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Last Sunday was an unusually theatrical day for me. First, I attended a production of Once Upon a Mattress at the Peacock Players in Nashua with two 12-year-olds who thoroughly enjoyed the performance. (I did too.) That evening, my husband and I attended opening night of Skylight at Lowell’s Merrimack Repertory Theatre (MRT). This is our second year as season ticket holders, which despite my initial concern regarding conflicting schedules, has turned out to be a wonderful investment in Date Night and the immediacy of live theatre. Both events that day included fund-raising pitches to the audience. In MRT’s case, Artistic Director Charles Towers spoke about how difficult financial times were at the theatre lately. With state funding cut 75% this season (from $100,000 to $25,000) and no government bailout on the horizon, the theatre must turn to the community for its continued existence. The reality is, those who value live theatre must support it. That means attending shows and contributing to the cause—especially during tough economic times. Unfortunately theatre, like other arts and non-profit groups that vitally enrich our community, will never be on the short list for bailouts—unless we do the bailing ourselves.

This year’s Mary Bacigalupo Education Forum will be held on Saturday, November 15, 8:30 am – noon, at the Stoklosa School. The topic is “The Social and Economic Costs of Inadequate Education” by Dr. Henry Levin with a panel discussion to follow. The annual forums on education were conceived as a living tribute to Mary Bacigalupo who, before her untimely death in 2001, was involved in many educational and cultural groups in Lowell. She was a driving force behind the revitalization of the Citywide Parent Council and was a friend, mentor and inspiration to many of us who got involved with the schools in the 1990s. She believed strongly that every child could succeed in school given the chance, and that while we start out trying to help our own children, we end up wanting and working for the best for every child in the system.

The first forum, in 2006, with Dr. Jeff Howard of the Efficacy Institute was well-attended and energizing as Dr. Howard challenged us to make the system work for all of our students by having high expectations and using data to figure out which methods are the most effective. Dr. Joyce Epstein was the speaker in 2007, and spoke of how some schools are forging partnerships with families toward specific goals such as student behavior, improved attendance or reading proficiency.

This year’s speaker is a Professor of Economics and Education at Columbia University and is the founder and director of the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education. These credentials may set off some alarm bells for those who are against applying free market principals to public education, but his ideas on the subject are more subtle than that. It should be an informative morning! Coffee and refreshments will be served!

Check out these new links under local groups:

I first heard of the Lowell Film Collaborative when promoting the documentary The Greening of Southie that they helped sponsor last week. By all accounts, it was a successful event and they seem to have many more upcoming opportunities to view and discuss old and new works on film.

Co-sponsor of the above-mentioned film night, the Lowell Green Building Commission is another active local group. They have an upcoming workshop on green building geared toward developers, but for the average homeowner, they offer energy conservation tips and resources to help cut back on utility bills. (I rode my bike to a meeting today, saving about $1 according to their calculations, but also getting exercise and enjoying this fabulous fall day).

You can watch an interesting movie about the challenges of creating a “green” building tonight at the Lowell National Historical Park Visitor Center at 246 Market Street beginning with a reception at 6:30 pm, film showing at 7:00 pm and a panel discussion at 8:15 pm. The Greening of Southie is a documentary about the Macallen Building in South Boston and is billed as “a story of bold ideas, unlikely environmentalists and the future of the way we live.” This event is sponsored by the Lowell Green Building Commission and the Lowell Film Collaborative with the support of Enterprise Bank.

Last night was a great evening to be downtown, dancing and celebrating with other members of the community at the Mayor’s Ball to raise funds for the Merrimack Valley Food Bank. My husband and I planned to attend briefly to support the cause, and then have a quiet dinner at one of the many excellent restaurants nearby. Instead, we stayed and enjoyed delicious appetizers while visiting with people from all walks of the community. Many familiar faces were there: Mayor Bud Caulfield obviously, Congresswoman Niki Tsongas, Police Chief Lavallee, Schools Supt. Chris Scott, City Manager Bernie Lynch, city councillors, and school committee members, as well as cops, teachers, parents, administrators, and leaders from the nonprofit and business sectors. I loved the connection of folks hanging together in support of an organization so vital to our community. The atmosphere was festive, friendly, and infused with warm energy. Susan Lavallee, the chief’s wife, got a warm hello from a stranger, who it turns out, thought she was new Lowell Supt. Chris Scott. Lavallee told the embarrassed elderly gentleman that she hoped the superintendent was attractive, to which the man replied “absolutely!” To prove his point, I introduced the two women, who were not in the least concerned by the mistaken identity. As we headed home finally, I couldn’t help but think of a twist to an old adage: a community that parties together, stays healthy together.

