The Gavel

NEWSFLASH, Reston, VA: Who would think it? – Who could imagine that such a small item could cause such concern? A one-of-a-kind little piece of wood no less. YES, last week was the ultimate Gavel dilemma! Hope you know that May 31-June 2, 2007 is the Keokuk II Symposium. The symposium will commemorate the founding of MENC in Keokuk, Iowa, where it all started on April 12, 1907. Featured speakers will include Barbara Finkelstein, education historian, from the University of Maryland, and Gordon Cox, music education historian from the University of Reading, United Kingdom.

Back to the GAVEL….. The gavel was donated by the “founders” of MENC and made from wood from The Westminster Presbyterian Church in Keokuk which was the site of the first meeting in 1907 of the Music Supervisors National Conference predecessor of MENC. The inscription reads: “Presented 1938 to M.E.N.C. by Founders Wood from first meeting place Keokuk Church 1907.” Note here that the original church was torn down many many years ago. When I first arrived here at MENC in November 1979 – the gavel was traveling around to every National Executive Board meeting – as part of my job it became my responsibility to take it and make sure it got back home. In the late 1990s the gavel stopped traveling outside of headquarters. It was decided, as we got closer to the Centennial, maybe we should make sure it stayed safe since it is one-of-a-kind and could not, under any circumstances, be recreated. So gavel got its own little special place in the lobby of MENC.

The original case for the gavel when I came was a 1940s hosiery box – quilted satin on the outside. The box is a treasure in itself. Today the gavel still serves the purpose of what I call “the changing of the guard” and every two years when one MENC president leaves office and a new President begins the gavel is passed in the first official meeting of the new biennium. The organizers of Keokuk II asked if an exception could be made, and the gavel travel back to its roots in Keokuk for the meeting. After much soul searching – OK, so I get a little dramatic – I am happy to report that the gavel will be sent to Immediate Past President David Circle and will have the “MENC Royal Treatment” of riding and being guarded in David’s car to Keokuk by President Lynn Brinckmeyer and President-Elect Barbara Geer – WOW, this is better then sending it in an armored truck. And, if it doesn’t make it back – UH OH.

Gene Morlan and Harriet Mogge will be attending the meeting and have, in the past, been responsible for carting the gavel to and from Headquarters; we decided it wouldn’t be worth it to try to explain to airport security that the gavel was not a dangerous weapon and not a hammer, etc. Can you imagine TSA confiscating the GAVEL? OH NO. Remember – the church has been torn down! At one point we thought we would get the Gavel duplicated and sell copies on e-bay, you know like bits of the original Plymouth Rock? Nope, just kidding. Or how about, we have David or Harriet gather Keokuk dirt around the area where the founders walked? Good idea? We tried to find out what happened to the stained glass windows in the church and were told they were made into jewelry and sold to church members – OK, guess there are not little pieces around the parking lot where the church stood. We were told there might be some of the church sandstone dumped in the quarry – but David wasn’t willing to go rock digging. My life can be so hard sometimes. So, if you couldn’t go to Keokuk, what would you want? Rocks, vials of dirt – give me your ideas! I’m thinking we could hold a séance and talk to the founders – don’t even think it, I get to be Madame Zola! If you had the chance to ask questions of a past MENC leader, who would it be and what would you ask?

MENC Webinars: Behind the Scenes

Hello to all!

This week we have had a flurry of activity in the Government Relations Department. We've been working on a series of advocacy materials to roll out for the Centennial Congress so now is crunch time on all three sets of materials. We also welcomed a "new" Outreach Manager on Thursday! I say "new" because we'd already been working with SKJ for some time. Congratulations and we're so happy to have you working with us!

Last night was also one of our MENC Webinars. For those of you who may not have heard of a "webinar," it is a web seminar. You log-on from your home computer and see the powerpoint presentation as the speaker goes through it and hear them speaking through your speakers or your telephone. There are a variety of interactive tools including immediate-results polls and a question and answer box where your questions are answered by the speaker on-air.

This webinar was titled "New Leader Warm-up, Tuning Up for Your New MEA Role." It specifically targeted new MEA leaders (mostly president-elects) but was open to any leaders who wanted an MENC-refresher. MENC President-Elect Barbara Geer was the featured speaker with several staff members, including Dr. Mahlmann and myself, also participating. Although I've done quite a few webinars, I'd never actually spoken on one of them until last night!

The webinar pre-conference began 45 minutes before the actual webinar. Barbara and I were joined by our webinar moderator and we worked out some of the timing issues since I was turning the slides as Barbara was presenting from her home in North Carolina. As people began logging in about 15 minutes prior to start, we turned out the "previews" which is a series of rotating MENC promotional slides much like you might see at the movies. At this point all of the MENC presenters had gathered in the same room.

And then, we were off! Within the first few minutes, there was a problem so the operator pulled our line out of the conference to talk to us offline. It was at that point that I realized Barbara might be cuing for a new slide, but I couldn't hear her! I quickly asked the operator to have the person email our technical support for immediate assistance and was placed back into the conference. I went ahead and flipped the slide guessing that it would be the appropriate timing. Thankfully it was!!

The presentation then rolled smoothly on and it was time for MENC staff to present! We all did a fantastic job (if I say so myself). Then, fellow blogger EWL helped me queue up the questions for our moderator. Because of the number and variety of questions coming in, we had to direct our moderator which questions needed to be asked and in what order. It is a hectic and adrenaline-filled 25 minutes of Q & A! Of course it appears effortless to the viewer.

And then it was done...for now! Our next webinar, Working with Allies - Associations and Businesses, is open to all members. If you would like to sign-up, simply click on the webinar link. Using your member number and the discount code MENCFREE you can join us on May 22nd. We hope to see you there!

Around the Water Cooler: I'm only slightly okay with no one going home on American Idol. As RF mentioned, she'd guessed that was the "big surprise." I have some advice for Blake...he needs to keep his chin down. I've seen up his nose entirely too many times. He likes to accentuate the notes with a head nod up...and I can't take it anymore. Really. If he can fix that and add a little more of his personality and flavor back in, he can still be my favorite. But until that time, I'm rooting for Jordin and Melinda. And maybe Phil if he can keep the country sound. :)

Thursday Interlude: Charity Begins On Stage

In 2006 MENC member LaVone Hicks directed her students from the roof of the elementary schoolduring a ceremony to celebrate their fund raising effort for MENC's Feed The Children campaign. Musicand fund raising go hand in hand, as many music teachers know.

And you thought Elvis had left the building.

Not! He looked pretty good last night, warbling along with Celine Dion.

