

Key Discussion Points:
1. Paint the scene- If we were to visit Halcyon Grange, on Route 15 North Blue Hill, on a typical program, who would we see, what would we hear?
2. What is the back story—history of Halcyon Grange and its relationship to the state and national Grange Movement?
3. News of my Passing is premature…the lights of many Granges have winked out… what led to the revitalization of Halcyon Grange? What’s the connection between the Grange of the past and the revitalized Grange of today? (Progressive force, connecting rural people)
4. Someone’s in the Kitchen…What is the idea for the community kitchen and where are you in the process?
5. Phone interview with Richard Marble: Introduce us to Farmington and tell us about the Farmington Grange… brief recap of recent history and creation of your community kitchen… who uses it, how does it work? What difference is it making in Farmington and surrounding communities? What is your hope for the future?
6. Phone interview with Brent Hutchins: What is Lamoine Community Arts and what array of programs and events do you sponsor? What is your connection to the Grange in Lamoine? How did you develop that relationship? What are the keys for making this relationship successful for both LCA and the Grange? What does the future hold?
8. Questions and comments from listeners
9. Wrap up: Contact info for Halcyon Grange, and what inspires you, gives you hope for the future of the Grange, local agriculture and the communities hereabouts?

Guests:
A) John Gandy, Grange Master, Halcyon Grange
B)Phil Retburg, Grange Member and local farmer
C)John Tyler, Capital Campaign Chair, Grange Member
D)Richard Marble, Grange member, Farmington Grange (by phone)
E) Brent Hutchins, Lamoine Community Arts (by phone)

Call In Program: Yes

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Talk of the Towns 11/23/12

Host: Ron Beard, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Engineer: Joel Mann

Program Topic: The Drover’s Journey
Key Discussion Points:
a) Who were drover’s and why were they important in Scottish History
b) What motivated Joyce Gilbert and others to create a non-profit educational trust to bring teachers, artists, musicians, writers and scientists together to experience outdoor “journeys” and how did she come to create The Drover’s Journey in July of 2012
c) How do Highland Ponies contribute to traditional outdoor pursuits on many Scottish estates?
d) What was the human to pony connection discovered on The Drover’s Journey
e) What were some of the key experiences and reflections from participants in the Drover’s Journey

Guests by name and affiliation:
A) Joyce Gilbert, board member, Spey Grian Educational Trust, Scotland
B) Linda Cracknell, board member, Spey Grian Educational Trust, author, teacher
C) Ruraidh Ormiston, Newtonmore Riding Center, Kingussie, Scotland
D) Other short interviews with Terry Williams, Alistair Strachan, Jean Langhorn, Sarah Hughes, Vyv Wood-Gee, Richard Bracken, Juliet Robertson and Claire Hewett

Call In Program: No

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Talk of the Towns 11/9/12

Host: Ron Beard, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Engineer: Amy Browne

Program Topic: A Midwife’s Letters from the “land of the children” an interview with Linda Robinson, Women’s Health Center, Bar Harbor and author of Sunday Morning, Shamwana

Key Discussion Points:
a) How did you come to seek a year with Host: Ron Beard, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Engineer: Amy Browne
?
b) What was your basic assignment? What was the situation that Doctors without Borders was attempting to address? How did this relate to the overall political situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo?
c) You describe your weekly email’s home, to a network of family and friends as kind of a lifeline—say more about how that came about and how you nurtured that lifeline.
d) Describe the village of Shamwana and your compound
e) Short reading that conveys key challenges you faced in providing care
f) Short reading that conveys when you felt the best about your work and that of other team members
g) When did you decide that you wanted to take your emails from Shamwana, and your journal, and create a book?
h) You had some false starts before you decided on publishing the book yourself?
Once you decided on self-publication, what was the process?
i) If others are considering self-publication, what questions should they ask themselves?
Now that the book is published, you are free to continue to write the story of your life … what comes next?
j) Contact information for purchasing book and public readings/signings

Guest: Linda Robinson, Women’s Health Center, Bar Harbor and author of Sunday Morning, Shamwana

Call In Program: Yes

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Talk of the Towns 10/12/12

Host: Ron Beard, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Engineer: Amy Browne

Issue: Community concerns and opportunities
Program Topic: Maine Sea Coast Mission and Musings on the Future of Downeast Maine
Key Discussion Points:
1. What is Maine Sea Coast Mission— thumbnail sketch of history and current mission
2. What was your path and what attracted you about Maine Sea Coast Mission?
3. What are the core programs and activities of Maine Sea Coast Mission
Outreach to Islands—health and ministry, role of the Sunbeam
Youth development – EdGE
Meeting immediate needs
4. How is this work staffed and funded?
5. This is philanthropic work… what resonates with donors?
6. What did your experience in Western Maine… similarities and differences to what you are finding here?
7. Robin Alden’s TED talk (Pre-Recorded 13 minutes)
8. What inspires you about that talk, and how have you made use of Robin’s vision in your own work?
9. Robin describes well the fisheries side, and how they are engaging fishermen… what else needs to happen for this vision to be realized? How might others (people, organizations)
10. work on these opportunities and concerns
11. Share contact information and a favorite story which speaks to the spirit of the people you are finding through your work with Maine Sea Coast Mission

Guests by name and affiliation:
Scott Planting, Maine Sea Coast Mission, Bar Harbor
Robin Alden, Penobscot East Fisheries Resource Center, Stonington

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Talk of the Towns 9/28/12

Host: Ron Beard, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Engineer: Amy Browne

Issue: Community concerns and opportunities
Program Topic: Friends of Acadia and Youth Engagement
Discussion Points:

1. For David… you have been at the helm for just a few months… and I presume you thought about both the organization and what you might contribute prior to your job interview… what would you like to share about that thought process?
2. What is current work of FOA and what factors drive that focus? (visitor use management, Schoodic, etc)
3. What is the connection between the work of FOA and local communities in the region… Night Sky Festival, village connector trails, support for Island Explorer
4. Possible phone interview with Sheridan Steele (dual mission of Acadia (protect natural resources and provide for positive visitor experience… collaboration with FOA in general and interest in youth engagement and creation of technology team)
5. A current focus for the Superintendent, along with many other priorities, is to engage young people… how has FOA supported youth involvement over the years and what lead to the development of Acadia Youth Technology Team… overview of its projects and accomplishments?
6. What are the long term threats and opportunities for Acadia, and how do you imagine FOA playing a role?
7. How do you work with Acadia to set priorities… is that a balancing act, given that FOA is a private, not for profit, with a board of directors, and Acadia is part of the Department of the Interior?
8. What is your favorite Acadia National Park experience, and how does FOA help assure that people continue to have those sorts of opportunities in the future?

Guests by name and affiliation:
A) David MacDonald, President, Friends of Acadia
B) Stephanie Clement, Friends of Acadia
C) Ardrianna McLane, Acadia National Park
D) Sheridan Steele, Superintendent, Acadia National Park 288 8700

Call In Program: Yes

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