The inspiration was provided by Connie.  Since February is Peacebuilding & Conflict Prevention Month, she gave four quotes about peace:

Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.  -- Albert Einstein

Peace is not absence of conflict. It is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means. -- Ronald Reagan

 To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart. –- Eleanor Roosevelt

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.  -- John F. Kennedy

Some Valentine quotes reminded Connie of Rotary:

"When we love, we always strive to be better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too." (This quote is from The Alchemist by Paul Coelho.) That's what we're always trying to do.

Charles Schulz said, "All you need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt."
Rita Rudner said, "It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life."

 

Marty introduced Nellie Madrigal Corona, a potential Skagit Club YES student. 

She said:

“My name is Janellie, or just Nellie. I'm a high school student at Mount Vernon High School.

 

I want to thank you all for letting me come here. I'm really musically inclined, so if you ever attend an orchestra event at Mount Vernon High School, you'll see me playing the upright bass. It's a bit rare, so I feel special about it.

Marty gave me the opportunity to come here and talk to you all, so I'm really grateful. Thank you!”

Nellie is in 11th grade.

Karen introduced our guest speaker for the evening, Carrie Omdal from Skagit Symphony.

 

She has had 3 students in the YES program over the years including Lisa and Sarah.  Sarah was on the YES trip last year.

 

Carrie is originally from Michigan. After college, she joined the Air Force and ended up married to a Skagit Valley local. She commanded a 650-person squad and has deployed to several combat zones. She has always played the clarinet and the saxophone, and, when the opportunity with Skagit Symphony came up, she was thrilled to get the position of executive director. She has been with the symphony for about 6 months.

She has 3 daughters and has visited 34 countries.

Carrie is enjoying her job and can't believe how much she loves going to work every day. She has been playing the clarinet since she was 10 years old and has participated in symphonies and orchestras ever since. While in the military, they used music as a coping technique, playing alone to relieve frustrations. They emphasize the importance of getting young people into music as it provides a sense of belonging and is a great life skill.

 

The Skagit Symphony is a community orchestra with about 70 volunteer musicians. The symphony has been around for 45 seasons, and is already planning its 50th season. Musicians come from all over to be part of the Skagit Symphony because of their love for music. The symphony is known for its high-quality performances, and auditions are competitive.

 

The symphony's mission is to present professional-level orchestral experiences, and to enrich, entertain, educate, and inspire the community through music. They perform at McIntyre Hall, which is acoustically one of the best theaters in the state.

 

The symphony's Maestro creates a musical story each season, and this year focuses on timeless elements such as earth, air, water, and fire. They also hold family and school concerts, as well as a fun Pops concert. Before each concert, the Maestro gives a talk about the music, helping the audience understand and appreciate it more.

 

Guest artists are brought in to enhance the performances and challenge the musicians. These guest artists are high-caliber professionals who help elevate the level of the symphony. The symphony typically has at least three guest artists per season, depending on fundraising.

 

Carrie discussed Skagit Symphony's educational programs, including a recent event where they brought in almost 1,800 fifth graders from 29 schools to McIntyre Hall for three concerts. The concerts featured a narrator and a performance of The Composer is Dead, which the kids enjoyed. The symphony covered all costs for the event, including transportation, making it accessible to all students.

 

Carrie emphasized the importance of introducing kids to live orchestral music and providing educational materials for school teachers. She also mentioned a family concert held after the kids' concert, with a low-cost ticket price to ensure attendance. The family concert included a music fair where kids could try playing instruments, and interact with musicians.

 

The Skagit Symphony's final concert of the year is a Pops concert, which features more mainstream music and themes. This year's theme is "Wild, Wild West," and they will perform "The Cowboys" by John Williams, among other pieces.

 

Carrie also highlighted the Symphony's community involvement, including their "Art in the Garden Bash" fundraiser, and the "100 Campaign" where they ask for 100 people to donate $100 each in 100 hours. Additionally, she mentioned a new beginner violin program, funded by donations, which is free for participants and held at the Skagit Community Library.

 

The Symphony collaborates with various organizations to make music accessible to everyone and offers programs like a strings camp, and partnerships with the Anacortes for Music Project.

 

Carrie concluded by expressing gratitude for the support and encouraging attendees to check out their flyer and attend upcoming concerts.

 

Carrie mentioned that the budget for the year is about $300,000, which includes costs for McIntyre Hall fees, music, employees, and marketing. Even if all 650 seats at McIntyre Hall are sold out for each concert, it only covers a third of the budget. They received a grant this year to hold a second Pops concert, which always sells out. The extra concert will allow high school music programs to attend for free.

 

Carrie concluded by thanking the audience and inviting them to visit the symphony's office in Mount Vernon for a chat and a cup of coffee.

Very enlightening and educational program!  Everyone was very engaged and had some great questions.

 

The La Conner Rotary was noted as a sponsor in the program for "The Composer is Dead".

Brian and Chloe from the Braves Club were introduced, and thanked the group for their $2,000 donation.

They explained that the donation was primarily used for food for the kids, which was very important. They mentioned the success of the pumpkin painting activity in October, which helped increase parent engagement for future events.

 

The Braves Club currently serves kids from kindergarten through sixth grade, with a goal to expand to include high school students. They have about 35 to 45 kids attending daily, with the majority being in second and third grade.

 

Brian and Chloe also mentioned upcoming family engagement events, including a community day in May and an agricultural day on March 19th. They are planning to invite local organizations and community members to set up booths and participate in these events.

 

They invited everyone to attend a talent night on February 27^th, and encouraged anyone with ideas or organizations to contribute to the upcoming community events to email them.

 

 

Audrey shared a folder with thank yous and some adorable pictures of kids from the families that we adopted from SPARC at Christmas time.

 

Adam noted his wife is the director of the new organization, La Conner Thrives, which is a community building organization. They're supporting various events around town. They're going to be hosting the ice cream social for nonprofit and community groups in La Conner sometime in May.  Everybody can come; there won't be any volunteering expected. If you'd like to help, please let Adam or La Conner Thrives know.

 

For the District 5050 Day of Service to be held on Saturday, May 17, John Milnor is going to lead a team of members to work on Day of Service, including Patsy and Tate.

 

Jerry requested feedback about the La Conner online newspaper, https://laconnercommunitynews.org/, of which he is a board member.