Maine Motif Issue 1, Vol. II (Fall, 2017) | Page 9

Moving Forward for the Next
100 Years….
By Sue Barre, MMEA President
The May Centennial Conference received rave reviews from you, the members.  Hats off
our board members for the hours and hours of planning and implementing.  Kudos to
Ben Potvin and Becca DeWann for their conference work!
We learned a lot at the conference and festival last year.   The words of wisdom shared
by both Beth Lambert, our state VPA liaison and Mike Blakeslee, NAfME Executive
Director were thought provoking (their speeches are on the website).  The Centennial
Elementary Choir was inspirational for the participants and the audience members, to
watch the High School members respond with a standing ovation brought tears to my
eyes.   I was fortunate to have a stage view as Motor Booty Affair performed and what a
wonderful view it was, to watch others having such fun is priceless.   The Centennial
pieces were a hit and to the composers involved in each performance was a once in a
lifetime experience for many. Thank you to all who made this all happen!
The summer months brought the opportunity to continue the work of our organization.
  I traveled to Washington DC with the Executive Board, we took part in Hill Day and
delivered Centennial Banners and recordings to all of our congress members.  They were
all grateful, we even received a shout out from Susan Collins!   We were pleased and
proud to accept the small state membership award, our memberships were up 14% last
year.
At the all member meeting I shared many pieces of information.  One was the IRS bill
totaling $27,000.00 as a result of some lapsed deadlines.  I am pleased to report that
with the assistance of our accountant all fees have been forgiven!    We do not owe the
IRS any money at all.   A second issue with the IRS is the application to become a 501c3,
we are currently a 501c6.   The application has been submitted and we expect news by
the end of October.
The need for Chaperones was brought up at the All Member meeting.  We did some
research and looked into what other states do.   It has been confirmed that insurance