REVIEW POTPOURRI – Verdi: Rigoletto

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Giuseppe Verdi

Giuseppe Verdi

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Verdi

Rigoletto

Walter Goehr conducting the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Chorus and soloists; The Opera Society, Inc.; M111-OP9; 2 ten-inch lps, recorded early-to-mid ‘50s.

Verdi’s Rigoletto, along with Aida, and La Traviata, are arguably his three most popular operas. It is also the only opera I have seen in any Met productions, once in their 1966 touring appearance at Cony High School, locally in Augusta, and in 2007 at the Lincoln Center stage in New York City (The pair of $25 tickets my daughter purchased had us sitting in the top row of the highest balcony where we could touch the ceiling standing up and everybody on the stage below were tiny ants.).

It received its 1851 world premiere in Venice and was composed in 40 days. The plot involves a depraved womanizer, the Duke of Mantua; his evil court jester, Rigoletto; and Gilda, the one decent person in this trio. A summary of the original Victor Hugo story line can be easily googled and is classic operatic melodrama and tragedy. The musical numbers include the immortal Questa o Quella and La Donna e Mobile for the Duke of Mantua tenor and the exquisite Caro Nome for Gilda’s soprano.

Soprano Hedda Heusser and tenor Paul Conrad are far from household names but they sang beautifully, and the underrated conductor, Walter Goehr, led a very good performance. The Opera Society, Musical Masterpiece Society and its parent label Concert Hall were mail order record labels, along with another subsidiary Jazztone, and I have found sizable numbers of their releases at yard sales and thrift shops.

I am not sure if this performance is on YouTube but others are, for those interested listeners. It is also a very good beginner opera for the adventurous.

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I started watching Netflix’s Narco this past weekend and am already on episode eight of the first season. The series dramatizes the career of the evil Pedro Escobar (1949-1993) whose criminal empire reigned over Columbia with terror until his just death in 1993 and of a fictitious DEA agent, Steve Murphy, whose narration provides historical context. Wagner Moura’s Escobar and Boyd Holbrooke’s Murphy are very well acted with a superb supporting cast, documentary footage of the last 50 years is interspersed and the production logistics are pulled off magnificently.

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I recently posted a selection by a native poet, Grenville Mellen. Here are the four quite nicely worded opening lines of his impassioned The True Glory of America:

“Italia’s vales and fountains,
Though beautiful ye be,
I love my soaring mountains
And forests more than ye.”

Now is the time to take good care of our veterans

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by Gary Kennedy

Well, here we are in this space and time. Covid-19 is involved in all we say and do. It is true here and it is true in the rest of the world. I have spent the past few months working on projects in Southeast Asia as I usually do. I came home to Covid-19, political unrest, riots and terrorism. This doesn’t set well with me and most veterans who served to avoid living the life of third world countries. Our veterans feel this more than anyone. They fought to keep us free. This is not the definition of freedom.

As you know I work with veterans here, and when I am across the Pacific Ocean I work with veterans there. The American Embassy is massive in Manila, Philippines. A few years ago the USA invested millions of dollars to build, equip and start a very large medical center. They call themselves a clinic so as to be able to avoid some veteran interplay. They have no beds but they have everything else including a dozen or so doctors and a couple of dozen nurses as well as a lab, pharmacy and a modern X-ray department.

Its been a battle since they opened to have them comply to American mandates. Ninety-nine percent of the staff are Asian with only the manager being an American national. I have led the battle on a couple of occasions to maintain veterans’ rights according to American standards. In the pacific we have the Philippines, Guam and the Marshal Islands which service American interests. In 1898 we drove the Spanish out of this area and claimed the Philippines as a territory. Since that time in history we gave the Philippines its freedom but retained strong ties. Most of you don’t know it but we have 350,000 Americans living there in the islands. Many of these are U.S. veterans and their families. The VA there aids the veteran, but unfortunately, the family is not covered. We are trying to work on that now. Medical help is very limited.

