MWCC's Weekly e-newsletter

Friday, September 24, 2004

MWCC FOUNDATION TO HONOR CHARLES P. 'CHUCK' BOWLES AS CITIZEN OF THE YEAR

By LeaAnn Erickson

The Mount Wachusett Community College (MWCC) Foundation, Inc. Board will honor Chuck Bowles as its Harold E. Drake Jr. Citizen of the Year Award at the MWCC Annual Foundation Dinner Thurs., Oct 7. Bowles serves as president/CEO of GFA Federal Credit Union. He has a long history with Mount Wachusett Community College, where he has served on both the Board of Trustees and the MWCC Foundation Board of Directors—where he served as chair for 17 years.

“Chuck has contributed an enormous amount of his time and energy to this college and we will be forever grateful,” said MWCC President Daniel M. Asquino. “He is also deeply committed to the greater community. His involvement in a wide variety of community efforts has made our communities stronger.”

Bowles said he believes business people have a responsibility to build community. “I have worked with many groups, but by far, working with the college has been the most rewarding because it really changes people’s lives.”

IC Federal Credit Union Executive Vice President Richard W. Nobile described Bowles as a “great motivator of people who exudes positive energy.” Nobile, who has worked with Bowles on a variety of community building efforts, said, “He completes whatever he begins with a sense of integrity.”

United Way of North Central Massachusetts President Phil Grzewinski said, “The United Way relies on business and community leaders like Chuck to support the many organizations and agencies we serve. We are fortunate to have benefited from Chuck’s energy and commitment.”

Bowles is currently serving on the board of directors of the United Way of North Central Massachusetts and was the 1990 campaign chair for the Gardner Division. He also serves as a director and treasurer of the Workforce Investment Board (WIB) and on the board of directors of the Thayer Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he is the director and vice chair of Eastern Corporate Federal Credit Union, director of GFA Financial Group, LLC and is past chair of Eastern Corporate Federal Credit Union. He is a past chair of the Greater Gardner Chamber of Commerce. Bowles also serves on the board of Battleship Massachusetts.

Past recipients of the Harold E. Drake Jr. Citizen of the Year Award are: Richard Flannagan, 1992; Ronald Hurd, 1993; Ronald Ansin, 1994; Leo P. LaChance, 1995; Nancy Leger, 1996; James Hashem, 1997; the Crowley Family, 1998; the DiGeronimo Family, 1999; Anthony A. Cetrone, 2000; and William E. Aubuchon III, 2001; Frederick D. Healey, 2002; SimplexGrinnel (corporate citizen of the year) and Nypro (corporate citizen of the year), 2003.

The foundation will also recognize students who have received foundation-funded scholarships. To date, the foundation has donated more than $120,000 to student scholarships.

The foundation’s Board of Directors are: Richard Flannagan chair; Frederick Healey, vice chair; Scot Barrett, treasurer; and Richard Cella, secretary. Other board members are: Peter Armbruster, William E. Aubuchon III, Charles P. Bowles, Anthony Cetrone, Georgana B. Cochran, Pamela Dobeck, Jane Doyle, Frank Hirons, David Jacques, Thomas Kymalainen, Keith W. Lauer, Michael McGuire, Carlton “Tuck” Nichols, Jean Sifleet, Andrei Soran, Marie Trottier and Regina Wironen.

The Annual Foundation Dinner will be held at the Best Western Royal Plaza & Conference Center, Fitchburg. A cocktail reception will begin at 5:30 p.m. A dinner buffet will follow at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $50 each; $500 for a table of 10. To reserve a seat, please send payment by Tues., Sept. 28. Checks may be mailed to MWCC Foundation, Inc., 444 Green St., Gardner, Mass., 01440.

To learn more about the Mount Wachusett Community College Foundation, contact Executive Director Darlene Morrilly at 978.630.9276.

Zulma Melendez dances to the sounds of Groupo Fantasia, an award-winning Latin music band, who visited the campus Monday in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. The concert was made possible by sponsorship from MWCC’s Student Life Office, Diversity Committee and C.A.R.S. (Committee for Activities and Recreation for Students)

NEARLY 50 AGENCIES ATTEND VOLUNTEER FAIR AT MWCC

By Kimberly B. Caisse

Nearly 50 community agencies looking for volunteers and many Mount Wachusett Community College students seeking information on volunteer and service-learning opportunities met at the college’s Volunteer Fair on Friday.