The Non Profit Alliance of Greater Lowell is hosting their annual Legislative Breakfast, on Tuesday, October 7, 8:00 – 9:30 am, at the Wannalancit Mills Conference Room (1st floor), 600 Suffolk Street.

The focus will be on Question One, the binding referendum question that would repeal the state income tax; its impact on local communities; and what nonprofit staff, board, and constituents can do to respond to this initiative.

Senator Steve Panagiotakos will attend and give his perspective on the ramifications of the proposal. Update: I just learned that Representatives Murphy and Golden will also attend.

The breakfast is for members of the Non Profit Alliance, their staff, board, volunteers and constituents, as well as anyone else concerned about the impact that eliminating the state income tax will have on the non profit sector. If you have an interest in non profit concerns please consider attending and learning more about how Question 1 will affect the schools, hospitals, municipalities and agencies that serve our community. To RSVP, email g polites @ ltc.org by Friday, October 3rd.

The Citywide Parent Council (CPC) will meet Monday, September 15, from 7:00- 9:00 pm, at the McAuliffe School . The “Welcome Back” meeting will be aimed at answering questions and easing the transition to a new year for parents and students alike. In addition, you can meet the new CPC Board members and find out what the group is all about. The CPC is a great way to learn your way around the system, network with other parents and advocate for your child. Everyone is welcome! (Unfortunately, as Jackie points out in her earlier post, the school committee’s curriculum sub-committee is meeting at the same time; so Jackie and other committee members won’t be able to make the CPC meeting, and interested parents will have to divide up to attend both or give one of the meetings a miss.)

I was using an old website for Congresswoman Tsongas and couldn’t figure out why it didn’t seem up to date. Here’s the proper link
A friend forwarded to me Congresswoman Niki Tsongas’ email update, called “Congress in your In-box.” I learned what Niki had been up to lately, especially that she had been in Lowell visiting the schools with our new Super. She heard from teachers about the demands of No Child Left Behind and summarized her findings:

The law was also supposed to provided additional funding over subsequent years as standards and expectations increased; however, the federal government has not provided the resources that the law promised for the succeeding years. These funding increases called for under the Act were intended to keep in step with the increase in targets for student performance. As a result of the lack of funding, schools are often unable to meet student learning standards required by the law further compounding the problem it was intended to address.

In other news, Niki recognized the efforts of ONE Lowell to help decrease truancy among ethnically diverse high school and middle school students, achieving improvement in 76% of their cases so far this year. From Niki:

Earlier this week, I was pleased to announce that the Department of Health and Human Services had awarded a federal grant in the amount of $93,397 to ONE Lowell in support of their efforts.

It is great to hear that this organization is getting the funding and recognition that it deserves. This is truly how we stop leaving children behind, rather than through unrealistic, unfunded mandates.

If you want Congress in your inbox, sign up here.

A reader commented on my previous post about the upcoming course at the Revolving Museum taught by Bob Forrant and referenced CultureCount as a great resource. Created by the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), CultureCount seeks to quantify the contributions made by creative and cultural oranizations. A similar effort was made by The Non-Profit Alliance of Greater Lowell who commissioned their own study a few years ago. Called “Community Threads,” the publication highlights the integral role played in our community by Non-Profits (including cultural groups), who meet the critical needs of many diverse groups while also providing gainful employment to local residents. CultureCount takes this effort to a new level with a tool called the “CultureCount Impact Calculator,” which is being piloted in Massachusetts. This interactive tool will “demonstrates the economic impact of the nonprofit cultural sector and then estimates how changes in the sector affect a community or region’s employment, income, and property values.” Given the troubling reappearance of Question 1 on this year’s ballot, these types of studies and statistical analyses could be extremely helpful in showing people how important the non-profit sector is to the region as a whole.

The Friends of Tyler Park present their last show of the season tonight with a favorite from last year: Jan Kearney and the Lost Onion. This non-traditional blues band impressed the crowd when they opened for Los Lobos at Boarding House Park last September, and tonight will be another chance to enjoy their unique sound. Looks like great weather for a concert, and as usual, the Friends will offer free hot dogs, popcorn and lemonade. The fun starts at 6:30 pm; the band plays from 7:00-8:00 pm.