A ripple sounds

Ears alert, nose to the air

Stark stillness returns

On May 25, my younger brother walked across the stage at Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, N.J., and officially became Dr. Jason Woodsome Harger, Ph.D. in molecular genetics.

Not bad for a kid whose first career goal was to be a mailbox.

OK, so that was when he was 2 years old, but it’s still quite a leap.

Following the ceremony, we all headed back to his in-laws’ home in Garfield, N.J., for the celebratory feast. Somewhere between roasted red peppers and ice cream cake, the conversation turned to college aspirations. All of us “kids” at the table concurred that it was always a given we would go to college; we just had to decide where, and what we would study.

It wasn’t a question of privilege. My sister-in-law’s parents are Macedonian immigrants who never attended college. Our father enlisted in the Air Force after high school and then received his bachelor’s degree on the GI Bill. The company he then worked for paid for his master’s degree. Our mother had to drop out of college after her first year because she had to work to help support her family. It wasn’t until years after we were born that she went back for her associate’s degree in nursing - a degree she got so she could earn enough money to put us (Jason, our older sister Gretchen and me) through college.

Is every person cut out for college? I think so, but personality and aptitude must be considered.

You might be a genius, but flunk out of Purdue University (student enrollment 38,847) because you need more one-on-one attention in order to stay focused and succeed. Or, Harvard University might be too much of an academic challenge, but Northern Maine Community College offers the extra help you need.

Jason, for example, switched from Washington and Jefferson College in Pennsylvania to Trenton State College (now the College of New Jersey) after he realized two things: he wanted to attend a more research-oriented school and he didn’t like being in such a rural area. He still completed his bachelor’s degree in four years - and wound up meeting his future wife on his “new” campus.

Hey, I changed my major three times at the University of Connecticut. I started in computer engineering and ended up an English major.

In this day of increasing work specialization, advanced schooling beyond high school is more important than ever, but too many people rule out college because of preconceived ideas about higher education or themselves.

So here’s my message to the graduating classes of 2004: don’t sell yourselves short. You never know - one of your sisters could embarrass you one day by writing about receiving your Ph.D. in molecular genetics.

By Kristine A. Harger
Special to The Star-Herald

PRESQUE ISLE - Thanks to federal stimulus money, SAD 1 will be able to offer free flu shots to students this year. The program was announced at the July 8 SAD 1 board of directors meeting.

“This is a new program,” said Superintendent Gehrig Johnson. The money will allow every student age 9 to high school senior to receive a free flu shot, if their parents wish it. More information on the program will be made available this fall.

The brief meeting also included approval of dairy and bread product bids for the 2009-10 school year.

As has been the situation for the past few years, Garelick Farms was the only bidder for the dairy product contract, though their bid prices were significantly lower than the previous two years. This year, the district will pay 18.7 cents per half-pint of whole milk compared to 22.4 cents in 2008-09 and 22.1 cents in 2007-08. One percent milk will cost the district 17.3 cents per half-pint, and 1 percent milk will cost 29.3 cents per 10-ounce bottle.

Health Distributors, which did not bid last year on the bread products contract, returned this year and was the low bidder. The district will pay the company $1.45 per dozen for hamburger rolls, $5.25 per four dozen of Frankfort rolls, $1.50 per 22-slice package of white bread, and $1.90 per six-count of wheat sub rolls.

The district also approved changes to following policies, to bring them in line with state Department of Education recommendations: Student Education Records and Information, Annual Notice of Student Education Records and Information Rights, and Student Education Records and Student Information Administrative Procedures.

Johnson said there were no major changes to the policies, just updates to reflect changing times.

Finally, the district approved one tuition request from a Washburn-area family to send their children to SAD 1 schools. The request was approved by the board at a cost of $975 per student.

The next SAD 1 board of directors meeting will be at 7 p.m. Aug. 12 in the board conference room at Presque Isle High School.

By Kristine A. Harger
Special to The Star-Herald

PRESQUE ISLE - The Maine Potato Board approved a $1.4 million budget for 2009-2010 at its July 17 meeting. The spending plan represents a 5.4 percent drop from the 08-09 budget.

For the potato board, conservative budgeting isn’t anything new.