The organizations included many environmental, health care and social service agencies, and school systems.

	MWCC student Caitlin Barclay speaks with George Babineau about volunteer opportunities at the North Central Massachusetts chapter of Habitat for Humanity at Friday’s Volunteer Fair.

“Volunteerism is a great way to gain experience while giving back to the community,” said Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs Melissa Delaney.

MWCC students already lend a hand to Gardner Visiting Nursing Association (GVNA), Inc. clients, said Volunteer and Bereavement Coordinator Nada Sellers. Nursing students help with the GVNA’s adult day programs, while health science students provide complementary health care services—Reiki, reflexology, etc.—to hospice patients. “We’re very responsive to matching what students want to do with the services we provide,” Sellers said.

Thayer Symphony Orchestra Artistic Director Toshimasa Francis Wada said his organization needs volunteers and student interns to help with such things as graphic and web design, computer work and office support.

The North Central Massachusetts chapter of Habitat for Humanity needs similar assistance, and students would be ideal candidates for these volunteer positions, according to George Babineau. “We have a lot of background work that needs to be done” in addition to building affordable homes, he said.

Dwayne Ericson, facilities manager at Wachusett Mountain State Reservation, was looking for more students to volunteer to do environmental projects or sit on an advisory board. These opportunities would give students studying natural resources, biology and political science a hands-on learning experience, he said.

Some organization representatives said the fair also was a great opportunity to raise awareness about their services. Shirley Coit, project coordinator at Project FLASH (Family Learning Action Starts Here), said she hoped students who took program literature would refer low-literate or limited English-speaking people they may know to her agency.

Business-oriented non-profits also set up tables at the fair. The North Central Mass. Chamber of Commerce was seeking student volunteers to work in the Johnny Appleseed Visitor Center on Route 2 in Lancaster.

Non-profit agency representatives attended a breakfast held before the fair. They learned about MWCC’s work-study and service-learning programs and how students are encouraged to volunteer in their communities. They met students who do this: Christine White, a nursing student, who helps the New Mothers Group, and Erin Avery, who helps with LUK youth mentoring. They also learned about the various student clubs from Student Life Director Greg Clement.

Campus Events:

• The MWCC Art Department is pleased to present, as part of the Works in Clay exhibition series, the 1830s reproduction work and original pottery by Holden artist Mary Picard through Tues., Sept. 28 in the East Wing Gallery outside the Theatre at the Mount. Picard studied at Worcester Center for Crafts and the ceramics program at Harvard University. She is a production potter at Old Sturbridge Village, where she reproduces 1830s New England redware and stoneware. Picard also is a studio potter in Holden, where she also creates her own exquisite functional work. For any further information, contact Joyce Miller at 978.630.9221.

• Auditions for Theatre at the Mount’s December production of Daniel Sullivan’s “Inspecting Carol” will be held on Sun., Sept. 26 and Tues., Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. in room 182 at MWCC. Callbacks (if needed) will be held Wed., Sept. 29 at 7 p.m. Director Mark F. LeBlanc is looking for a cast of four adult women, eight adult men and one young boy age 11 to 13. Everything that could possibly go wrong does as a fictitious theater company struggles to mount their annual production of the holiday classic “A Christmas Carol”. Bad theatre has never been this much fun before! For more information, contact Professor Gail Steele at 978.630.9162, or visit the Theatre at the Mount web site at http://theatre.mwcc.edu.

• Representatives from UMASS Lowell will be at the transfer table in the cafeteria hallway on Tues., Sept. 28 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Students interested in transferring to UMASS Lowell are encouraged to stop by. For more information, call Associate Director of Transfer Services Nancy Greenlaw at 978.630.9321.

• MWCC will celebrate Deaf Awareness Week the week of Oct. 4 with an interactive program called “It’s a Deaf, Deaf World” on Wed., Oct. 6 either between 9:10 and 10:10 a.m. or 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Participants will get a chance to simulate what it’s like to be deaf. Deaf service providers from the Center for Living and Working celebrate Deaf Awareness Week every year at MWCC by doing this presentation. To register for a session, contact Heather March 978.630.9224.