It was young, hot, altruistic Elvis, the Elvis who knows that one of the best ways to raise money is to strike up the band. American Idol Gives Back proved that last night. $30 million. Whew! Collective pat on the back, America. However you feel about the images of kids throughout the show and some people were uncomfortable with that, money was raised and is going to help needy families in the United States and Africa.

What did you think of the show? I liked the "Staying Alive" video. Goofy, yes. Blue Man Group! Hugh Grant recreating his "Pop" video hip-shakin' from the recent Music and Lyrics movie. It's an 80's style Whamfest (Really cute flick if you haven't seen it. ARN and I totally love it. Hugh and Drew Barrymore as song writers are great together.) Jack Black was funny and I loved Ellen Degeneres, always the good sport. U2's Bono was his usual cool self. Now there's a guy who's done a lot of good around the world. Bono's met with the six remaining finalists to talk about the work of ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History. One is one of Idol's charities.

But the big shocker (gasp!) was that no one went home on charity night (ARN and I discussed that possibility yesterday, smart us). But making Jordin cry! That was mean.

On the other hand, Wednesday was full of good news. My colleague NS sent an email yesterday morning alerting us that MENC member and music educator Andrea Peterson of Granite Falls, Washington, was named Teacher of the Year. Congratulations Andrea! According to The Associated Press, the elementary music teacher is only the second music teacher in 57 years to receive that honor from the Council of Chief State School Officers.

News like that gets us excited around here. We are always happy to hear learn a member was recognized for their hard work and this award is a big one. Along with other teacher finalists, Peterson met President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush. Visit this link to see video of the awards ceremony and read their remarks today at White House Rose Garden.

And there was other good news on Wednesday. Spinal Tap is reuniting in July to play in a London concert to help combat global warming. All is right with the world of fund raising concerts. Rock on dudes.

Spinal Tap is the mock heavy metal group that appeared in the faux 1984 rockcumentary, This is Spinal Tap, which was directed by Rob Reiner, who also played documentarian Marti DiBergi in the film. The group has reunited sporadically.

My son Matt is a Spinal Tap fan of sorts. He enjoys shredding the video game Guitar Hero II, using a controller shaped like an electric guitar. Spinal Tap's song, "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight" is one of the songs in the game that he's played. Brilliant title, lads.

Spinal Tap is made up of Nigel Tufnel (played by Christopher Guest), David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean) and Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer). Once known as the “loudest rock band in the world,” Spinal Tap will reunite for a performance at Wembley Stadium in London as part of the Live Earth concerts, a festival scheduled worldwide on July 7.

Speaking to The Associated Press, Reiner said, “They're not that environmentally conscious, but they've heard of global warming. Nigel thought it was just because he was wearing too much clothing — that if he just took his jacket off it would be cooler.”

Uh, right. Nigel, David and Derek, are, shall we say, not the sharpest knives in the drawer. Rent it if you haven't seen it. The tagline for the movie is "Does for rock and roll what The Sound of Music does for hills." It is so funny.

Guest, McKean and Shearer work well together in improvisational comedies, like the recent "For Your Consideration" and "A Mighty Wind", which offers a backstage view of a fictional folk singers' reunion for a fictional public broadcasting show.

July festival planners will open the event by the showing of several global warming-themed short films produced by the SOS (Save Our Selves) campaign. SOS is also putting on the Live Earth concerts, to be held on seven continents. Reiner is directing a 15-minute “Spinal Tap” film that will be shown there and also at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

Let's face it, music is always ready to help out when funds or consciousness need raising. We are the World. Band Aid. Lots of music, big bucks.

Last year MENC members across the country used concerts and other events to help raise money for MENC’s Feed The Children campaign.

MENC member LaVone Hicks below used a talent show at her school Carver Elementary School in Mount Olive, North Carolina, to become the top fundraising school in the 2006 national campaign. Parents chipped in to count the coins and kids donated their life's savings. Nationwide, MENC members raised nearly $100,000 for the cause and fed lots of kids and families.

With summer coming, my husband and decided to get tickets for the almost-in-our-backyard Wolftrap Center for the Performing Arts. (I am jealous of all of the shows EWL will attend this summer.)

So far we have settled on tickets for Harry Connnick Jr. in June. As I mentioned in an earlier post, HC, a New Orleans native, is donating some proceeds from two recent CDs, Oh, My Nola and Chanson du Vieux Carre to help fund a "village" of houses for displaced New Orleans musicians. My husband gave me Nola for Valentine's Day and I love it.

I will say goodbye for the week with this thought: Music and fund raising go together like heavy metal and really bad hair.

See you next Thursday
RF

Midweek Meanderings and Miscellany VI

Some weeks fly by, others don't, this week is rushing past! How did it get to be Wednesday already!?

MUSIC IS IN THE AIR!
As ARN mentioned on Friday 20th, the nature around MENC is prolific! Carrying on the nature theme, and picking up ML's 4/23 "inspiration" motif.......it's pretty inspirational to work here at MENC, primarily due to the neat people we help (Music teachers/students), but also largely because of the beautiful setting. Each day I come in, I feel I "lucked out"- after working in the concrete environs of downtown DC, Reston is a wonderland!

There are walking/running/biking trails all through the woods and office complexes surrounding MENC's building. At lunchtime with work friends, and during pre-work early morning walks, I've explored a lot of these paths. It's so soothing to have the "escape" of nature!

What I REALLY enjoy and appreciate is the SPRING SYMPHONY that accompanies one as they walk (as long as they don't wear headphones !!). The BIRDS that live around here in the spring chime like bells - the serenade is just incredible.....it has to be one of the most beautiful sounds ever.....especially after a long silent winter. It's something I look forward to all year, and has made my working time at MENC that much more enjoyable AND productive! (this is the short version; the "waxing poetic" version is saved in a separate file for anyone who is interested in knowing the details of what birds I saw, and other adventures along the trails!)

WORK RELATED
Lest you think I don't work! This week, working on getting the final draft of the MENC Position Paper (click to see them!) on assessment ready for posting for member comment. Did you know you can give us your input/feedback on our position statements? We just had a round on Home schooling, Pullout programs, and Health in Music education. Those three final papers should be on the website in a week or so. No doubt more will be in the offing in months to come.....

Getting ready to do the final round of surveys via EurekaFacts LLC (www.eurekafacts.com), the company MENC hired to ask our members about conferences, publications, and the National Standards. Some of you may have already been contacted in past months for the publications/conference survey. The information we collect on the standards will help MENC and the field discuss the future of the standards, based on what teachers are actually teaching in the classroom. If you have questions about this, you can write info@menc.org and reference the BLOG!