“We try to address changing needs and make adjustments as necessary,” said Executive Director Don Flannery, “but unless there’s a special project, there’s not any dramatic changes from year to year. And we don’t commit funds unless we think we’re going to get (the money).”

Some of the money Flannery is expecting the board to receive includes a $125,000 “specialty crop” grant through the state Department of Agriculture. The funding is actually federal money that is part of the U.S. Farm Bill, under which potatoes are considered a smaller scale or “specialty” crop.

The bulk of the grant money — $70,000 — will be used for “precision agriculture,” or using technology to assist growers with projects such as pesticide/fungicide spray schedules. Another $50,000 is committed to the Porter Farm for research there, and the remaining $6,000 will support the disease testing lab.

These projects, Flannery said, are budgeted separately from other research grant costs so they can be dropped if the money is not received. “But we’re pretty sure we’re getting at least ($125,000),” he said.

The two main sources of income - the potato tax and Big E baked potato sales - remain stable. For now.

The Big E is an agricultural/commercial fair held in Springfield, Mass., that attracts about 1 million people each September. The Maine Potato Board has sold “loaded” baked potatoes there for years, as both a source of income and a marketing outreach. Last year the board budgeted $395,000 in Big E revenue, but brought in $401,700.

“Weather is a big part of it,” Flannery said of Big E income, which is budgeted for $400,000. “But (the money’s) great to have and it’s very beneficial to the industry.

“Of our total revenue - grants, everything - 38-40 percent comes from the Big E … it allows us to continue services to growers.”

As for potato tax collections, the board budgeted $605,730, even though $645,026 was brought in last year.

“You never know what’s going to happen,” Flannery said of the tax revenue. The number is based on the 10-year average of tax revenues, the 10-year yield average and a “guess” at the number of planted acres. “Those first two are solid numbers,” he said. “But it doesn’t do any good to be unrealistic.”

According the USDA crop report, growers planted 56,000 acres this year, the same as 2008, but the budget is based on 55,000 planted acres.

“We aren’t going to harvest 56,000 acres,” Flannery said. “By being conservative on acres, it helps us.”

One item that won’t show up in this year’s budget but is coming next year, is the board’s “takeover” of the Maine Seed Farm. The legislation transferring ownership of the farm, which is both a research and commercial operation, goes into effect Sept. 12. Right now, Flannery, Director of Development Tim Hobbs and Agricultural Engineer George McLaughlin are spending time at the farm in Portage, learning how it operates and co-managing it with the state Department of Agriculture.

“It’s going to make a lot of things easier and more responsive,” Flannery said of the transfer. “We need to find ways to make the farm profitable, either by increasing revenues, decreasing expenses, or some combination of both.”

Just a few acrostics that I wrote for the Central Connecticut Student Writing Project, where I’m instructing this summer.

Bunches of water

Under the spout

Catching the rainfall

Kick it for fun

Empty it onto the flowers

Try to spit into it from a distance

Gorgeous

Egomaniac

Over the top

Relaxed

Greedy

Enormous

Window to my soul

Route to the unknown

Imagination at play

Trip

Into dreams

No limits

Go for it!

I should point out that all of this (except for the samples, which I wrote) was stolen from the web.

Poetry is fun!

This class will meet 3 times over the course of this week. You will have that time to work independently on the following poetry activities. Grading is as follows:

D (60-69) - Complete two of the exercises as directed.

C (70-79) - Complete three of the exercises as directed.

B (80-89) - Complete four of the exercises as directed.

A (90-95) - Complete five of the exercises as directed.

A+ (96-100) - Complete six of the exercises as directed.

“Complete” is, of course, a relative term. Your work must show effort and must be your own. That said, you may work with a partner to bounce ideas off of, but you each must submit your own individual work. Copying (aka plagiarism) will result in a zero for you and the person you copied from.

That said, these are simple exercises that you should have fun with. There’s something here for everyone. Here are your options:

#1 - Alliteration Exercise

Make a list of TWENTY (20) phrases that use alliteration, such as the sun settled on the south hill with sudden color.

