Communities That Care

Posted on September 21, 2010

First Annual “Harvest Hootenanny” Comes to Snow Bowl!

Saturday, October 9 is the day for the first annual, outdoor Harvest Hootenanny at the Camden Snow Bowl. Billed as a “community shindig,” it will be filled with live music, food and activities for the entire family. Things get started at 11AM and will wrap-up around 6PM.

Lincolnville native and Maine humorist Rosey Gerry will emcee the event, and will also be playing with his band The Breezemere Bottom Boys. This band started in 2002 with four performers and has gone up and down since, with sometimes as many as nine members. The Breezemere Bottom Boys bill themselves as players of hometown-type roots music, with a flavor of gospel bluegrass style, but not limited to all-gospel!

Slated to follow the Breezemere Bottom Boys, Lisa Redfern is an award-winning singer-songwriter who recently moved back to Maine from San Francisco. Lisa learned the guitar from her father, who had his musical beginnings with the legendary Seeger family hootenannies. She has performed with many notables including Pete Seeger, Dave Mallett and The Roches. She is the 2010 National Parenting Publications Gold Award for Children’s Music!

Next in the entertainment lineup, Wyatt McLean is a young singer/songwriter born and raised in Camden, Maine. His musical influences range from the bluegrass of Flatt and Scruggs, to Sinatra, to various 50′s folk acts. The son of musical legend Don McLean, Wyatt has proven to have talent of his own!

The Mallett Brothers Band—led by the sons of renowned folk singer/songwriter Dave Mallett—is a brand new alt country outfit grown out of the seedy underbelly of Northern New England’s ripe and eclectic music scene. Brothers Luke (vocals and acoustic guitar) and Will Mallett (vocals, acoustic and electric guitar) have written many of the band’s songs. With one foot in the muckiest of American country/bluegrass/folk/mountain music and another on the pulse of today’s postmodern musical sensibility, The Mallett Brothers Band creates a truly dynamic sound blending acoustic, vocal harmonies, with a touch of twang.

Roosevelt Dime, a Brooklyn NY-based band known for their blend of acoustic jug-band blues, classic Motown soul and modern alt-country rock. Their band includes Camden native Eben Pariser, and consists of a banjo, bass, drums/percussion, trumpet/cornet and woodwinds. Hard to classify because it is soulful, funky, New Orleans jazz, and vaudeville, their sound is humorous and always a crowd pleaser.

Rounding out the night is Gypsy Tailwind, a soulful Americana act out of Portland, led by Daniel Connor (vocals, guitar) and Amanda Gervasi (vocals, guitar, ukelele), that has taken the Northeast by storm. Gypsy Tailwind’s six-piece act also includes Camden-native Max Cantlin. In a matter of only three years, Gypsy Tailwind has gained a strong local and regional following. They routinely are sellout headliners in the Portland area.

In addition to the great music lineup, there will be food vendors, activities for everyone, pumpkin carving and pie baking competitions, and the first annual “CTC Olypics,” featuring local firefighters, police officers and town administrators.

This event is a joint fundraiser for the Five Towns Communities That Care and the West Bay Rotary Club. Tickets are $9, children under 12 get in free. Call 236-9800 or visit http://www.fivetownctc.org/participate/harvest-hootenanny/ for more information.

Posted on September 10, 2010

Guiding Good Choices Parent Workshops Begin Oct 18th!

Five Town Communities That Care is once again offering the Guiding Good Choices (GGC) workshop series for parents of children who are aged 9-14. GGC is a free, five-part series that is nationally recognized for its effectiveness in helping parents influence their children to make healthy choices. In research studies the program has been shown to improve parenting skills and the quality of parent-child interactions, to reduce adolescent substance abuse, to reduce adolescent depressive symptoms, and to reduce rates of self-harm by teens. In these studies, children of participants showed 40% lower rates of alcohol and marijuana use, 54% less progression to more serious substance abuse, a 26% greater likelihood of remaining drug free if they weren’t already using drugs, 38% lower rates of self-harm and 28% fewer feelings of ‘worthlessness.’

Past participant Karen Blackwell shared, “Guiding Good Choices offered knowledgeable, practical, and caring exercises and solutions to help families navigate their way through the unique challenges of raising a child in the 21^st century.  I feel empowered as a parent, and more optimistic about successfully nurturing my children during their teenage years. “

After attending the series, another family wrote, “Thank you all for your supportive community building efforts.  I believe our family will be stronger and closer because of your workshop and its message.”

The workshops series will meet Monday evenings, October 18th-November 15th, at Camden Hills Regional High School. All sessions begin at 5 PM (with a free dinner for the entire family from 5-5:30) and end at 7:30 PM. Free onsite childcare is offered while parents are in the workshops from 5:30 to 7:30.  Facilitators Adam Kohlstrom and Wanda Johnson will lead the sessions.

For more information, or to register, call 236-9800 or email info@fivetownctc.org. Registration forms will be mailed to parents who have children in grades 5-8 in Appleton, Camden, Hope, or Lincolnville public schools.  The form can also be picked up at the Five Town CTC offices at 219 Meadow Street in Rockport, or downloaded at http://www.fivetownctc.org/programs/guiding-good-choices/.

Posted on September 1, 2010

Five Town CTC Among Awardees as White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Gives Out $85.6 Million

Five Town Communities That Care was one of the 16 new DFC Mentor Grant awardees across the nation, and is also among the 549 DFC Coalitions awarded continuation funding.  The DFC Mentor Grant will provide supplemental funding for Five Town Communities That Care to work with Greater Old Town Communities That Care to rebuild, retrain, and institutionalize their prevention coalition.  The end goal of this supplemental grant program is to enable Greater Old Town Communities That Care to be successful at landing its own DFC Support Program grant in two years.  The DFC Mentor Grant will provide $75,000 per year for two years, with funds first becoming available in October.

“The Drug Free Communities program embodies the Obama Administration’s dedication to evidence-based community prevention efforts that protect the health of our young people,” said Director Kerlikowske. “Data show that communities receiving DFC funding have seen significant reductions in past 30-day use of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana among middle and high school students. I applaud the hard work of local community leaders, youth, parents, educators, healthcare professionals, faith-based leaders, law enforcement officials, and others who are working together daily to strengthen communities and save kids’ lives.”

“Action at the community level—in school rooms, community centers, churches and at kitchen tables—can help drive rates of substance abuse down,” said SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde, J.D. “SAMHSA is pleased to join the Office of National Drug Control Policy in supporting communities that are bringing people together to create healthy and drug free environments for children.”

The Drug Free Communities program is directed by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, in partnership with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The DFC program provides grants of up to $625,000 over five years to community coalitions that facilitate citizen participation in local youth drug prevention efforts including prescription drug diversion and prevention initiatives and underage drinking programs. Coalitions are comprised of community leaders, parents, youth, teachers, religious and fraternal organizations, health care and business professionals, law enforcement, and the media.

Five Town Communities That Care will begin its third year as a DFC funded coalition in October.  The DFC Support Program grant will provide the coalition with an opportunity for non-competitive renewal for an additional two years ($125,000 per year).  At that time Five Town CTC will be eligible to reapply for another five-year cycle of funding.  There are currently ten other DFC funded coalitions in Maine; one of these was also funded as a DFC Mentor Grantee this year.

For More information about ONDCP and its programs visit: www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov. For more information about Five Town Communities That Care, visit www.fivetownctc.org, email info@fivetownctc.org, or call (207) 236-9800.

(Portions of this article were taken directly from a press release by ONDCP dated August 31, 2010 and published on the ONDCP website at http://www.ondcp.gov/news/press10/083110.html.)