As EWL mentioned above - budget time is here! This is one time of year I usually feel lucky in the sense that I don't have pages of items to detail, given I'm a one person department.....

REQUESTS from students finishing up final term papers, and researchers getting their summer projects underway. Several from schools facing cuts....and others looking for funding!

Also as EWL mentioned - Dr. M and Mike B. have been out of town - when they're away, the "flurry" of activity in this part of MENC's hallways is signficantly less! When they're in town, it's a constant line of visitors/staff to their offices....we often joke "take a number"! like at the deli or bakery (if you're from NY, you will understand what I mean!). Anyway, it's been blissfully "unhectic" outside my office the last two days, perhaps which has allowed me to wax poetic (in the longer unpublished version of this blog...). Sometimes I wonder how Mike and Dr. M keep up the pace they do! But it's Wednesday now, everyone is back and I'm sure the vibes around here will be amped up!

IN THE NEWS
From Britain, a music program for prisoners: Times Online, 4/13/2007

RESOURCES
Inspiration and Creativity in the Workplace: US News and World Report 4/30/07

AROUND THE WATER COOLER: Not thirsty! No comment!

SEE you next Wednesday! SR

What's Going On

Just some small updates about what's going on around here lately. Last week, MENC's conventions department staff traveled to Milwaukee for MENC 2008 National Conference (April 9-12!) meetings and site visits. So far this week, John Mahlmann and Mike Blakeslee have been out of the office for a meeting in Chicago. We staff left behind have been handed our budget worksheets for the coming fiscal year. You can only imagine our excitement!

Some staff are involved in a Webinar this Thursday evening for state president-elects. We're going to use this "virtual meeting" technology to give these members some (hopefully) helpful information as they take on their new positions. Barbara Geer, national president-elect, will be leading the Webinar.

The Web team has been busily proceeding on a number of projects, including posting the new journals recently submitted to us by the MENC publications staff: General Music Today, Journal of Music Teacher Education, and UPDATE: Applications of Research in Music Education.

There's a Centennial Celebration meeting on Wednesday, and we'll have a big National Anthem Project Team meeting on Thursday. The team consists of one member of every MENC department (responsible for clueing in other members of that department after the meeting) as well as anyone involved with any aspect of the campaign -- and anyone else on staff who is interested in attending. We're in the countdown to the Grand Finale now so there will be many details to discuss.

In an effort to delay dealing with my budgets, I'm taking Friday off for a visit to the Virginia countryside and lunch with an old friend. Now semi-retired, she worked at MENC for many years. The weather's looking iffy, but I always enjoy catching up with this wonderful person, one of the most enthusiastic music supporters I know. Plus she has a delightful husband and a fabulous cat. What could be better?

Have a great week! -- EWL

P.S. Have you checked out MENC on Wikipedia? It would be great if we had members help expand our listing.

My World is a Work of Art

Welcome back! I first of all have to thank ARN for getting me inspired this morning with her "little bird." Yup, she inspired me. Inspiration - now there is a topic. This weekend (Friday-Sunday) I went on an "art retreat" with girlfriends to a cabin on Lake Anna. Oh my, oh my -- what a relaxing and inspiring time it was. Some of the gals scrapbooked, some quilted, some art journaled (see my page to the left), and some just read a book. No deadlines and no have-to-do-it-now time. The house we rented was beautiful. I found a quote I used to "journal" in my "art" book on colors I usually don't use in creating stuff, "Your life is a work of art and you are the artist of your life." This is from a book called Living Artfully: Create the Life You Imagine by Sandra Magsamen. I am getting ready to order the book because, I hope, my philosophy on life is what she is talking about: "Many people today are looking for well-being and happiness when what they're searching for has been inside them all along."

I have so much to be grateful for in my life. The good times, the bad, the in-between will always come and go. I can dwell in one or the other which will define my perception of my world. I choose to define it with the good times and the excitement of each brand new day. I try to create everyday - either at home on my stuff or here at MENC on projects. I have loved my "job" and work for the last 27 years -- otherwise I would have left a long time ago. If I feel in a funk or out-of-sorts, I first of all TRY not to take it out on too many others and always try to remember that this too will pass - it is not here for an eternity. Okie Dokie - I am rambling again in my world. The weather is BEAUTIFUL outside -- Spring may have sprung for good this week. Keeping my fingers crossed in my world! May your week be blessed. Will be back with you next Monday with more news from my world. Around my "Watercooler" - was that not the dullest ending to "The Apprentice" like ever? I think I may be losing interest in some of my stalwart reality shows like "Survivor." However, not in the reality category, my Jericho rocks!

A little birdie told me...

Hello readers!

There's nothing like a beautiful day! Today is a simply beautiful day here in Reston. The sun is shining; the sky is blue; and if I were outside, I'm sure it would be a wonderfully mild temperature. Weather.com says it is 65F. Ahhhh. This week the sun has been mostly absent so what a fantastic way to end the week and head into the weekend.

Here in Reston, we have quite a few wild creatures wandering about. As you may know, Reston is a planned community with an emphasis on combining living and working spaces as well as green spaces. Our building is sort of nestled in with several other similarly used buildings, but we are all separated by woods. We have a deer that the first floor watches during the fall and this past fall, she got a boyfriend! (We don't think they're married because neither wears a ring.) She has been dubbed "Cookieneck" and I'm not exactly sure why...and slightly frightened to ask. [Correction: Aha! Her name is "Crookedneck" because she appears to have been hit by a car and her neck was dislocated some time ago.]

Up here on the third floor, we sometimes have birds that sit on the edge outside our windows and this week was no different. There was a particular cowbird that visited several times this week and we named him "Puffy." Puffy is very beautiful bird of some variety--black with a purple coloring around his midsection. This week Puffy spent a large majority of the week going around to all of the third floor window offices and tapping on them. While "cute" at first, I'm afraid it is a bit hard to get work done with tap, tap, tapping on the window.

Several of us were concerned about our little Puffy on Wednesday. He appeared to have flown into something or something tried to take a bite out of his head. He also was standing on just one leg and was certainly favoring it. We also didn't see him fly. You can see it a little bit in this picture. Happily by Thursday he was looking much better, using both legs, and then we saw him fly away. Now that it's Friday, I haven't seen him so hopefully he's taken the day off and headed to the beach. :)

In other news, I am hiring! I am looking for a Government Relations and Outreach Assistant. If you are interested or know someone who is check out the posting on Craigslist. We'd love to have you!

Around the Water Cooler: I can't believe Sanjaya was kicked off of American Idol. But I am ecstatic that Blake was in the bottom three. I am one that would like to see him go very far in the competition, but he needed a serious ego check. Fingers crossed this was a wake-up call! I think Phil is likely to go next week unless he figures a way to make the next theme "countrified" because I think he did an outstanding job with country and almost...almost...voted for him.

