MWCC's Weekly e-newsletter

Friday, December 3, 2004

MWCC AND SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE TO HOST 2ND ANNUAL UNSUNG HEROES

By Lea Ann Erickson

Mount Wachusett Community College and the Sentinel & Enterprise will again join forces to recognize the region’s “unsung heroes.” The partnership—now in its second year—is designed to recognize individuals and organizations who have worked to better their communities.

	MWCC President Daniel M. Asquino and Sentinel & Enterprise Publisher Asa Cole saluting 2004 Unsung Heroes last April.

“We were honored to recognize our first group of 11 unsung heroes last April and look forward to the initiative again this year,” said MWCC President Daniel M. Asquino. “Our hope is to give credit to those who have never sought the spotlight and who have made our cities and towns better places to work and live.”

“The Sentinel & Enterprise received a great deal of positive feedback last year,” said Publisher Asa Cole. “We have the ability to reach the communities we serve through the newspaper, and Mount Wachusett Community College has embraced community service through its Decade of Civic Engagement initiative. This partnership is a perfect fit that we hope will continue for years to come.”

Unsung Hero honorees will be profiled in future editions of the Sentinel & Enterprise and will be honored at Mount Wachusett Community College’s upcoming A Celebration of Unsung Heroes, Thursday, April 7, 2005.

2004 Unsung Heroes were: Sybil Arguijo, Melinda Estelle, Chuck Ferreira, Brian Hobbs, Mike Gerry and Ron LeBlanc, Patty Leonhardt and Ann Racine, Ronalda “Ronnie” Melanson, Sheila O’Brien and Ashton "Larry" Payne.

Readers are invited to nominate individuals and organizations who have worked to better their communities. General criteria includes:

• Community service activities at the city, town or regional level
• Efforts to encourage participation of voters in their local, state, regional or national government
• Service to be recognized must have occurred during 2002, 2003 and/or 2004, or the individual must have demonstrated significant service over a lifetime.

Award recipients will be selected on the following criteria:

• Positive effect on a given town, city or community
• Thoroughness/comprehensiveness of the effort
• Quality of the submission

An Unsung Hero nomination form or reasonable facsimile must accompany all submissions. Individuals and organizations may submit more than one name. For more information, contact MWCC Director of Community Relations Lea Ann Erickson at (978) 630-9322 or Sentinel & Enterprise Editor Jeff McMenemy at (978) 343-6911 ext. 214. Nomination forms will also appear periodically in the Sentinel & Enterprise.

HOLIDAY GREENS SALE PROCEEDS TO BENEFIT NURSING STAFF EDUCATION FUND

	Diane Hamilton of the Division of Community and Foundation Development decorates a wreath as part of the effort to fill pre-orders and have a good supply of wreaths at the Holiday Greens Sale in Groton Saturday, Dec. 4.

Mount Wachusett Community College Foundation, Inc. and Nashoba Valley Medical Center of Ayer are pleased to sponsor the annual Holiday Greens Sale, this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Union Congregational Church, 218 Main Street, Groton.

Proceeds from the sale of live greens and bows as well as a raffle and soup-and-sandwich lunch provided by Shriver Job Corps Center culinary arts students will benefit a nursing staff education fund here at MWCC.

For over 55 years, the former Deaconess-Nashoba Hospital Auxiliary operated the popular sale of holiday greenery, baked goods, crafts and more as a fund raiser for the hospital. The sale was last held in 2002. The non-profit Deaconess-Nashoba was sold to for-profit Essent Healthcare, Inc. in January 2003, and was renamed Nashoba Valley Medical Center.

For more information, contact MWCC Foundation Executive Director Darlene Morrilly at (978) 630-9276.

MWCC PROFESSOR EMERITUS OFFERS A ‘TASTE OF CHI’

By Kimberly B. Caisse

	Mike Kressy explains that these Chinese symbols stand for “chi” and “kung” during his “Taste of Chi” presentation Wednesday, Dec. 1.

Trying two fundamental T’ai Chi Chi Kung exercises—core stance and embrace the tree—can turn a skeptic of Eastern health practices into a true believer in a matter of minutes.

Mike Kressy, a professor emeritus at MWCC and T’ai Chi Chi Kung practitioner for 20 years, offered this opportunity to about 15 students, faculty and staff during his “Taste of Chi” presentation Wednesday, Dec. 1 in room 342.

Kressy laid the foundation for his demonstration by briefly explaining the Chinese Tao philosophy, the flow of chi (life energy) and Chi Kung, the art and discipline of nurturing the flow of chi throughout the body using carefully designed movements.

“It’s really a concept that’s known far and wide,” he said about chi. In Hawaii, the word for chi is “ha,” which is part of the greeting “aloha.” Hawaiians are “sharing this universal energy with visitors,” he said.

Studies have shown Chi Kung helps ease stress, hypertension, arthritis and shingles and generally improves the immune system, Kressy said.

“The main thing—and the most difficult thing to teach—is to somehow convince the student or practitioner they do not make chi run through the body,” he said.

To demonstrate, Kressy led the group through the core stance and embrace the tree movements.

They began by taking their shoes off (chi comes from the earth) and, with feet hip distance apart and knees slightly bent, swinging their arms from side to side to warm up. Then, beginning at the feet, Kressy told participants to move in a circular motion until they found “the balance.” They repeated this with the hips, shoulder area and head. Next they took deep breaths.

For embrace the tree, Kressy asked participants to extend their arms with their hands cupped inward. He went around the group to make sure participants’ positions were correct. Then he asked them to move their hands back and forth toward each other but not touching.