We have made a lot of progress on veteran issues worldwide but as great as the politicians would like us to believe they are not getting the work done. My phone both here and there rings a lot. Sometimes I can help immediately but most of the time the requested issues take research development and application. When Senator Olympia Snowe was in office I spent a lot of time there with Bob Cummings working out issues. Bob was a wonderful person with whom to work out veterans issues. I have done a couple of things with Senator Susan Collins’ office but not as much as I would like. The expression “Freedom isn’t Free,” really needs to be realized by those who think that all things are rosey. Those people are ones who usually receive a fat pay check and proclaim, “Don’t mess with the status quo.”

I have lived near the South China Sea and can tell you not all conversations are pro-American. There are forces out there that would love to teach you another language and have you work for $5 a day; that is without any benefits. We are fortunate to live in one of the greatest countries in the world. We need to realize that and not let politics deviate our love of country with complacency. Thanking a vet is a great and wonderful thing but really meaning it is another. Verifying the government’s application of aid is left to your vigilance and watchful eye. We need your help.

Veterans with disabilities aren’t asking for a hand out, only a hand up. Through my eyes, opinion only, we grow ever closer to another war. Being in the South Pacific and my compulsion to watch the news makes me very nervous because of my first hand knowledge to what is going on. Now is the time to take good care of our veterans for they are the example, the bench mark for others to go by. Recruitment is not easy today with America having the highest wage out there. When I tell people in Asia that work at McDonald’s there is $6 a day, and that our people of McDonald’s make $12 to $15 per hour, and some companies even give benefits, they gasp with disbelief. The positive side for third world folks is, even in dispute, they find a way to handle it. They have that old country intellect; make due, find a way.

The U.S currently is doing the veterans a disservice by bragging that we are taking great care of our vets. Even VA has succumbed to be the work-at-home intellect. I had an argument recently with the VA system. A person that is an official at the VA stated that the VA work from home program was working out very well. That made me see fire and brought back memories of my conversations with veterans. I answered this person respectfully even though that statement made this disabled veteran very upset. The person mentioned video conferences were working out surprisingly well. I know several of these work-from-home people and, in my opinion, that program is full of abuse and is very inefficient with only a few exceptions. Just think about medical people staying at home and tending to disabled people. Most disabled veterans that I know need hands-on and serious direction with their health care, the VA needs to be open for our vets. Short of that our vets are being abused.

Currently all physical therapy is shut down. This is one essential that isn’t considered. The pain clinic is in lockdown mode. The chief of the pain clinic isn’t functioning, the chiropractic is not functioning, the acupuncturist is not working, but you can leave a message. Orthopedics is in lock down. Needles needed for knee, hand, back, ankle pain are not being given because of Covid-19. Anything they can call non-essential is not allowed. Unless it is a dire emergency no X-rays, cat scans, MRI’s or other evaluation tools are not being used. In neurology all testing equipment is broken so you have to locate a doctor outside and get permission to go. No dental is being done. Ever had a tooth ache? If your in dire pain physically or emotionally, dial 911. You can’t get through to primary care. They avoid you like the plague. Oh, there are a few exceptions, but very few. Call center has become the norm. Pharmacy makes many mistakes and some employees are curt/rude. Now they are insisting that all prescriptions are to be mailed even if they don’t fit in your box or are restricted. Your scripts might end up in Portland, as mine did and five days late. If you go through the front door you get the fifth degree along with a free face mask and alcohol rub for your hands; not the respect we are use to.

Many calls to departments with answering machines are ignored. I personally have had one neurology appointment way up in Bangor because all the machinery in neurology is broken at Togus. One doctor I know who won’t let his patients down is Dr. Barry Raskin Gastro. I had an appointment because of serious ongoing issues. He examined me and came up with a game plan. I really appreciated that. My primary care physician is a fantastic doctor, but the VA has really given him a heavy load. We do have two neurologist who will refer you out; expensive service.

I just received word the VA will be opening its doors, at least partly, soon, I will keep everyone abreast of that in the next issue of The Town Line. I have had several calls regarding those who need physical therapy. I haven’t received word from the VA yet about the gym and the pool which is where a lot of therapy is received; both monitored and independent. The gym and pool is used recreationally very little these days. This has become a necessary tool with PTSD patients and those with physical afflictions. In my opinion, for strength and well-being emotionally and physically essential.