With Dancing With the Stars (DWTS), yay that Clyde is gone, but I went to China this summer and he did really well considering those flights. WOW! I think that it might be John's turn to go next week. But I'm still 100% behind my boy Joey Fatone for the disco ball trophy.

Also, I'm tied for first in CW's NHL (free) pool. I also picked the two teams that are out of the tournament to go all the way, so the chance I'll stay in first is looking pretty grim... ;)

Thursday Interlude

When Ryan C. “Stack” Clark smiled his eyes twinkled. You can just tell from looking at photos of him that he loved life, loved people. Something about the look on his face made you think, this would be a good guy to know.

I never heard of Ryan Clark before Tuesday, but as the tragic events unfolded on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, he was one of he first of the slain students identified. A resident dorm adviser, he was gunned down after going to help someone else. A member of the Marching Virginians, he was a band guy.

In his honor, fellow band members wore their uniforms to the Tuesday memorial convocation on Virginia Tech campus. Visit www.music.vt.edu/performance/ensembles/mv/index.shtml to see Clark’s winning smile and read a tribute to him from band mates.

Last December the Martinez, Georgia, native marched in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia, when the Hokies played Georgia.

According to The Washington Post, he was a band guy whose “favorite place in the world was Camp Big Heart, a summer spot in Fort Yargo State Park in Winder, Ga." For eight years he spent two weeks at the camp for mentally impaired children as a volunteer counselor and then as music director.

In addition to playing in the band, Ryan had three majors. He was looking toward a career in neurosurgery after graduation, his twin brother Bryan Clark told the newspaper.
A band guy. A good guy.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution www.ajc.com/search/content/metro/stories/2007/04/17/0417metclark.html
wrote that Ryan was a well-liked student whose musical tastes segued from Korn to Bob Marley to Kenny G to Aqua. He enjoyed helping others rehearse their band routines
A band guy. A good guy.

I started my career as a newspaper reporter, and as a reporter I sometimes had to do jobs I dreaded. I did them because I felt it was important to get information to people. I was polite, empathetic, and not pushy.

Once editors assigned me to write a story about a teenage girl who was killed in an auto accident. A drunk driver struck her car and she died instantly. I was given the assignment of fleshing out her brief life story.

How can I do this? I thought as I dialed the parents. I identified myself as reporter from my newspaper and braced for silence, sobbing on the other end of the phone or just “click!” And that have been ok.

Come over, her father said quietly, and we will tell you about her. And so I did. I spent a couple of hours talking with her parents and other relatives, reading poems she wrote, looking at photos of her as a child, photos of her in—her band uniform. She played the flute.

They talked to me because they wanted me to know who she was, how special she was. They wanted me to tell other people how special she was, and I did. I felt honored to do so.
I hadn’t thought of that experience for a while, but the stories that others told about Ryan Clark reminded me. I know his passing leaves a hole in so many lives, in the world at large. Whatever else he was, he was a band guy. And that was a great thing.

During my time at MENC, I have talked with countless music teachers and music students. At the risk of over-generalizing, I have to say that I find music people to be caring, sharing people. There is something about music, about collaborating to create music that makes people feel connected, feel more a part of the whole.

In my humble opinion, without music, the making and sharing of music, our society would become even more unglued than it sometimes seems. Thanks to all of you band and orchestra and chorus guys and gals out there. You are doing good work on many, many levels.

Around the MENC Water Cooler
This has been a sad week around MENC. Even though Blacksburg is about a four-hour drive from Reston, Virginia, where MENC is located, Virginia Tech looms large here. There are staffers here who attended Virginia Tech. Many of us also have friends who attended the university, neighbors whose kids go to school there now. A few of us even know someone who knows someone else who was close to one of the victims.

One of the things that took my mind to another place this week was the following story. Music has such healing, rejuvenating properties:

Normally when Joshua Bell performs in Washington DC, it is on stage at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The renowned violinist who just won the Avery Fisher Prize for classical music, and performs more than 200 dates annually for adoring fans around the world, played an unexpected 40-minute gig in January— the L’Enfant Plaza subway stop in Washington.

Why? It was at the request of Gene Weingarten, a columnist for The Washington Post, who wondered what happens when people encounter music in unexpected places.
What was the reaction from morning rush hour commuters, and did he make any money?

To hear Bell discuss his experience visit www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9521098. Visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html?referrer=emailarticle to read Weingarten's piece and to hear audio of Bell's performance.

MENC already knew Bell was a good sport. He recorded a May 2004 “Why Music?” MENC PSA touting the importance of music education. Visit www.menc.org/psa for more information.

See you next Thursday.
RF

Midweek Meanderings and Miscellany V

Back from NH, Concord to be exact, the NH MEA Spring conference. Great conference, a short one but chockful of good sessions, enthusiastic members, and terrific kids rehearsing for All State! It was a lot of fun for me to watch the students during their breaks as they perused the exhibits, interacted with one another, helped unload instruments from vans, gathered round their teachers for instructions, sat in the hall playing cards, got excited about the free MENC buttons at our exhibit table, and generally did their thing.

The sound they produced in their rehearsals (band/orchestra) was just outstanding. I could not believe such
great music was coming from such young looking people! Unfortunately, the choral rehearsals and vocal sessions were being held in another hotel, so I didn't get to hear that or meet many of the singers.....

But to a one, the people I met in NH were the friendliest and kindest. And what a treat to see all those pine trees stretching for miles as the plane passed over....(coming from congested DC....). Yes, it snowed while I was there, surprising everyone, but the intrepid teachers and students carried on..... Luckily I got out of Dodge before the next snow system was due on Sunday. One cool thing - the chef of the hotel preparing the banquet for students did an ice sculpture in the shape of the MENC Centennial Logo! I imagine the NHMEA will have photos in the next issue of their state journal (unfortunately I didn't have a camera with me!). All in all, good to be there, meet the members, have them see what's available to them resource wise from the MENC National office, and generally get to know them.

By the way - good assessment and data collection on arts education happening/soon to happen with the NH Department of Education arts division - click HERE!

RESOURCE of the week:
While flying, of all places, saw an article in the USAIR magazine for: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music - ten volumes - 4th edition - 27,000 entries on bands and artists from every genre: jazz, folk, swing, garage, rockabilly, disco, punk, techo and more. An interactive, subscription based version is scheduled to go online in August at www.muze.com; the paper version will be 10 volumes, available from Oxford University Press for the modest price of (!) $1,300.