1. Bob bounced the basketball down the boulevard.
2. Gorgeous George grooms his groovy fur until it’s glossy.
3. The zebras zipped around the zoo playing xylophones.
4. Fern fanned the flames of her friend’s fury.
5. Music may make me melancholy.
6. Nerds know when nothing more is needed.
7. When willows whisper, I wake and listen.
8. Don’t dodge: duck instead.
9. Lily likes to lick lollipops in lieu of listening to Linus laughing.
10. Hopeless Harry hung his head and hid.
11. Pop princesses pay big for pampering.
12. My quiet quips were questioned by the quiz committee.
13. Racing railcars is really ridiculous.
14. Shall we shine a light for Sean’s ship?
15. Stupid sailors sink sailboats at sea.
16. Two tweetybirds taught they taw a puttycat.
17. Venomous vipers veered toward Veronica.
18. We went to the window to watch the wedding.
19. Yell loudly so the youngsters can yield in time.
20. Cesar salad sounds simply sumptuous.

#2 - Crime Exercise

Write a 6-10 line “confession” poem detailing an emotional crime and how you committed it.

OR

Write a 6-10 line poem in the voice of a murderer. Make the reader sympathetic to the murderer.

He was the first

My heart

A virgin sacrifice

Freely - eagerly - given

But tossed aside

Chewed and spat out

Less than nothing

To him.

And now,

He is less than nothing.

#3 - Fun with Verbs and Nouns.

Nouns and verbs are the building blocks of poems, of all good writing, for that matter. Using the following lists, put these words together in any combinations you like. You may choose to write sentences or simply to create phrases. You may repeat words often, add new ones to the lists, or change the tense of any verbs. These are guidelines only. Have some fun with these words and see what new worlds you can create.

Complete FIVE (5) poems that are 2-3 lines each. Sample poems follow the boxes. Don’t be afraid to be silly.

# 4 - The Five Senses

The sound of my alarm clock muffled by 20 pounds of white cat.

The sounds of gift wrap tearing on Christmas morning.

The sound of a squalling child in the next booth.

The taste of sweet pumpkin bread on Christmas morning.

The taste of sawdust in Dad’s workshop.

The taste of red hots burning my tongue.

The feel of Grammy’s veins, yielding beneath my fingers during Sunday sermon.

The feel of burning sand on the summer beach.

The feel of a crisp wind cutting through me on a winter night.

The smell of burning wood and wet leaves on an autumn morning.

The smell of garlic simmering on the stove.

The smell of talc wafting from Grammy’s bathroom.

The sight of my mother’s name on a grave with no death date.

The sight of my niece’s newborn fingers wrapped tightly around one of min.

The sight of the Twin Towers, missing from the New York skyline.

#5 - Pet Exercise

Write a 10-20 line persona poem from the point-of-view of your pet. Describe your environment, your day-to-day activities, the food you eat, where you sleep, where you use the restroom, the toys you play with, what you think about, the way your owner behaves, etc.

Belly up — she can’t resist me

Legs tucked in, I’m her pookie

Round and round her legs I wind

While she rushes to be on time

Cackle, hiss at that shadow

Leap and strut, let out a yowel

Stretch and knead when I am sleepy

She’d best be on time to feed me

I am ze George, there is no other

Oh, and then there’s Fluff, my older brother.

But I’m the cuter one.

#6 - Fear Exercise

Think of something you were afraid of as a child. Write a 10-20 line poem in which you describe what it was and how it made you feel. You can write from the point of view of an older person looking back on it, or you can write from the point of view of the child you once were.

Breath caught in my throat

Heart like a jackhammer

Something is there.

It watches.

Calculates.

Creeps closer.

My bed frame rattles,

And I pull the covers over my head,

One hand reaching out

To grasp my lifeline:

The cross above me.

My final defense.

#7 - God Exercise

Write a 10-20 line poem to God. Make it a tirade, a complaint, a request.
OR
Write a 10-20 line poem as God. Let God explain, refute, deny, defend.
OR
Write a 10-20 line poem in which God is a traffic cop, a new anchor, a movie star, a grocery clerk.

Explain to me

If you will:

Why the God of grace and mercy

Condemns those who do good.

Because I cannot accept

That a pious, kind friend

Who meditates rather than prays

Will “burn”

And a professed Christian,

Who hates and hurts

Will spend eternity

In paradise -

And then maybe

I’ll come back to church.

#8 - Be something else.

It might be a drop of rain, the color blue, a school bus, or an iPod. Be that object and write a poem detailing what they see, where they go, and how old they are. You can even make up a little biography of your object.