VA, being built in 1866, has had many faces but the current one is the one that is direly needed by our veterans. It is supposed to serve and should not allow themselves to be used as a political football. Truly give America’s veterans all they deserve. Veterans are advised to make yourselves aware of what is happening in Washington D.C. and address yourself accordingly. Do not be awed by the accolades being bestowed upon you with political agendas. You know who and what you are and what you have given. You don’t need to be told because someone is waving a political banner. You have every reason to be proud and deserving of respect for what you have given for your love ones and your country.

God be with you and yours; One veteran to another. Thank you for your service. God Bless!

Give Us Your Best Shot! for Thursday, June 11, 2020

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To submit a photo for this section, please visit our contact page or email us at townline@townline.org!

STINKY?: Emily Poulin, of China, photographed this chipmunk as it appears to be smelling something in its paw.

SOARING HIGH: Joan Chaffee, of Clinton, caught this bald eagle in flight.

FAMILY FOR DINNER: Michael Bilinsky, of China Village, snapped this group of blue jays feeding.

FOR YOUR HEALTH: What Is Your Migraine Treatment IQ?

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(NAPSI)—There is no question, migraines can be hard to live with and treat. If you’re one of more than 36 million Americans living with migraine, you know that finding just the right acute treatment can be challenging. Keeping an open dialogue with your doctor will help make sure that he or she knows what types of migraine symptoms you suffer from so that a treatment plan can be tailored for you. Take this simple challenge to determine your Migraine Treatment IQ:

  • Do you experience nausea with or without vomiting that affects your ability to take oral medications?

If yes, you are not alone. According to a survey of migraine sufferers, as many as 90% of patients have experienced nausea during migraine attacks.2 Nausea or vomiting associated with migraines can make it difficult to take and to absorb oral medications.

  • When you suffer from migraine pain, are you sensitive to light and/or sound?

Migraine is the most common medical condition associated with light sensitivity. In fact, light sensitivity is one of the symptoms used to diagnose migraine. Between 85% and 90% of people with migraine feel sensitive to light.4 Sensitivity to sound is also a common migraine symptom. Sounds may make the head pain of migraine worse.

  • Have you tried one or more oral acute medication(s) and are not satisfied?

According to the American Migraine Prevalence and Prevention Study, more than one-half of all adult migraine sufferers surveyed did NOT experience adequate pain freedom within 2 hours of taking their usual acute treatment.

In a separate survey, 37% of patients were not satisfied with how quickly their current migraine therapy worked.

  • Do you have a lifestyle that requires a portable and convenient-to-use migraine medication?

Ready-to-use and well-tolerated migraine treatments that offer straightforward administration and rapid pain relief are a good option for an active lifestyle.

If you and your healthcare provider decide that a fast-acting medication should be part of your treatment plan, consider options that fit best with your lifestyle. For example, a self-administered, portable treatment that requires one spray into one nostril may be a good choice for certain patients who are unable to tolerate an oral medication due to nausea. Tosymra® (sumatriptan nasal spray) 10 mg is a fast and powerful, ready-to-use nasal spray with mist-like administration used to treat acute migraine headaches with or without aura in adults. Tosymra works as quickly as an injection and can provide migraine pain relief in as few as 10 minutes for some patients (13% of patients vs. 5% for placebo). Tosymra is not for everyone. Do not use Tosymra if you have heart problems, narrowing of blood vessels (peripheral vascular disease), or uncontrolled high blood pressure. These are not all the reasons you should not take Tosymra.

For more information about acute migraine and Important Safety Information for Tosymra, including a link to full prescribing and patient information, visit www.mytosymra.com or talk to your healthcare provider.

OPINIONS: The Covid-19 lock down

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by David Reed
Resident of Hope, Maine

A couple of months ago we didn’t really know much about this scourge, but now it appears that the elderly, immune-compromised patients, and nursing home residents are those at highest risk. Like the common cold, this virus spreads by a sneeze, cough, droplet dispersion or contact with a contaminated surface with the virus infecting via the nose, mouth or tear ducts.

