|
Dear Members and Friends,
Spring classes have finished up, Food for Thought and Coffee Clash are done for the season, our annual Art Show has concluded, and we'll be taking a short break from classes and events until late August. Meanwhile, we are busy planning fall courses and have lined up our first three Food for Thought talks starting in September.
The June newsletter is a little later that usual so we can report on our Annual General Meeting held last week. Please see a note from Mike Hastings encouraging folks to teach and a plea for storage space, plus some further explanations about ASC's expenses and endowment fund from Andy Cline. Also look for a brief recap of our art show and reception, a reminder about the Clunan Lecture series, and a couple of thank you shout-outs.
Fall classes will be posted later this month and registration opens on July 19th.
I hope to see you out and about, and have a pleasant and safe summer.
Janice Kenyon
ASC Administrator
| |
Annual Meeting and Potluck | |
|
Our Annual General Meeting and Potluck Supper were held at the Neighborhood House in Northeast Harbor on June 7th. President Mike Hastings welcomed members and guests and thanked outgoing board member Ruth Braun.
Treasurer Andy Cline reported that ASC continues to be fiscally sound thanks in large part to our members' support. See Andy's follow-up report below to learn more about ASC expenses and our endowment goals.
Nominating Committee Chair Jack Russell presented two new board candidates, Dan McKay and Jim Vekasi, and the new slate of officers. All were elected unanimously.
| |
New Board Members
Dan McKay
Dan McKay practiced law for over 40 years at the Maine law firm of Eaton Peabody and served for 17 years as its managing partner. He concentrated his practice on the representation of business entities and financial institutions in a variety of transactional matters and served as general outside corporate counsel to clients of all sizes in a variety of business sectors, from high-tech manufacturing and software to healthcare and banking.
During his professional career, Mr. McKay served in leadership positions for several nonprofit entities in Maine, and he served for eight years as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maine Business School where he taught a course in business law to MBA candidates.
He currently serves as chairman of the board of directors of the Maine Seacoast Mission and is a member of the board of directors of the Heron Foundation, a private foundation with national reach and a mission to empower positive change in underserved rural communities. He is also chairman of the Town of Mount Desert Economic Development Committee.
Jim Vekasi
Jim Vekasi, husband of Mary, father of Sarah and Kristin and grandfather of Gregory and Lyra, moved to MDI in 1991 to work in Acadia National Park and it has become home. Since retirement in 2011, he has been active in Acadia Senior College, Southwest Harbor Public Library, and Wendell Gilley Museum.
His Civil Engineering practice in the private sector, Peace Corps, and National Park Service took him to Michigan, the Kingdom of Tonga, Colorado, Montana, and Maine culminating with twenty years managing the construction and maintenance program in Acadia National Park. He is an avid bird carver and plays mandolin and sings as often as possible with various folks including the bands Leavin’ Tulsa and Big Moose.
| | | |
2023 - 2024 Board of Directors
Mike Hastings - President
Candy Emlen - Vice President
Jim Vekasi - Treasurer
Dixie Hathaway - Secretary
Andy Cline
Richard Cohen
Keith Davis
Bill Dohmen
Patsy Fogarty
Cynthia Livingston
Dan McKay
Steve Powell
Jack Russell
Seth Singleton
Kathleen Slack
Mary Vekasi
Brief bios for all board members can be found on the ASC website.
| | | |
Over 70 members enjoyed the supper and the chance to catch up with old friends and new. The Membership and Volunteers Committee did a fabulous job setting up and decorating the great hall at the Neighborhood House. Rick Barter and Jim Vekasi provided lovely and lively music. | | |
|
|
Photos:
- Appetizer table
- Gerry and Wayne Gregersen visit with Fred Benson
- Rick Barter and Jim Vekasi
- Pamela Hattem and Patsy Fogarty
- Dave Gapp eating out of his hat (we did have plates!)
- Mike Hastings addressing the group
- Rick Berstein and Sam Gaines
- Kay Dawson and Sugar Fenton
| |
A Note from Mike Hastings, ASC President | |
|
Dear Senior College Members,
The Curriculum Committee, chaired by Charles Stanhope, has been working hard on fall ASC course offerings. Courses will be announced later this month, and I think you will be pleased with the list.
I am now thinking ahead to the Winter term. At last week’s Annual
General Meeting, two potential instructors approached me with ideas for winter classes. One proposed tackling issues of importance to Native Americans, and another suggested a series of visits to MDI-based shops of fine woodworkers.
What these two suggestions have in common is a format in which one
person organizes a course, but involves “guest speakers” in class
sessions. I’ve taken several courses that follow this format and have found them to be stimulating and fun.
ASC’s greatest assets are its instructors, who without compensation, put their time and thought into organizing and conducting courses. Please consider joining our faculty; you can customize the class format in a way that makes sense to you. You do not need any past teaching experience or a fancy degree, and your subject can be anything you are passionate about and knowledgeable about.
And now, on a completely different subject…
For a number of years, one Senior College member has stored our instructional equipment in the attic of his garage, and another member has stored our event and party supplies in the lower level of her condo. The College is most grateful for the use of these spaces.
This summer ASC will be culling both its equipment and supplies down to the items that are used regularly by the College. At the same time, we are searching for new storage space.