Around the Water Cooler:
A good friend sent me a poem for Easter called "Mozart in a classroom of Children". Unfortunately, I can't reprint it here without permission (which would take forever to get, if I even could!). However, it was from a books entitled
Mixed Voices: Contemporary Poems about Music, 1991 by E. Buchwald and R. Roston, Editors, in case you're interested!

See you next Wednesday! SR

Planning Ahead

As we move through April, it's time for members of the PR/Marketing Department to start planning for the next school year. We're having meetings with other departments such as Membership, Student Programs, Editorial, and Production about themes, logos, promotion plans, schedules, news items, new specialty items, member benefits, etc. Any great new ideas we have for the coming year all need to be cost-estimated and submitted with the proposed budgets all departments will be working on over the next few weeks.

We're also deep into the plans for the National Anthem Project Grand Finale, June 14-16, 2007 here in Washington DC and Annapolis, MD. We'd love to have our members and your students join us here! Right after that is MENC's official Centennial Celebration in Orlando, FL, June 25-28. Members are invited to attend this event, too.

Something else we locals look forward to is the summer season at Wolf Trap Farm Park for the Performing Arts. It's right down the road from MENC. The just-announced schedule features everyone from the Boston Pops and National Symphony Orchestra to opera, ballet, musical theatre, and all sorts of pop music. I've already picked up tickets to a slightly eclectic collection of acts: "Camelot," Vince Gill, the B-52s, and something called "Hippie Fest," which features a bunch of reunited '60s groups like the Zombies and the Turtles. That one should be pretty interesting! MENC's friends at Wolf Trap have helped us over the years by allowing us interview time with performers such as Janis Ian, Trisha Yearwood, Al Jarreau, and Keith Lockhart for our public service announcement series, Why Music?

E-mails are pouring in today so I better get back to answering them. Have a great Tuesday! -- EWL

Thoughts in My World

If I had said, "My thoughts in my world," that would be scary! But it must be your lucky day this morning because I want to share with you the birthday greetings and thoughts from MENC current and former board members.


Wanted you to see one of my favorite photos from our birthday bash. Harriet and me - all these years later. She took me by my hand and gently guided me as I started work at MENC in 1979. Who would have figured, all these years later we still are close! She's like my second mother and she will let you know that, too! I just want to say, "Thank you, Harriet!"

From Karl Glenn (MENC President 1990-92): "Congratulations to all members, officers, and especially MENC staff for the work that they have done throughout the years to maintain the excellence of the association work. It is amazing how much effort has to go into meetings, mailings, monies and member moral. All of these take a lot of talent, patience, and expertise in each area of member services. Congratulations to all for keeping the MENC ship steaming ahead." From Aurelia Hartenberger (SW Division President 2003-05), "Happy Birthday MENC, may your light grow stronger the next 100 years!!!" From Richard Disharoon (Eastern Division President 2003-05, "With thanks to the pioneers who created a solid foundation for today's MENC. May the next 100 years see music as a part of every school program that is NEVER challenged." From Janet Barrett (NC Division President 2004-06), "As a native Iowan, I would just like to take this chance to say, 'Rock On, Keokuk!' Wouldn't you just like to imagine a chance for all of us to sit down with the participants 100 years ago to talk about music education then and now???"

From Carolynn Lindeman (MENC President 1996-98), "OH, what those great music educators started 100 years ago! Are we ever lucky to have such a fabulous organization!" From Ron Chronister (SW Division President 2005-07), "I'll never be a George Heller, but Kansas is singing Happy Birthday for you today." From Paul Lehman (MENC President 1984-86), "It is heartwarming to know that our glorious centennial occasion was commemorated appropriately in Reston. It is especially gratifying to learn that Gene and Betty Morlan and Harriet Mogge were invited to share in the festivities. I have known all three since the early '60s. Gene is the closest thing we have to a walking history of MENC. It was Gene who organized the move of the MENC Headquarters from Chicago to Washington. Both Gene and Harriet made enormous contributions to MENC, and in Harriet's case, so did both of her parents. It is especially fitting that Gene and Harriet should have an opportunity to share a little of their accumulated wisdom and insight with the current staff, some of whom were probably not yet born when Gene retired." From Will Schmid (MENC President 1996-98), ". . .MENC was indeed made great by a combination of excellent leadership from both elected officers and staff. Growth and influence don't happen by accident, and this partnership of equal strength is what we need."

And last but not least! Did you know Mississippi Music Educators Association was celebrating 60 years last week and had two birthday cakes. One for Mississippi and one for MENC. From Jane Morlan (Southern Division President 2006-08), "I know I'm chiming in late..but I wanted you to know that we were celebrating in Mississippi on Thursday with TWO cakes. . .I am always awed by the dedication of the music teachers who work so hard for their students every day and at all these special times...and they will be right back at it on Monday morning! Happy Birthday to all!"

Hope your week is a great one! It is windy here in our area. What a springtime we've had! Just got a notice that they are closing some schools in our area because of high winds and students in modular/trailer buildings. Thought March not April was suppose to come in like a Lion! Stay safe and happy.

They say it's your birthday!

Hello all!

As we've mentioned all week, yesterday was MENC's 100th birthday and the festivities were fantastic! To celebrate this momentous day we had a birthday party and invited several people who are well acquainted with MENC.

First, Harriet Mogge spoke (left). She was the daughter of a former MENC President and so she went to her first MENC conference when she was just three months old! She then went on to become a music educator and then went on to work for MENC for over twenty years. It was neat to hear her stories.

Assistant Executive Secretary and Director of Professional Programs Gene Morlan came to the birthday party as well. He talked about his time serving MENC, the hard working staff, and "the heart and soul of MENC" -- the members. He then led all of us in singing Happy Birthday (seen directing to the right). It was by far the best rendition I've heard since I began working here.

And did I mention we had cake?!?! yum, YUM!! We had both chocolate and white cake, PLUS those little ice cream cups that you used to have in elementary school. Delish! In fact, another blogger and I were discussing just this morning how much we would enjoy another piece of that cake!! Ha ha!

All in all, what a wonderful way to celebrate 100 years of music education!

Around the Water Cooler: I found a new American Idol show! I have expanded cable and they just added a new tv station--Fox Reality. Apparently right after each American Idol singer gets the boot, they come talk to the "American Idol Extra" folks in a small studio just outside. I saw the epidsode on Gina and it was really touching. Former AI runner-up Justin Guarini also performed and they talked to the AI hairstylist. Check it out!

Also, sorry to Leeza Gibbons for her exit on DWTS, although it was probably time for her to go. My message to Clyde Drexler: Step it up...step it up.