Minimum of 5 lines.

“One boy, one special boy”

Ah - she’s a classic Broadway babe.

“All eyes on me in the center of the ring”

What the?

“Dream of Californication”

I’m getting whiplash here

“All I want is freedom/a world with no more night”

Broadway again?

“Come on over! Come on over baby!”

Augh! More pop princesses!

“Einstein disguised as Robin Hood/with his memories in a trunk”

Urk!

“Just hear those sleigh bells jingaling!”

Wait a minute?! It’s March!

“Be thou my vision, oh Lord of my heart”

Britney and old-time hymns? She’s going to hell, for sure.

“I’ve only got 4 minutes to save the world”

In a handbasket.

– What my iPod must think of my playlist

#9 - Everything, including the kitchen sink.

List all the details you can remember about a place that’s very familiar to you. It might be your bedroom, the classroom, or the kitchen. After you’ve made your list, write a poem that describes that place. Minimum of 5 lines.

Kitties keep watch

Their keen eyes serving as guide, editor

Pens spill across

Amongst the finished soda cans

Sentinels for late nights

Crowds of bills remain ignored

In favor of IMs from Jenn

And somewhere here

My favorite earrings hide.

– Ms. Harger’s desk at home

#10 - Meditation on the Color

Powder puff pink

Is for daddy’s little girl.

Bows and fluff and tea parties.

Fuchsia is punk

Attitude and sass.

Look at me, fools!

Pink lemonade

Is sweet but tart.

A little kick to remind you,

It’s not all sweetness and light.

Bubblegum pink

The grownup daddy’s girl.

A hint of trouble

A touch of sass.

One little color

And so much to say.

I look through my closet

And think …

Who am I today?

#11 - Confession Exercise

Write a poem in which you confess to a crime you didn’t commit. You can create the circumstances - perhaps you’re talking to a priest, or you’re being interrogated by police. Turn your confession into a narrative poem in which you describe the events leading up to your crime.

Minimum of 15 lines.

What had happened was this:

It was dark

And I was alone

Well, she was there, too

The tramp - not my friend.

She had it coming.

The tramp - not my friend.

She wasn’t there.

My friend - not the tramp.

Nowhere near the street that night.

It was me.

Only me.

Please, believe.

Her daughter’s just three.

More fool me for waiting so long.

Moore is deliciously funny, with a wicked streak a mile long. Naughty doesn’t quite cover it. And I loved every minute of it.

I won’t get into too many details, as this is not an adult blog (naughty writer, remember?), but here’s a quick rundown of the plot. The set-up is the same as Shakespeare’s play: King Lear’s an egomaniac who pits his daughters against each other. The elder two are evil suck-ups,  while the youngest speaks the truth and is banaished. Lear gets taken advantage of, and eventually dies.  Along the way, Moore references 10 or so others of the Bard’s works, including Macbeth (3 witches) and Hamlet (a troupe of traveling actors performing Green Eggs and Hamlet. Go ahead-try to not giggle like an idiot.). But it’s Lear’s Fool who runs this show — and is sometimes run by it. He’s a bawdy wit who’s a tad frustrated with rhyming ghosts and witches.

Despite being American, Moore does a great job with British slang. Those unfamiliar with British witticisms need not fear, as Moore provides a series of footnotes, which are just as funny as the prose proper. I’d give examples, but again, I’m trying to keep this family-friendly.

So why recommend it here? Like I said: It’s funny. And smart. And it references no fewer than 12 Shakespearean plays. I’m an English teacher. I’m required to recommended stuff like that.

So go read it. I’m off to find more of his work.

This assignment was inspired by the book, 100 Words for Lovers, that I picked up at Barnes & Noble a few weeks ago.  I gave the assignment to my Delta Writing class (struggling writers) on the last day before February vacation. Most had fun with it, although a few turned their noses up at the idea of writing a “love letter.”

You may question Rule #1. Alas, it’s necessary for this class (not every student, but enough of them).

I gave every student who did the project a 100 under Class Participation for the day.

Billet-doux (love letter) project

Your assignment is to write a billet-doux (French for love letter) or Valentine. Decoration is optional.

Rule #1: BE APPROPRIATE. Anyone caught being inappropriate will be kicked out of class and written up, and you will receive a 0 (zero) on the assignment.