• The Fitness & Wellness Center at MWCC is accepting registrations for fall swimming lessons, which begin Mon., Oct. 4. Classes include beginner, intermediate and advanced lessons for children, American Red Cross GuardStart instruction for 11- to 14-year-olds and adult beginner and intermediate lessons. Children’s classes are $30 for members; $42 for non-members. GuardStart sessions are $60 for members; $70 for non-members. The adult classes are $7 per class for members; $10 per class for non-members. The full-session fee is $30 for members; $42 for non-members. For more information, call the Fitness & Wellness Center at 978.630.9212.

• As part of the college’s Decade of Civic Engagement initiative, MWCC and Rock the Vote will make sure Voting is a Piece of Cake during the Welcome Back Fest for students. This will give students a chance to register to vote on Thurs., Sept. 30 and Wed., Oct. 6 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the cafeteria and to get a piece of free cake. College organizers will take completed registration forms to the appropriate town and city clerks’ offices. For more information, call Lea Ann Erickson at 978.630.9322.

• MWCC’s Lifelong Learning Institute for Enrichment (LIFE) is sponsoring a writing contest to coincide with the second annual Wachusett Writer’s Conference, sponsored by The Gardner News, in November. Contestants must submit a 1,000-word short story to LIFE Program Coordinator Lorraine Wickman, Mount Wachusett Community College, 444 Green St., Gardner, MA 01440, by Fri., Oct. 1. Submissions should be double-spaced with text only on one side. Three copies must be provided—two with the contestant’s name, address, phone number and e-mail address and one without the information. This writing contest is open to anyone of any age. For more information, contact Wickman at 978.630.9176 or lwickman@mwcc.mass.edu.

• Mount Wachusett Community College Foundation, Inc. will host its Annual Foundation Dinner at the Best Western Royal Plaza & Conference Center, Fitchburg, on Thurs., Oct. 7. A cocktail reception will begin at 5:30 p.m.; a dinner buffet at 6:30 p.m. The foundation’s Board of Directors will be honoring GFA Federal Credit Union President and CEO and fellow board member Charles P. Bowles, who is this year’s recipient of the Harold E. Drake Jr. Citizen of the Year Award. The achievements of the foundation’s scholarship recipients for the 2004 academic year also will be recognized. Tickets are $50 each; $500 for a table of 10. To reserve a seat, please send payment by Tues., Sept. 28. Checks may be mailed to MWCC Foundation, Inc., 444 Green St., Gardner, MA, 01440. For more information, call Diane Hamilton at 978.630.9387.

• The MWCC Alumni Association invites all MWCC criminal justice alumni to attend a dinner meeting on Fri., Oct. 8 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the college’s north dining area. Bedford Police Chief James G. Hicks will speak about “The Future of Law Enforcement Training in Massachusetts. Dr. Robert N. Willhauck, former chair of the Criminal Justice Department, also will attend. To register to attend, please contact Jo-Ann Meagher at jmeagher@mwcc.mass.edu or 978.630.9105 by Fri., Oct. 1.

• Tickets are on sale now for the Theatre at the Mount production of Mike Craver and Mark Hardwick’s “Radio Gals.” Set in the late 1920s, “Radio Gals” concerns an enterprising woman, Hazel Hunt (played by Pattie Pichette), of Cedar Ridge, Ark., who, upon her retirement as the town music teacher, receives a Western Electric 500 watt radio transmitter and begins broadcasting as radio station WGAL. The New York Times called “Radio Gals” “a lively, cheery, nostalgia-dipped musical.” Performances are Fri., Oct. 8, Sat., Oct. 9, Fri., Oct. 15 and Sat., Oct. 16 at 8 p.m. and Sun., Oct. 17 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $18 for evening performances and $15 for the matinee show. For information and reservations, call the Theatre at the Mount box office at 978.632.2403. Tickets may also be purchased online at http://theatre.mwcc.edu.

• MWCC Transfer Services will host the annual Transfer Fair on Wed., Oct. 6 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the cafeteria. This is a once-a-year opportunity for MWCC students to speak with several transfer representatives from New England public and private four-year colleges and universities. Alumni, staff and members of the public interested in earning a four-year degree also are invited to attend. For more information, call Nancy Greenlaw at 978.630.9321.