Thursday Interlude

As I promised yesterday, here are a couple of photos from our Centennial social on Thursday. Look for more from ARN above. One is of our lovely Centennial tree in the MENC lobby. The other is me, prior to digging into my cake and ice cream at the social. MENC staffer BS took the photos, doing a fabulous job as usual. Happy Trails.
RF

Hi Everyone,

Happy Birthday to MENC today and to all of you. I hear you singing out there. A cupcake? No, thanks. I'm good. Well, maybe just one. That icing looks great. Wow. 100 years old! You wear it very, very well. And you sound better than ever. On key and everything. Impressive.

Here at MENC, we will celebrate this momentous occasion with our monthly association social this afternoon, which will be special indeed. As my fellow blogger EWL noted earlier in the week, MENC's Centennial Web site http://www.menc.org/centennial/home.html celebrates the highlights of the past 100 years and the members who helped create the world's largest arts education organization. Check back on Friday for photos of our Centennial social.

Oh, and before I forget, less than half the month is over, and you may know that April is national Jazz Appreciation Month. Visit http://www.smithsonianjazz.org/jam/jam_start.asp for lesson plans, jazz glossaries and worksheets. The 2007 poster features Louis Armstrong www.imdb.com/name/nm0001918/ , of whom I am a huge fan. I love his unique, raspy singing voice, as well as his ground-breaking trumpet playing.
These are my two favorite Armstrong quotes:

"All music is folk music. I ain't never heard no horse sing a song."

What is jazz? Man, if you have to ask you'll never know."

The sixth annual JAM is sponsored by National Museum of American History. MENC offers information as well at http://www.menc.org/guides/jazz/jazzappreciation.html

The Museum is distributing the JAM posters free of charge to schools, educators, librarians, and others. To request a poster or posters, write jazz@si.edu.
Visit http://www.smithsonianjazz.org/jam/jam_calendar.asp for a national calendar of JAM events.

Around the MENC water cooler: In Idol news, I thought this week’s show was decidedly blah. As much as I like Gloria Estefan www.imdb.com/name/nm0002065/ and yes, Jenny from the Block, http://www2.blogger.com/www.imdb.com/name/nm0000182/ not everyone can sing that type of song with the proper amount of sauce. I liked Jordin a lot again and her version of "Rhythm is Gonna Get You," was cute. Blake did a nice swaggering job with "I Need to Know." And while I am not completely in Sanjaya’s corner, I agree with Simon that “he wasn’t horrible” singing "Besame Mucho" And that kid’s got some eyelashes. But it's bye, bye, bye to Haley. Did she "Turn the Beat Around?"America said no.
Later,
RF

Midweek Meanderings and Miscellany IV

Gearing up to go to New Hampshire Music Educators Spring Conference tomorrow,
running the MENC Resource booth. Will be nice to have a change of scene and meet some of the members from NH!

Speaking of MENC's Centennial (see EWL's and ML's blogs this week) - the
Congress in Florida (June 25- 28) is open! Consider taking some vacation time
at Disney and joining in the discussions!

The National Anthem Project staff at MENC is gearing up for the project finale on June 14....lots going on there, keep an eye out!

And have you ever tried our monthly on - line survey, the Question of the Month?
Give it a try! (click here) We frequently ask YOU for your opinion and inside insights, so please check back from month to month!

In the news:
Teaching Musicians to be Entrepreneurs

Resource of the Week:
Recreational Music Making

Around the Water Cooler:
An 8 year veteran of MENC leaves today, RT, who grew from staff assistant to editorial assistant to manager! With a lovely singing voice and team mentality, and true love of all things music...she will be missed! She's on to bigger challenges and opportunities....

Speaking of Latin Music (American Idol last night - ouch!) - Great group to check out for authentic Latin music (not pop) from Central and S. America - Sol y Canto They also have a kids' album in Spanish.

See you next Wednesday! SR

100 Years Ago This Week...

Just a short post from me today. April 12, this Thursday, is MENC's Centennial! If you haven't been to the Centennial Web site, please take a look -- it's still not quite finished, but there is lots of fun information posted. You might enjoy the random "Facts from 1907" - for instance, do you know which composer/conductor was born the exact same day, April 12, 1907, as MENC? What very sweet treat was invented in 1907? How much it cost to post a first-class letter in 1907?

It's not quite lunch and I've already had three meetings this morning. Must get right to starting on all the work that came out of these meetings! I'm lucky to have some great music to look forward to later this week. David Lindley and Leo Kottke, two amazing guitar players, will be performing together locally. Should be a fantastic evening of music.

Happy Centennial!

My Muddled World

Today my world is a little muddled. Weekend was great! Easter dinner delicious. But - Harley is depressed and in the corner of my dashboard with his straw hat on and head bowed. Last week on Monday and Tuesday he was holding court with the top down on the ladybug convertible and quite proud of himself. His little ears were flying and flapping in the wind as it circulated inside the bug. AND THEN - the cold came, the snow came (kind of) and he lost his "bliss." Catch phrase in the world right now is, "Follow your bliss." Seems Joseph Campbell is credited with this quote which goes, "Follow your bliss. Find where it is, and don't be afraid." Sometimes I feel like the caveman on the car insurance commercial -- "Huh?" I know one should follow their dream but bliss sometimes to me is a muddled word. It is nice but what does it exactly mean. I've met someone named Bliss - do I want to follow her - don't think so. In the dictionary the word bliss is defined as: 1) complete happiness; 2) paradise; 3) heaven; 4) perfect happiness, great joy. So, OK, I get it but why not just say follow your dream?

Either way I suppose the world won't come to an end if you interchange the one word for the other. I saw on the news this morning that Martin Strel (obviously followed his bliss) and swam the Amazon River - 50 miles a day - the whole 3272 miles in 65 days. Not my bliss. Can you tell I am still muddled? Too bad Tiger Wood lost the Masters (did his bliss burp?). AND I, who cannot get into American Idol, know Sanjaya is really living his bliss and believing in it.


Harley was living his bliss in London one time at the Peter Pan statue. Inspiration on muddled days will happen at any time...... My world is becoming less muddled as I realize MENC's 100th birthday is this week.

To all music educators out there -- you have made this birthday possible. You are the reason we have this organization. You inspire me. You do follow your dreams and your bliss - and it culminates in the wonderful young students you touch every day. Nothing is more moving than the children singing - no matter what age. Yes, music does touch us all and, it might sound trival, until you hear those beautiful notes and the voices raised in song - and your soul soars - YES, you know you have been touched and it was all made possible by a music educator.

I love marching bands!