Rule #2: You must use at least 6 (six) of the following words (or some form of them) as part of your billet-doux:

Adore                             Affection

Ardor                             Beloved

Bewitching                       Bliss

Blush                               Canoodle

Caress                             Companionship

Constant                          Coy

Desire                             Embrace

Enamor                            Enchant

Fluster                            Gallant

Idolize                            Infatuation

Intoxicating                    Kiss

Liaison                            Luscious

Osculation                       Passion

Pine                                 Ravish

Serenade                         Smitten

Soulmate                         Swoon

Tenderness                      Torch

Torrid                             Troth

Vow                                 Wanton

Woo                                Yearn

If you don’t know what a word means, use the dictionaries from the bookcase in back of the room. Or, consult the 100 Words for Lovers book (see Ms. Harger).

Rule #3: You have to let Ms. Harger read it (see Rule #1).

I wrote this in either 2002 or 2003, when I was working for The Star-Herald newspaper in Presque Isle, Maine. My periodic column was called “Musings.”

This Sunday, June 15, fathers everywhere will receive breakfast in bed, golf balls, bad ties, sports videos and cards ranging from side-splitting funny to tear-jerker sweet from their spouses and children. Yep … it’s Father’s Day.

I’m planning on sending my father (he’s in Connecticut so this won’t ruin the surprise) a wine book that will allow him to make notes on what varieties and brands he likes, doesn’t like, and what foods they best complement. But I still don’t have a card picked out.

You see, my father is not an emotive man. I’ve never seen him cry or belly-laugh, although he has this great smirk and chuckle. I have seen him get mad - I get my impatience from him. Most of the time though, he’s pretty stoic.

So a mushy card that goes on and on about how I’m Daddy’s Little Girl, or some other sappy stuff, is not for me and my Dad. No, I need a card that somehow acknowledges …

• How he let me play in his workshop when I was a kid. I had my own hammer and screwdriver - in their very old holding places - which I used to make whatever my imagination led me to build. It was never anything useful, but Dad showed me how to hammer straight, how to use a vise, and how to be safe. (This coming from the man who almost lost several fingers on his table saw, but hey, he was looking out for me.)
• How he did his best to comfort me as my guinea pig, Charlie, lay dying in his cage when I was in the fourth-grade. Mom was out for the day, but God bless Dad, he really did try. I sat on his lap and cried while he patted me on the back. He later helped me build and paint a little cross that I erected over Charlie’s grave in the violet garden.
• How he (and Mom) always expected excellence from me, and acknowledged my academic and professional achievements. “Very good,” are two words I will always treasure coming from my Dad.
• How he took me, my brother and sister fishing when we vacationed on Silver Lake in New Hampshire. He never seemed to get tired of putting a worm on my hook, or practically gutting the perch I caught because they swallowed the hook every time. Our boat would always be trailed by a parade of dead fish when I was on the water.
• How he dutifully said “very nice” when I paraded out my new fashions each fall.
• How he piled up the leaves for us each fall so we could play in them without strewing them all over the yard again.
• How he shoveled a path for our cat, Tufts, so he (the cat) could “do his business” behind the shed without having to wade through the snow. I know that doesn’t have anything to do with me directly, but it’s a great story and so telling about his (Dad’s, not Tufts’) character.
• How he has looked out for my car, and tried to teach me to do the same. He showed me how to check and add all the essential fluids. This might seem like a “guy thing,” but I realize it’s because he wants to be sure I’m safe on the road.
• How he reads my articles in The Star-Herald and asks about the moose and deer hunts and the potato harvest.
• How he wasn’t offended when I named my cat, George, after him. Dad now asks how “his” cat is doing.
• And finally, how he helped instill a desire for knowledge in me and my brother and sister. He modeled reading the newspaper and news magazines. Every morning when I was in high school, we would sit across the kitchen table from each other, eating our cereal and reading the Hartford Courant. We still repeat the exercise when I’m home for a visit.

For this and so much more, thanks Dad. Happy Father’s Day.

birds swoop by — ack! ack!

Frustration emerges now.

I want to eat birds!

I want to eat birds!

Hackles rise as space contracts

ears back, bellies shown.

first swipe, then the fur flies fast.

wounds nursed, glass broken

Mommy’s left to sweep.