Talk of the Towns 3/8/23: Cultural Alliance of Maine & Cultural Heritage Week

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:

While many individual organizations have cultural heritage as part of their mission, the new Cultural Alliance of Maine, begun in 2020, is highlighting the many aspects of culture in our state, including the celebration of Cultural Heritage Week in Maine, March 15-22.
-What is culture? And what are some of the more easily understood elements of culture in Maine? What elements are now coming into focus in our state, or those overlooked?
-What led to the creation of the Cultural Alliance of Maine?
-Who are the constituents of the Cultural Alliance of Maine?
-What is the work of the Cultural Alliance of Maine?
-Why is this work important, both to your constituents, and to the state as whole?
-How does culture intersect with business, health, community-building, education, quality of life?
-What is Cultural Heritage Week in Maine (March 15-22) and who/what will you showcase?

Guest/s:

Molly Cashwell, Co- Director, Cultural Alliance of Maine, prior work with cultural organizations internationally and in the US, board member of MDI Historical Society and Jesup Library, Lamoine

Ekhlas Ahmed, Co-Director, Cultural Alliance of Maine, former educator, human rights activist, resettled to Maine in 2005, a refugee from Sudan, board member for Portland Public Library and Mayo Street Arts, Windham

Stu Kestenbaum, Steering Committee and co-founder, Cultural Alliance of Maine
Senior Advisor, Monson Arts, former Poet Laureate, former director of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle

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.

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Maine Currents 3/7/23: Climate Change, Landfills – Ways to Learn More & Get Involved

Producer/Host: Amy Browne

This month:

Segment 1: An interview with Ridgely Fuller, Tom Mikulka, and Chuck Spranger of Third Act’s new Maine working group They are holding a day of action in Portland and Belfast on 3/21/23 FMI: email [email protected] or [email protected]

Segment 2: Bucksport residents have teamed up with neighbors upriver who have been dealing with Juniper Ridge, and will hold an informational forum as the town considers a proposal to reopen a problematic landfill. Organizer Don White joins us with details of event, which will be held at 6:30 pm, 3/7, at Brown Hall (corner of Elm & Franklin Streets, Bucksport)

Segment 3: Naomi Albert of A Climate to Thrive on their Climate Ambassador program

Guests:
see above

FMI
see above

About the host:

Amy Browne started out at WERU as a volunteer news & public affairs producer in 2000, co-hosting/co-producing RadioActive with Meredith DeFrancesco. She joined the team of Voices producers a few years later, and has been WERU’s News & Public Affairs Manager since January, 2006. In addition to RadioActive, Voices and Maine Currents, she also produced and hosted the WERU News Report for several years. She has produced segments for national programs including Free Speech Radio News, This Way Out, Making Contact, Workers Independent News, Pacifica PeaceWatch, and Live Wire News, and has contributed to Democracy Now and the WBAI News Report. She is the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Environmental Journalism Award from the Sierra Club of Maine, and the First Place 2017 Radio News Award from the Maine Association of Broadcasters.

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Outside the Box 3/7/23: “Good Germans”

Producer/Host: Larry Dansinger

About the host:
Larry Dansinger (no pronouns) of Bangor came to Maine in 1974 and has been here ever since. Some of Larry’s activities since then: Done community organizing on numerous issues through INVERT and then Resources for Organizing and Social Change (ROSC), committed civil disobedience several times, grown a garden yearly since 1977, joined various food cooperatives and two men’s groups, refused to pay federal income taxes for war, lived on a community land trust for 23 years, and met a wonderful partner whom Larry has loved for over 40 years. Larry has produced Outside the Box features on WERU since 2007 and continues to look for unique ways of seeing almost any problem or situation.

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The Nature of Phenology 3/4/23: Saw-whet owls

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn
Host: Hazel Stark

Do you know what a saw-whet owl sounds like? It’s probably not what you expect. Now’s the time to listen for them.

Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com

About the host/writers:
Joe Horn lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder of Maine Outdoor School, L3C, and is a Registered Maine Guide and Carpenter. He is passionate about fishing, cooking, and making things with his hands. He has both an MBA in Sustainability and an MS focused in Environmental Education. Joe can be reached by emailing [email protected]

Hazel Stark lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder and Naturalist Educator at Maine Outdoor School, L3C, and is a Registered Maine Guide. She loves taking a closer look at nature through the lens of her camera, napping in beds of moss, and taking hikes to high points to see what being tall is all about. She has an MS in Resource Management and Conservation and is a lifelong Maine outdoorswoman. Hazel can be reached by emailing [email protected]

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The Cosmic Curator 3/4/23: A Look at the Stars for the Week Ahead

Welcome to March. The month where winter is holding back and spring is pulling forward.
The month began with Venus and Jupiter in Pisces… And Mercury and Saturn in Aquarius. When two or more planets are in the same sign, its considered difficult and is called a planetary war. The “War” is for dominance. Planets like to express the energy of a sign but when another planet is close by, it weakens the expression. Think of it as though you were quietly sitting at home when suddenly a crowd appeared…

About the Host:
Tom Yaroschuk is a Vedic Astrologer. His intention is to help people understand their karma and the issues they may confront to cultivate more fulfilling lives. Tom is writing a memoir of the spiritual lessons derived from his work in a Homeless Day Center in between a career as an award winning television and documentary producer.

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Earthwise 3/4/23: The Number Three

Producer/Host: Anu Dudley

About the host:

Rev. Dr. Anu Dudley is an ordained Pagan minister and a retired history professor. She continues to teach classes, including the three-year ordination curriculum at the Temple of the Feminine Divine, and others such as History of the Goddess, Paganism 101, Ethical Magic, and Introduction to the Runes. Currently she is writing a book about how to cast the runes using their original Goddess meanings. She lives in the woods off-grid in a small homesteading community in Central Maine.

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