Recognizing this, Governor DeSantis, of Florida, targeted nursing homes with strict infection control measures with amazingly good prevention results, as contrasted with Gov. Cuomo’s ill-advised New York policy of discharging coronavirus patients to nursing homes. If you have a high number of automobile accidents at a particular intersection, you fix the problem: install a traffic light, put in a turn around, change the speed limit, whatever. You don’t make everybody in the state drive 35 miles per hour.

How can you foster a tourism industry in “Vacationland” when you impose a 14-day quarantine on state entrants, especially if they only have a two-week vacation? I’m 83 years old with a heart murmur, so I’m highly vulnerable. But why should the whole state suffer because of me? What right do I have to hold the whole state hostage, particularly when suspect forces in government may be exploiting me to promote some pet agenda?

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi tipped her hand with her trillion dollar relief bill. It’s not really about the coronavirus. It’s about ramming an agenda-driven, outrageous, rape of the treasury spending bill down our throats.

I know what precautions to take: wear a mask, avoid crowds, social distance, hit the grocery store at 7 a.m., and stay out of jail and nursing homes. Will we have cases of coronavirus? Certainly. Just like the flu. Just like an automobile accident on the road not protected by the newly-installed traffic light. If you’ve got to quarantine anyone, quarantine me, not the whole state.

What gives Gov. Janet Mills the right to pull some restaurant owner’s liquor and operator’s license? Did he violate some licensing provision in the way he served alcohol and food? Has he violated some law passed by our legislature concerning the coronavirus pandemic?

And, by the way, where is Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon during all this? We could use the wisdom, expertise, and supposed problem-solving skills of our elected representatives to do some of the heavy lifting during this crisis.

SCORES & OUTDOORS: No need to panic about Asian Giant Hornets

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The Asian Giant Hornet. Notice the long wing span.

Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

A couple of weeks ago, while driving into work, I heard over the radio about this giant Asian hornet that had made its way to the United States, and was first detected in Washington state. Haven’t we seen this movie before? Isn’t that where we were first introduced to the coronavirus Covid-19?

This hornet, from all reports, can reach a size of two inches in length. So, here is what we know.

Hornets are found in many parts of the world and play a vital role in the balance of natural ecosystems through pollination, biodiversity and natural pest control. Unfortunately dubbed the “murder hornet,” the Asian giant hornet (AGH), the world’s largest, was sighted for the first time in the United States in December 2019.

Do you suspect that coronavirus may have hitched a ride on this hornet, arriving in the United States at about the same time?

The Asian giant hornet, Vespa mandarinia, is the world’s largest hornet. It is native to temperate and tropical East Asia, South Asia, Mainland Southeast Asia, and parts of the Russian Far East. It was also found in the Pacific Northwest of North America in late 2019, with two additional sightings in 2020. They prefer to live in low mountains and forests, while almost completely avoiding plains and high-altitude climates. They create nests by digging, co-opting pre-existing tunnels dug by rodents, or occupying spaces near rotted pine roots. It feeds primarily on larger insects, colonies of other eusocial insects, tree sap, and honey from honey bee colonies. The hornet has a body length of 1.8 inches, a wingspan around three inches), and a stinger a quarter of an inch long, which injects a large amount of potent venom.

The Asian giant hornet is often confused with the yellow-legged hornet, also known as the Asian hornet, an invasive species of major concern across Europe, including the United Kingdom.

According to Dick Rogers, principal scientist and entomologist, at Bayer Bee Care Program, while the AGH is large in size and has a big stinger compared to other ­hornets, it is typically not aggressive with humans. As always, those allergic to bee or wasp stings should practice caution and avoid contact with hornets in general.

Rogers has been a professional entomologist for more than four decades and has been keeping and studying bees for over 40 years. He joined the Bayer Bee Care Program in 2009.

The down side is the Asian Giant Hornet can pose a risk to honey bee colonies because it feeds on large insects, including wasps and bees. So far, they’ve only appeared in the northwest part of the United States, and monitoring efforts by the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) are underway to better understand these hornets and help educate beekeepers on how to protect their colonies.

On top of this, a team at Bayer is being pro-active by organizing a first detection trapping program in North Carolina and Missouri, which will be deployed in early July. They will then share their results with the WSDA at the end of the season. While they do not expect to catch any AGH this year, early detection is vital to an effective effort to eradicate them.