There really is just something fantastic about a marching band--a crisp day, the sun reflecting off of the freshly polished instruments, the sound of warm-ups being played, focused musicians, the colors and movements of the colorguard, the drum major's metronomic arms, and then the combination of sound you can feel and visual elements you can see--you just can't beat it.

This week at MENC we were fortunate to have the Coronado High School Marching Band from Henderson, Nevada, stop by MENC headquarters. Led by MENC teacher Danielle McCracken, the band was in town to play at the Cherry Blossom Festival. They gave the MENC a performance of Sheryl Crow's Soak Up the Sun and Zoot Suit Riot by the Cherry Poppin' Daddies. They also played their fight song. (You can always tell a good fight song when you hear it and somehow instinctively know the words and boy was it a good fight song.) They then got a tour of the building, had some cookies, and learned more about what it is that MENC does before heading off on their way. It was a real treat to have them visit!

In case you can't tell, I'm a band person and in particular a marching band person. As someone who never "settled" on a particular instrument but tried a variety of them, I ended up in colorguard in high school. As a result, most of my friends were in band and I was practically an honorary member. I got to see first-hand the effect of music on students and noticed that the same people in band and orchestra were the same people in my honors classes. Having witnessed the effects of music education first-hand, I decided I wanted to use my government background to help promote music education. And that is how I landed here at MENC! So thank you to Miss Stockhouse, my high school band director, for her amazing work with students!

Around the Water Cooler: Well, she did it!! Fellow blogger RF WON my March Madness NCAA (free) pool!! It's the first time I've lost my own pool. After the Final Four, I sprang to the lead as the only one to correctly pick both of the final two teams. Sadly, I chose Ohio State to win and RF correctly chose Florida. So with a margin of only 30 points, she will be taking the trophy home!

In other news, I'm shocked that Gina went home on American Idol. Apparently all of her other fans are like me and didn't vote. What a shame. Like Blake, I feel Gina brought something a little different each week which made the show interesting. No shock that Shandi from Dancing With the Stars went home though. With the scores so close, it's down to popularity.

On a tangent, this is a fascinating article on Larry King in the NYT! And kudos to CBS’ “Face the Nation” host Bob Schieffer who intrinsically knows the power of music--"“If I knew what a band could do for your life, I would have taken guitar lessons a long time ago...The chicks love it!”

Thursday Interlude

Morning All,

As you probably know, MENC has two journals, Teaching Music and Music Educators Journal. I am responsible for the news in both.
Click http://www.menc.org/publication/articles/journals.html for information about the magazines.

What do we consider news? Well, I handle information about the association, from our National Anthem Project to MENC lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill to the new All-American Marching Band MENC is launching in conjunction with Sportslink, producer of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

Visit http://www.menc.org/allamerican/2008/2008aam.html for more information about the inaugural band, which will perform in January 2008 at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas.

The news I research and report includes in large part what members do, such as awards they win, books they write that MENC publishes, their conferences and the like.

Normally that keeps me pretty busy, but I am actually taking vacation this week. The public schools in Fairfax County, the Virginia county where I live and which MENC is located, have spring break this week.

I am spending some time decluttering my house and driving my 13 year-old son and his friends around. For example, I drove a friend’s son to soccer practice the other day and we started talking about a district choral festival in which he had sung a few weeks ago.

An eighth grader, he missed a basketball game in order to sing in the chorus. He realized that it was an honor to be chosen, though he wondered if the fact that girls outnumber boys five to one in his choir played a part, too. And while he thought the experience was interesting, he was of the opinion that the aforementioned girls in the group were way more excited to be rehearsing and singing than the boys were. Why was that, he wondered? Hmmmm.


Around the water cooler: In American Idol news, had to love Tony Bennett this week. He was way cool with the kids on Tuesday night. He offered them good insights. And overall, I think everyone sang better as a group than in previous weeks. And he was right, those songs were classics.

So America votes and Gina Glocksen goes buh bye. Not really surprised. She was ok, not overwhelming. On the other hand, Lakisha’s version of “Stormy Weather” was fabulous.

Years ago my husband and I saw Lena Horn http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0395043/ in her one-woman show on Broadway. When she sang “Stormy Weather” twice, first as a dewey movie ingénue would and later as a full-fledged, “Honey, I’ve earned the title, Diva, ” would sing it, she left me with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat.

Lakisha wasn’t quite that good, but she made the song her own. As did Jordin. Jordin is definitely my favorite right now. She brings such personality and vivacity to every song and her “On a Clear Day” sparkled. Barbara who? http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000659/

Hope spring has arrived where you are. See you next Thursday!
RF

Midweek Meanderings and Miscellany III

One of the best things about my work here at MENC is the daily correspondence/conversations with members (and others) who call or write in, asking for information to help them teach music, or info to help with advocacy, or research, or a school paper. We used to keep tabs on how many requests we received each day/month; at one point we were getting several hundred/month! The demand comes and goes based on the time of year.....October and January seem to be BIG request months, with a small surge in March/April, particularly from college students looking to finish up their last papers........

What makes helping folks especially rewarding is when they actually reply and let us know how things went. Below is verbatim (no, I didn't make this up just to fill the blog and toot our own horn!) one reply received from a very grateful member. It made me happy to hear things were looking up for their music program, and all was not lost. So, Teacher Members, do not lose heart! Sometimes, this advocacy thing DOES work!

QUOTE: I talked to you several weeks ago regarding the possible Music reduction in time and staff in my school district. You sent me lots of material (it was great!) and the steps in the process of making a difference. The number one step was getting parents involved! I sent your emails to all the Music staff in our district. It truly helped all the staff, as they sent on what was pertinent for their groups of parents. I am happy to report back to you about the progress of this situation. Five very articulate and respected parents spoke at our BOE meeting against the proposed cut in Music and PE. About 100 people were there as a show of support. There was no action taken to eliminate and/or cut times! The principals have been directed to re-do the schedule and come up with different plans. This will then be presented to all the teachers and a parents committee has been set up to help with the process. Can you believe it?!!!! I am truly amazed at the developments! So while we are not sure of the outcome, we have reached the goal of letting the Board know the importance of Music and that parents do not want the time reduced! I will be sending you several articles from our local newspaper for you to see...I want you to witness our success because you are a part of it!