Our hope is to consolidate the equipment (including a large TV on a rolling stand, and two heavy amplifiers) and supplies in a new space that will be easy to access, near a driveway, on ground level. We need a space that is roughly 8’ long by 4’ deep by 6’ tall.
If you have a storage area that you would be willing to share with the College, would you kindly call or email our College Administrator, Janice Kenyon, or me?
Thank you, all!
~ Mike Hastings
| | |
|
Learn More About ASC Expenses and
Our Endowment Fund
| |
|
After delivering the Treasurer’s Report at last week’s annual meeting, I enjoyed some delicious food and delightful company at our potluck supper, as did many of you. A few of my tablemates asked some interesting and thoughtful questions about ASC’s finances, and it occurred to me that others might be wondering some of the same things. For instance, if all our instructors are volunteers and our classrooms essentially free, what are the college’s expenses? Why do we need such a large sum to endow the Clunan Lecture Series? And why does Acadia Senior College need a reserve of $350,000?
As for expenses, there are too many to list here, so I’ll just highlight a few. For our classes we pay for books and other supplies, the latter expense growing significantly of late with the increased popularity of cooking and art classes. We’ve also made a significant investment in technology to offer remote and hybrid classes. Maintenance and upgrades to our website, publicizing course offerings, bookkeeping service, insurance, and our accountant’s annual non-profit IRS submission and periodic financial review all represent substantial costs. And then, of course, there are the parties that we all enjoy so much! By far the biggest expense in ASC’s annual budget is the salary we pay our administrator, Janice Kenyon, and it is worth every penny.
A goal of the Clunan Lecture Series Committee is to bring a world-class speaker to Mount Desert Island each year. In most cases, this will require an honorarium, travel and lodging expenses, plus the cost of a reception following the lecture. It is typical and prudent to expect a 4% annual draw from an endowment. So, if we were able to accumulate $50,000, that would provide funding of $2,000 per year. We don’t know yet if that will be sufficient, but while we continue to build this endowment, we plan to devote some funds from our operating budget to support the Clunan Lecture.
Our “nest egg”, or reserve, is there to ensure the long-term future of Acadia Senior College. In collaboration with the Maine Community Foundation, we held a fundraising campaign in 2008-2009 to earn matching funds and establish the ASC endowment. Through good management, further contributions, and a favorable stock market, this has grown over the years. We aspire to achieve a balanced budget, but in any given year, we cannot be sure our income will meet our expenses. In the 2019-2020 fiscal year, for example, we ended $5,600 in the hole. A similar deficit is projected in our budget for the coming year. ASC leaders, particularly the Advancement Committee, work hard to secure grants, bank contributions, and member donations to complement tuition and membership income, but it’s very important to have reserves to call upon when needed.
Thank you for reading, and thank you for the opportunity to serve as your treasurer for the past five years.
~ Andy
| |
|
A huge thank you to our awesome Spring instructors:
Bonnie Chase
Hugh Clark
Armine Darbinyan
Ben Emory
David Gapp
Michael Good
Sheila Kirby
Larry Rosen
Please take a moment to express your appreciation if you run into these folks this summer. If you took a spring class, don't forget to submit your course evaluation. You'll need to log in to your ASC account to do so.
| |
Coffee Clash and Food for Thought | |
|
We've wrapped up our Coffee Clash and Food for Thought series' for the season. After a break for the summer, we'll be back in September with more interesting programs.
We would like to thank Havana Restaurant in Bar Harbor for hosting our Coffee Clash discussions this year and for providing the delicious treats. And, thank you to Birch Bay Village for hosting our Food for Thought luncheon presentations. It's great to be back in person!
Also, many volunteers helped to make these events happen. Jack Russell organized and hosted Coffee Clash and Jeff Dunn arranged our Food for Thought speakers. The Events Committee, technology hosts, and other volunteers contributed many hours of planning to ensure the events ran smoothly.
| |
The Dorothy and Jim Clunan Lecture Series |
Wednesday, September 20, 2023
The inaugural lecture in this new annual series will take place at 5:00 p.m. at the Neighborhood House in Northeast Harbor. Our inaugural speaker will be Anne Clunan, PhD, daughter of Dorothy and Jim Clunan.
Anne is an Associate Professor of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterrey, California, and a Faculty Affiliate at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. Her title and talk are still being finalized, though she writes that she may "talk about Russia's war on Ukraine and the shifting global order, as my initial interest in the USSR and later Russia stemmed from both of my parents' careers as diplomats and their commitments to democracy and open societies.”
Please watch for more details and information in upcoming announcements.
| | | |
Art Show and Reception Recap | |
Over 30 ASC members exhibited in the 14th annual art show at the Northeast Harbor Library. Following tradition, Sydney Rockefeller, Susan Lerner, and Melita Westerlund created an outstanding doorway arch from recycled cardboard packing materials. They also fashioned a very stylish hat for our esteemed President, Mike Hastings. | |
The Membership and Volunteers Committee hosted the art show reception, which provided tasty hors d'oeuvres and beverages. The event was very well attended and the weather was lovely for gathering and visiting outdoors.
Photos: Sydney, Susan, and Melita, creators of the arch and hats pose with Mike Hastings. Members enjoying the show and reception.
| |
| | | |