You can be confident the early introduction of the AGH in the United States and Canada is being closely monitored by professionals who have management plans in place should there be any future sightings. There’s no need to worry about catching a glimpse of these hornets in your yards or gardens, as they are not yet established in the United States. In fact, the only hornet that is established in our country, the European hornet, has been around since the late 1800s.

As always, it is important to protect our bees. It’s not only researchers and entomologists who can help protect honeybees. Everyone can support bees by getting outside to plant pollinator-friendly gardens or flowers.

As pollinators play a vital role in our ecosystem, crop production and biodiversity, I recommend you stay calm and keep gardening to provide your fuzzy friends with the flowers and habitat they need to thrive.

Learn more about how to plant pollinator-friendly gardens that help bees, monarchs and other important pollinators by visiting https://beehealth.bayer.us/home.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

Who was the first Boston Red Sox pitcher to win the American League Cy Young Award?

Answer can be found here.

SOLON & BEYOND: Marijuana ordinance committee holds first meeting

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Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percyby Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Good morning, dear friends. Don’t worry, be happy!

It isn’t often that I have more local news to share than I have room for! I didn’t receive the following email until after the fact.

The Marijuana Ordinance Committee held its first meeting on June 3. They worked on drafting the town ordinance to regulate marijuana businesses in Solon.

The annual town meeting voted in a 180-day moratorium on allowing marijuana businesses in town. They have until September 3 to hold the special town meeting on a proposed marijuana ordinance. They hope to have the ordinance completed by the end of July so we can hold a public hearing the beginning of August with the special town meeting to be held at the end of August. Committee members are Jeff Pomelow, Peter Pfeiffer, Heather Forsten, Joe Albuit and Lisa Caldwell, with Wayne Gushee being an information officer.

The town office is open Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays with a limit of one customer or family unit at a time in the lobby area. Also, the governor has decreed that masks are required to be worn in businesses open to the public and in public buildings where social distancing is not possible.

Was very surprised and please to receive another Solon School News in the mail this week with lots of recent news to share. It starts with Best Wishes to Fifth Graders. We want to extend our best wishes and good luck to the fifth grade class, who will enter sixth grade at Carrabec Community School, in the fall.

All of us will miss our wonderful and talented fifth graders. We wish we had been able to have them with us at school all year long. They are wished the best luck in the next step on their educational journey.

Please check out our slide show farewell message to them, which will be posted on the Solon Elementary School Facebook page on Friday, June 3.

Goodbye and good luck to Izaiah Busler, Kaylynn Clark, Katelyn DeLeonardis, Kaitlin Dellarma, David Dixon, Emmy Golden, Veronica Hoffman, Alex Jerkins, Elijah Katz, Joseph McLaughlin, Craig Nile, Riley Pelkey, Jillian Robinson and Haylee Towers.

Solon staff members stay busy during school closure. Our school has been closed since March 13, but the staff members have been busy. Teachers have been preparing learning packets for their students every week as well as contacting families to check in. Some of the staff have worked at the food hub or helped to deliver packets to students’ homes. Mrs. Hines worked at CCS to prepare meals for the food hub. We hope our efforts have helped students and families during this difficult time.

Third quarter honor roll includes: All A’s and B’s, Isabella Atwood, Kaylynn Clark, Amelia Cooper, Lydia Dixon, Emmy Golden, Veronica Hoffman, Allyssa Hutchins, Alex Jerkins, Jayden McKenney, Joseph McLaughlin, Riley Pelkey, Aiden Powell, Ben Powwell, Spencer Rogers, Haylee Towers and Michael Towers.

All A’s, Maxx Caplin, Katelyn DeLeonardis, Kaitlin Dellarma, David Dixon, Lane Frost, Charlotte Hamilton and Jillian Robinson.

A letter: Dear Solon parents and guardians, The Solon staff would like to extend our thanks and appreciation to all our parents, grandparents and guardians who took on the role of “teacher” for our students when our school closed on March 13 for the remainder of the school year due to the coronavirus pandemic. You helped your child complete the activities in his or her learning packet for ten weeks, and you taught him or her lots of other things about the world we live in through family activities. We know this has been a difficult time for you as well as for us.