Many participants spoke out, saying they felt a magnetic sensation between their hands. Some students said surprisingly they felt warm and were perspiring. A few became overwhelmed and had to leave the room. Kressy said each was evidence of chi flowing through the body.

Kressy’s presentation—and one that will be held Monday, Dec. 6 at 4:30 p.m. in the faculty lounge—was sponsored by MWCC’s Health Science Division. He teaches an evening noncredit course on T’ai Chi Chi Kung at MWCC. The next nine-week session will begin March 23, 2005.

MWCC Chief Engineer Art Collins bought BCT Advanced TV Production students behind the scenes as Fox Sports New England prepared for this week’s broadcast of the Celtics/Bucks game from the Fleet Center. Pictured from left to right are  Matthew DeCiero, Sally Paul, Michael Guerriero, Amanda Machado, Joshua French, Kelly Medeiros and Arthur Collins.

Campus Events:

• The Mount Wachusett Community College Foundation, Inc. and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer will hold an annual Holiday Greens Sale at the Congregational Church, 218 Main St., Groton on Saturday, Dec. 4 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Proceeds will benefit a nursing staff education fund at MWCC. For more information, contact Diane Hamilton at dhamilton@mwcc.mass.edu or (978) 630-9387.

• Tickets are now on sale for performances of “Inspecting Carol” on Friday, Dec. 3, Saturday, Dec. 4, Friday, Dec. 10 and Saturday, Dec. 11 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 12 at 2 p.m. in the Theatre at the Mount. Mix together a struggling theater company, a tired production of “A Christmas Carol,” a really bad actor and a visiting inspector for the National Endowment for the Arts, and you end up with an off-the-wall holiday farce. Everything that could possibly go wrong does as a fictitious theater company struggles to mount their annual production of the holiday classic. Bad theatre has never been this much fun before! For information and reservations, call the Theatre at the Mount box office at (978) 632-2403, or purchase tickets online at http://theatre.mwcc.edu.

• College and university representatives continue to visit MWCC this semester. University of Phoenix representatives will be at the Transfer Services table in the cafeteria hallway on Wednesday, Dec. 8, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, call Nancy Greenlaw at (978) 630-9321.

• MWCC’s Division of Lifelong Learning and Workforce Development will host two workshops on Thursday, Dec. 9 for area businesses interested in learning more about the state’s Workforce Training Fund program. Representatives from the Massachusetts Workforce Training Fund, the Workforce Investment Board and MWCC will explain how business professionals can improve company efficiency, increase employee retention and enhance employee skill base with a training grant from the Workforce Training Fund. The workshop for businesses with under 50 people will run from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Representatives of businesses with over 50 people or interested in seeking larger grants can attend the 1 to 2 p.m. session. A working lunch will be served between 12 and 1 p.m. The registration fee, which covers the workshops and the lunch, is $25. For more information, call Jeremiah Riordan at (978) 630-9269.

• MWCC will hold a clothes swap fund raiser on Friday, Dec. 10 from 10:30 a.m. to12:30 p.m. in the North Cafeteria. For a $5 donation, participants can bring in up to two bags of unwanted clothes (tall kitchen bag size). Clothes should be in good condition. (Stained or torn clothing or undergarments cannot be accepted.) For that same $5 donation, participants will receive a bag to use to “shop” through the other donated clothes! To pre-register, contact Missi Howlett at (978) 630-9273 or m_howlett@mwcc.mass.edu or Jo-Ann Meagher at (978) 630-9105 or j_meagher@mwcc.mass.edu.

• Slots are still available for the Fitness & Wellness Center at MWCC’s annual baseball and pitching clinics. The age-appropriate baseball clinics will run on Sundays Jan. 9, Jan. 16, Jan. 30, Feb. 27, March 6 and March 13 from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Each session is limited to an enrollment of 32. The cost is $45 per player. The age-appropriate pitching clinics will be held on Sundays March 20 and March 27 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Each session is limited to an enrollment of 20. The cost is $25 per player. For more information, call the center at (978) 630-9212.

• Theatre at the Mount will hold auditions for Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical “Jesus Christ Superstar” on Tuesday, Dec. 14 and Wednesday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. sharp in room 182 at Mount Wachusett Community College. Those who audition are asked to prepare a short vocal selection (accompanist provided), expect to be taught a short dance combination and to wear appropriate clothing and footwear. For more information, contact Professor Gail Steele at (978) 630-9162 or visit the Theatre at the Mount website at http://theatre.mwcc.edu.

• The Greater Gardner Community Choir will present a holiday concert at MWCC on Sunday, Dec. 19 at 4 p.m. The theme of the concert will be “A Season of Glorias.” Tickets for the concert will be available at the door for $5. Senior citizens will be admitted at no charge. For additional information, contact Professor Gail Steele at (978) 630-9162.

• Register now for the Fitness & Wellness Center’s annual golf lessons, which begin the week of Monday, Feb. 28. Directed by PGA Professional Mike Egan, the lessons include individual instruction and video analysis. Participants can bring their own clubs or use the center’s. Beginner lessons will be held Mondays and Thursdays at 7:15 p.m. Intermediate classes will meet Tuesdays at 7:15 and 8:15 p.m. and Thursdays at 8:15 p.m. Advanced lessons will be held on Mondays at 8:15 p.m. The cost is $85 per session; fitness center members are eligible for a 10 percent discount. For more information, call the center at (978) 630-9212.

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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