• MWCC’s Division of Health Science will sponsor a lecture on “The Healing Power of Touch” by Sandy Superchi, RN, CMT, at MWCC, room 242, on Wed., Oct. 6 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Superchi is currently employed as a nurse working with developmentally delayed adults. She also has a massage therapy practice with a focus on wellness, cancer and people living with grief. Students, staff and the public are welcome. To participate in this free program, please contact Gayle Jaillet at 978.630.9265 or by e-mail at g_jaillet@mwcc.mass.edu.

• A public discussion of “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America” by Barbara Ehrenreich is scheduled for Wed., Oct. 13 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in MWCC’s Murphy Conference Room. Students, faculty and the public are invited to attend. Ehrenreich takes jobs as a waitress, hotel maid and house cleaner, among others, to learn first-hand the plight of the working poor. She documents her experiences in “Nickel and Dimed,” a book that has sparked much discussion on college campuses across the nation since its release in 2001. A thousand MWCC students will read the book for the fall semester’s “One Book, One College” initiative.

• As part of the “One Book, One College” initiative, the students, faculty and the public are invited to a showing of film-maker Michael Moore’s “Roger and Me” on Wed., Oct. 13 from 6 to 8 p.m. in room 127 at MWCC. The film will be shown again on Thurs., Oct. 14 from 1 to 3 p.m. in room 125.

• The “One Book, One College” program includes inviting students, faculty and the public to the showings of the film “Talking to the Wall: The Story of an American Bargain” on Tues., Oct. 19 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. in the North Cafeteria and Fri., Oct. 22 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in room 127. Film-maker Steve Alves will be at the Tues., Oct. 19 showing to discuss his film.

• Registrations are being accepted for a six-week Preschool Yoga class at the Fitness & Wellness Center at Mount Wachusett Community College. The class will run from Wed., Oct. 20 to Wed., Nov. 24 from 10:15 to 10:45 a.m. Children ages 3 to 6 will learn the power of movement and breath through music, games and simple yoga positions. They learn balance, how to manage their emotions and to understand the emotions of others. The cost is $30 for those with a family membership or $42 for non-members. For more information, call the Fitness & Wellness Center at 978.630.9212.

• Tickets are on sale for Theatre at the Mount’s only performance of the children’s musical “How to Eat Like a Child” on Sat., Oct. 23 at 2 p.m. Based on the book by Delia Ephron, the show is adapted by John Forster and Judith Kahan with music and lyrics by John Forster. Tickets are $3 and may be purchased at the Theatre at the Mount box office or online at http://theatre.mass.edu. The box office phone number is 978.632.2403.

• The Fitness & Wellness Center at Mount Wachusett Community College will be hosting a Spin-a-thon for Diabetes on Sun., Oct. 31 from 7 a.m. to noon. The spin-a-thon will consist of five one-hour spinning classes. To reserve a bike and a class time, call the Fitness & Wellness Center at 978.630.9212. A $20 donation is requested. All proceeds will be donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation to support their research in finding a cure for diabetes.

• College and university representatives will visit MWCC at various times during the fall semester. Those scheduled visits are: UMASS Lowell, Tues., Sept. 28, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Transfer Services table; Fitchburg State College, Thurs., Oct. 14, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., in Enrollment Services; Fitchburg State College, Wed., Oct. 27,10 a.m. to 2 p.m., in Enrollment Services; Mount Holyoke College, Mon., Nov. 1, 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., in the Murphy Conference Room; Smith College, Mon., Nov. 1, 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., in the Murphy Conference Room; Wellesley College, Mon., Nov. 1, 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., Murphy Conference Room; Fitchburg State College, Mon., Nov. 8, 10 a.m. 2 p.m., in Enrollment Services; UMASS Lowell, Wed., Nov. 10, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Transfer Services table; Fitchburg State College, Wed., Dec.1, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., in Enrollment Services. Students interested in meeting with representatives scheduled to be in Enrollment Services must register with Nancy Greenlaw for a half-hour appointment. She may be reached at (978) 630-9321.

Lea Ann Erickson
Director of Community Relations
Mount Wachusett Community College
Phone: (978) 630-9322
Fax: (978) 630-9561
cell: (508) 517-5202
l_erickson@mwcc.mass.edu

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