You have been strong and you have supported the school through these hard times. For that we are immensely grateful.

We have missed our students so much this spring. School is not the same without them. We hope that with some safety protocols in place, our school will be able to reopen in the fall. We will keep you posted over the summer.

We hope that you and your families will stay healthy and safe until we meet again. If there’s anything we can do to support you, please email or call the school or your child’s teacher at any time.

Stay the strong and wonderful people that you are and have a nice summer.

And now, for Percy’s memoir: Stressed spelled backwards is Desserts. (and I think there is a lot of stress these days…try it, you might like it!

I’M JUST CURIOUS: Other uses for booze…continued

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by Debbie Walker

This chapter will be about RUM. The favored drink of many. As usual I was searching the internet and I typed in Other Uses for Rum, immediately, this website pops up that read, 101 Uses for Strong Rum. Hurray! Pay dirt! 101 uses on one site, how lucky! The clue should have been its other capital words read The Raw Bar Yoho, but even then, I thought ‘okay, a bar tender probably has some great thoughts on the subject.’ Now when I go on, I am hoping you will get the kick out of it that I did. If you get a chance look it up on your computer, it’s a funny write.

The rum this man (I still didn’t find his name) speaks of is called Sunset and under that it says Very Strong Rum. It is made on the island of St. Vincent in the Wayward Islands of the West Indies. Now that you have been introduced, let’s continue to some of the uses this man offers.

101 uses, not really, he admits he just made that up, but there are more than I can fit in this column:

Kill a Caterpillar: The brown caterpillar, nasty critter. They pour the Very Strong Rum over the caterpillar and light it on fire. (Fire seems to come up often in his cures).

Remove a wart: Rub as much of the wart away, using something abrasive. Then rub a Very Strong Rum soaked rag over it and then put fire to the wart. How many times you do this to remove the wart depends on the tolerance to burn pain.

Fuel for a 2-stroke outboard engine. An enthusiastic charter boat captain went on about the infallibility of the older, carbureted Yamaha outboards, and said, “an if you was to run out of fuel, you pour in strong rum an’ she still gonna run.”

Remove water from a fuel tank. Like dry gas, strong rum, it is said can be poured in a fuel tank ruined by water and once there it will somehow combine with the water and then dry out leaving clean gas behind. There are some scientists in a lab working on reproducing the effect, but not successfully.

Swimmer’s ear. With the same idea of removing water from the fuel tank, you pour strong rum into the affected ear and any water trapped inside will evaporate out. The rum will also kill any parasites and sterilize any infections.

Cauterize a wound. A man lost most of two fingers in a fight with a Marlin. His buddies feared gangrene and blood loss, so they tied off those two fingers and dipped them in strong rum then lit them afire to cauterize the wound.

Joint pain. An entry from the Journal of Questionable West Indian Folk Remedies said this strong rum would “sap yuh joints.”

All right, so this is all of the education for this night or you can look up The Raw Bar Yoho’s 101 Uses for Strong Rum on your computer and continue to learn some of the more ‘colorful’ uses for Strong Rum.

I’m just curious what other uses you are aware for this or other Booze.

Questions or comments, contact me at DebbieWalker@townline.org Have a great week!

REVIEW POTPOURRI – Poet: Grenville Mellen; Singer: Connie Francis

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Connie Francis

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Grenville Mellen

Biddeford poet Grenville Mellen (June 19, 1799- September 5, 1841) was the son of Prentiss Mellen (1764-1840), Maine’s first Chief Justice of its Supreme Court from 1820 to 1834. The son was admitted to the bar after reading law with his father, got married and settled in North Yarmouth, setting up his practice there in 1825. Within three years, his wife and only child died and his own health and will to live deteriorated during the remaining 13 years of his life, but he did eke out an already beginning literary career with poems, sketches and essays on a mostly free lance basis.

Grenville Mellen

Finally, out of desperation, he traveled to Cuba for his last summer, hoping the change of scene would improve his health. The trip didn’t help and he returned to New York where he died that fall.

