Safe Passage

Mainers have contributed over 4.5 million dollars to help the children of the Guatemala City Dump through the Maine organization, Safe Passage(http://www.safepassage.org/). The group is celebrating 10 years with a fundraiser featuring singer/ songwriter Catie Curtis(http://catiecurtis.com/) on November 8th in Yarmouth. Lori Voornas from our sister radio station 97.9 WJBQ will be hosting the event, so it's sure to be a fun event. Jane Gallagher and ZZ Cowan of Safe Passage will be my guests on "Perspectives" this Sunday, November 1 at 6:00 a.m.

Glee

Have you seen the new show "Glee?" It's one of my favorite new shows. It's about a high school glee club with lots of great singing and dancing. Sorry, Steve Perry & Journey, but I think that Glee cast does a better job of "Don't Stop Believin'." The Glee cast had been planning on performing the song in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, but NBC didn't want to promote another network's show. To catch up on past episodes, go to http://www.hulu.com/

Financing a College Education

Recently I was talking with Elizabeth Vanderweide, Program Manager of the Harold Alfond College Challenge. She joined me on my interview program "Perspectives." You may have heard that all babies born in Maine this year and in the future are eligible for $500 to start saving for a college education. The money will be put into a NextGen(529 plan) account in the child's name. There are very few limitations, but the account must be opened within the first year of the child's life. Details at http://www.500forbaby.org/

I wish this program had been around 22 years ago when our first son was born. But, somehow he made it through college with a comparitively small amount of debt. I know there are many with college debt in the tens of thousands of dollars. Some of the things that I have learned over the years by talking to financial aid professionals and personal experience is to apply early for financial aid. Get your FAFSA filed during that first week of January. First come, first served. Have your student consider colleges' endowments when looking at schools. The larger the endowment, the better the chances of more financial aid. Of course, many universities have lost significent portions of their endowments with the economic downturn. Have your student work with their high school guidance counselor. The guidance counselors at South Portland High School helped both my sons get scholarships. Also, look around you. Does your business offer scholarships to employee's children? What about your hobbies? One of my hobbies is genealogy. Both my sons have received scholarships through the Rich Family Association: http://www.richfamilyassociation.org/#Scholarships

So, whether your child is a newborn or a senior on the college search trail read, research, attend workshops and talk to school officials to find the best financial path to a college education.

25 Years on 94.9 WHOM

September marked 25 years on the air for me with 94.9 WHOM. My co-workers threw me a wonderful surprise party. I really didn't expect anything and was really clueless about the party. Alot has happened in 25 years. The music, the people, the studios and technology have changed so much over the years that it's really not the same job that I started out with back in 1984. The songs were mostly instumentals. We recorded on reel to reel tape and edited with razor blades. The WHOM studios were in the basement of a beautiful old building on Congress Street in Portland. Several relocations later, we are now in a much more modern building in Monument Square. We now record and edit digitally without a razor blade in sight. I want to thank my co-workers for a very nice surprise, my husband for being in on it and WHOM listeners for their nice calls and e-mails! I appreciate you all!