Around the Water Cooler
As an offshoot to the "American Idol" British invasion theme (see blogs last week)...
I was discussing with a co- worker how the first Beatles album allowed in our home (1966) was "Rubber Soul" (most likely because it was so acoustic and almost "classical"....Mom had her standards!) We devoured it; or rather I did. Day after day, singing along with "Rubber Soul", I imagined myself as a back up singer to the Fab Four. After all, why not? My fantasies were fueled further when the news came out (1967, 68?) of an unknown local gal from
UK who won the solo on (Paul's tune?) "Those Were the Days".....after all, I was only 7, and anything was possible!
I learned every vocal harmony on each song, including the back up choir parts "Oooh la la la!".....("You won't see me"....)
While sharing this info with co-worker pal, she also confessed to doing the same thing, and we agreed that's probably how we learned to sing harmony.....she reminded me how we could, in those days of mono-recording and early stereo, separate out the singing parts with one turn of the "balance" knob on our RECORD PLAYERS.....so that Paul's treble voice came out of one speaker, and John's more resonant tones came out of the other speaker. This certainly helped train our ears. We felt like geniuses with our "smart" listening....and rebalancing the tracks back together made a sound that was like candy!

SO! In honor of reminiscences about singing, and "American Idol's" themes of standards with Tony Bennett, and British Invasion and 60's Pop with Diana Ross......here is an"> 8 minute cartoon (go ahead, treat yourself!) from 1936, apparently a cult classic: "I Love to Singa!". Spoiler: If you rent the DVD "Happy Feet", this is one of the shorts on the disc..... has something to do with singing birds, as does "Happy Feet"! Teaser: "Singa" has a very "American Idol" like scene....hilarious! You will be reminded of the "wanna be" IDOL contestants during the IDOL audition phase!
">Description and history of the cartoon (click here!)

Speaking of cartoons....it's amazing to me how I became familiar with so much classical music.....via Saturday morning cartoons! Most especially, Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. My husband and I can never hear it without breaking into wide grins, and then, "conducting" it right down to the final "DA DAHHH!", in imitation of whichever cartoon character was conducting the cartoon orchestra!

(For a more sober performance, see: youtube; and Click to see a list of many cartoons featuring classical music!

and CLICK THIS to see Rhapsody in Popular Culture" along with cartoon characters stills....

See you next Wednesday! SR

The Weekly Web Meeting

If it’s 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, you will find me at the Weekly Web Meeting with MENC’s awesome “Web guys,” Web Specialist PF and Web Assistant DP. We meet every week to review our (sometimes frighteningly) long list of Web projects. We invite any MENC staff members who want to consult about forthcoming projects; sometimes we have one of MENC’s talented graphic designers join us if a project calls for their help.

We have dozens of internal MENC projects at any one time, and we have to look at their time sensitivity, complexity, and relative importance to determine what to work on by when and in what order, so that they all get done as close to requested deadlines as possible. We also need to be on top of what’s happening when to make sure projects are promoted “synergistically.” For instance, if an item in next month’s MENC journal news directs readers to “go to the Web site for more information,” we have to have that information posted by the date members receive their journal. (And that means we have to be aware of what the news is going to say each month!) Conversely, when projects are completed, we want to publicize them, so looking at the queue also means planning promotion on the front page of the site, in the weekly member e-mail update, in a news story or ad, etc.

Contrary to rumors, we do not decide what Web projects will be completed first based on whom we like best or least in the office that particular week. (At least not very often. Just kidding! Mostly.) Seriously, we try to serve all our “customers” -- our internal staff customers, our leaders and members working on MENC-related projects, and the visitors to our Web site, who often contact us with technical and content questions. We use the Weekly Web Meeting to make sure we are all on the same page with our goals and priorities.

I admit we sometimes do veer off topic. Recent subjects of conversation have been walking cats on leashes, Battlestar Gallactica, the nutritional merits of applesauce, Bolero, what is a griefer, unconventional uses for duct tape, open track race days. (In fact, I have to say I actually look forward to the Weekly Web Meeting, unlike most meetings.) But mostly we take our jobs as masters of the MENC Web site very seriously. We know a lot of people are depending on us for good information – last week, we averaged more than 31,000 page hits each day! – and we want them to find what they seek on the MENC site.

Here’s something new to check out in April -- From the Top Comes to TV! From the Top: Live from Carnegie Hall premieres in April on PBS with 13 half-hour episodes! And don’t forget it’s Jazz Appreciation Month and MENC Centennial Month!

Can You Hear Me Now?

Can you hear me now in my world?

It was a wonderful weekend and here I am once again in my world. My life right now is routine stuff, like playing catch-up after a board meeting. Making a list and checking it twice that all of the letters that need to be sent are being taken care of by whomever…

Do you know who Harley is? Well, if you don’t, you should. I love my Harley. He has been everywhere with me: London, Paris, Berlin, Estonia, Orlando, New York City. And, when not traveling, he pretends he is my hood ornament on the dashboard of my little red beetle buggy. Have you guessed it? NO, it’s not Harley the cycle. It’s Harley – the Tri-M Mascot. I am so proud that he is front and center on the MENC Centennial Birthday Tree in the lobby. EL told you about it last week and it is now absolutely beautiful.

It will stay up for a while. Did you know that April 12, 1907, is considered the Birthday of MENC! For many years, George Heller, bless his soul, would call my phone on April 12 and sing Happy Birthday to MENC on my voice mail. I miss George, he was taken from us too young. We have monthly staff socials at which time we “celebrate” birthdays and anniversaries here at MENC. This year it will take place on April 12 and I am sure we will have a birthday cake and have a big sing along of Happy Birthday. Come to think about it – maybe I should give Harriet Mogge, past MENC Director of Meetings & Conventions, and Gene Morlan, former MENC Director of Professional Programs, a call to come over on that day for the social. Gene worked for MENC for 33 years! He began as MENC assistant executive secretary when Vanett Lawler (1955-1968) was in charge. Harriet started attending MENC functions when her father was MENC National President, Russell V. Morgan (1930-32). In 1930 her father hired MENC’s first “Executive Secretary,” Clifford V. Buttelman, (this is what the executive director was called back then). She worked for MENC from 1974-1993. She lives close by and is always ready and willing to help us out with all sorts of tasks!

Back to “I Love My Harley” – I met Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Harley, Modern Music Masters Founders, in the early 1980s when they started talks with MENC about moving the Honor Society to MENC. They were a wonderful couple and had such energy and spirit. It was a joy to be around them. When Harley was introduced, Mrs. Harley was still alive and living in a nursing home. It is my understanding that she was given one and took to little Harley right away. She use to write poetry and send to us periodically during the 80s and early 90s. One poem -- I remember was “Ode to a Bedpan” – she had a hospital stay and this generated about 20 poems. Believe it or not – it was not a bad poem and her humor would have you in stitches (so to speak)….

. I am starting to ramble and so I will end my “CAN you HEAR me NOW?” with a reminder, “Sometimes you swim with the sharks, and some times you get eaten.” Can you hear me now, Jonah?