The poems contained in the 1854 anthology, Native Poets of Maine, are somewhat overblown but they do contain lines that resonate. I quote the last of four stanzas in his Mount Washington:

Mount of the clouds! When winter round thee throws
The hoary mantle of the dying year,
Sublime amid thy canopy of snows,
Thy towers in bright magnificence appear!
‘Tis then we view thee with a chilling fear,
Till summer robes thee in her tints of blue;
When, lo! In soften’d grandeur, far, yet clear,
Thy battlements stand clothed in harmonious hue,
To swell as Freedom’s home on man’s unclouded view.

Being over 6,000 feet in the air and with its wondrous vistas, ferocious winds and bestial wintry weather, Mount Washington remains “sublime amid thy canopy of snows” and, during warmer months,”clothed in harmonious hue.”

Connie Francis

Among My Souvenirs;
God Bless America
MGM, K 12481, seven-inch 45 record, 1959 hit.

Now 82, singer Connie Francis wrote her autobiography in 2017, titled Among My Souvenirs, a song originally written in 1927, and a number one hit then for Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra, for Connie in 1959 and the last one for Marty Robbins in 1976. At her peak from 1958 to the late ‘60s, Connie Francis sang with such unique heart and soul; I still remember watching her sing Who’s Sorry Now in 1958 on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand and exuding charisma.

The flip side, God Bless America, was sung, for once, with beauty, nice sentiment and savvy intelligence in Ray Ellis’s very good arrangement (he worked a similar miracle for Johnny Mathis’s A Certain Smile the same 1959 year.). All in all, a very good 45 record.

THE MONEY MINUTE: Nine considerations for your 401(k) rollover

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by Jac M. Arbour CFP®, ChFC®, President
J.M. Arbour Wealth Management

A 401(k) (or a 403(b), 457 Deferred Compensation Plan, Thrift Savings Plan, Profit Sharing Plan, SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA, etc.) is a retirement account that is sponsored by an employer and offered to the employees, also known as the participants in the plan. These types of plans are known as defined contribution plans and are often attractive to people as they can offer cost-effective ways to invest, receive investment advice, and oftentimes, receive an employer match. Regardless of the plan you have, here are some things to consider.

  • You have four choices when considering a rollover: You can leave the plan where it is (under certain criteria), rollover to an IRA (Traditional or Roth, including self-directed), rollover to the plan at your new employer (if accepted), or cash it out (tax withholdings are mandatory).
  • Direct vs. Indirect Rollovers: A rollover is considered a direct rollover when the money is moved from one qualified account to another (tax-free event). A rollover is considered indirect when the money is transferred from the retirement account to you personally (taxes will be due if not placed into a qualified account within 60 days and only one per twelve-month period is allowed).
  • Consider working with an advisor: An advisor that is comprehensive in their approach gives advice relative to everything going on in a person’s life. Savings, investments, insurances, debt, cash flows, family structure and dynamics, upcoming capital expenses, short- and long-term financial goals, college plans, travel, personal preferences, etc.
  • Open investment architecture: Be sure to understand what you will have access to for investment options regardless of the rollover option you choose.
  • Systematic withdrawals: One, if not THE, most important uses of a 401(k) or retirement plan is to supplement other sources of retirement income, such as Social Security or pensions. Not all plans allow for these withdrawals once retired or no longer employed. Check with your plan administrator.
  • Creditor Protection: Creditor protection in an IRA is not always the same as that of an ERISA governed retirement plan. Be sure to know the differences in your state before making the change.
  • Loans: A qualified plan may, but is not required, to permit loans. IRAs do not offer loans. This is important to note as loans can be a great way to access money in times of need.
  • Consolidate: Many people have several “old” retirement plans at former employers. It can be easier to manage the money when it is all in one place.
  • Required Minimum Distributions: Be sure not to miss these. They begin at age 70.5 (now 72 if you turned 70.5 after January 1, 2020). Consolidation is also useful when calculating these distributions.

Here is what I promise: If you do your homework before making any rollover decisions, it will likely pay dividends (no pun).

See you all next month.

Jac Arbour CFP®, ChFC®

Jac Arbour is the President of J.M. Arbour Wealth Management. He can be reached at 207-248-6767.
Investment advisory services are offered through Foundations Investment Advisors, LLC, an SEC registered investment adviser.