Reader Spotlight 

What inspired you to join Major Chords for Minors?

I got my start in community engagement in my twenties. I had a 1 1/2-year-old at home and was only working part time, and on a whim I filled out a volunteer sheet to work backstage at Pit & Balcony. I worked on the Props crew for the first show of the 1994/1995 season (As You Like It), and by my second show at the end of that season (Lost in Yonkers) I was running the entire backstage: props, scenery, costume changes. I fully engaged with the theatre community for the next twenty-some years, stage managing or crewing two or more shows a year at Pit & Balcony, working on building sets, helping create fundraising events (Diva Nights), and becoming the essential Gal Friday for the new and edgy 303 warehouse theatre in Old Town. 

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It took me a long time to figure out that I was not just an underling or sidekick to the talented and creative people around me ... while I did not possess any of their artistic abilities, I came to understand that my role as cheerleader, den mother, drill sergeant (and occasional carpenter) was essential in creating a space for art to happen. People often asked me why I never auditioned or wanted to be IN the shows I helped put on. That part didn't interest me. I really liked (and was good at) creating the space and the conditions for the show to happen, making it possible for the actors and the audience to do their thing. It was challenging and often thankless, but I was really really good at it and I loved it.

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Eventually, I built and opened a restaurant downtown with my (then) husband. And that space began to become my "theater". He was in charge of the food, and I was in charge of the people. That included the staff (the "actors") and the patrons (the "audience"). I needed to fill the dining room with interesting and capable waitstaff, and then find ways to appeal to patrons and bring them in. I built a friendly space where people felt like a community together, and I created events like Moth Story Night at Bradley's, Burns Night dinners and Poe dinners, and eventually I decided we needed a big event that would bring our local restaurant community together, so I created the Saginaw Harvest Table. I managed to pull together 7 chefs preparing 7 courses paired with local beers and hard ciders, plus an army of volunteers and creative talent (musicians, graphic designers, decorators) to put on this magical event on the riverfront in Downtown Saginaw. This event was wildly successful for two years, and I loved putting my "stage managing" skills to use in a new way.

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After the restaurant closed, I retreated to a "desk job" with a regular salary to pay the bills to recover from the financial roller-coaster of owning a small business for the past several years. I knew that job was not what I wanted to do for the rest of my career but had no idea what to do next. What could possibly follow the restaurant? Bradley's was the love of my life at the time, and there was no other form of community engagement that made sense to me in the aftermath of that loss. I missed my community and having a role in it, but I was lost and looking for the next version of myself. So I worked ... and waited.

In the spring of 2021 (almost exactly three years after the restaurant closed) I got a phone call from someone I didn't know. He was the president of the Board of Directors of Major Chords for Minors. He wanted to interview me for a job.

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I knew John & Katrina Vowell, the founders of Major Chords for Minors, from a show at Pit & Balcony many years earlier (The Full Monty). So, they knew me as a stage manager - someone who moved the furniture and the people and put out fires and created special effects and got the show on stage every night. Later they were building their crazy scheme (Major Chords for Minors) while I was building my crazy scheme (Bradley's), and we commiserated over shared struggles and our dedication to making our community a more vibrant place. When they had been running Major Chords for Minors for ten years of 24/7 effort, they were ready to step back into retirement. They had built this great organization, weathered the pandemic shutdown hanging on by their fingernails to keep the program alive, and they were ready to take a break and hand it over to someone else. So, they had their board call me.

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After the interview, I told them I couldn't take the job. It was a huge cut in salary for me, and I'm not a musician. This was out of the blue. And those were big shoes to fill. Why me? 

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The third time they offered, I said finally said yes. I had figured out that, for me, maybe this was Restaurant 2.0. I didn't do the food at the restaurant, and I don't do the music at Major Chords. I do the other stuff. The people stuff. The event stuff. The community stuff. This was the "What's next?" I had been waiting for. 

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So, for the past two years I have been the new Director (CEO) at Major Chords for Minors, taking grueling baby-steps forward, figuring out what shape this organization is supposed to take now when most of our resources and momentum were lost to the shutdown plus the change in leadership. I'm still figuring it out, how to do the job of the two people who started this amazing thing, and how to reconnect our community with what we do here.

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What would you like readers to know about the difference the non-profit makes in the community?

Major Chords for Minors is one of the things that helps take this community from merely surviving to thriving, and the difference is felt across many layers of our population.

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First, the direct impact of one-on-one professional weekly music lessons is indisputable. Study after study shows that participation in music enables better academic and social success, coping skills, self-awareness, and offers a creative outlet in lieu of passive pursuits. The time spent with our highly qualified instructors replaces screen time and classroom settings with dedicated attention and personal interaction. Especially in this time of post-pandemic recovery, this personal interaction is vital in helping students regain their sometimes-stunted ability to connect and be fully present with people who are in the same room with them.

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Making our music lessons available to all Saginaw kids in grades 3 through 12 removes economic obstacles for many families. The cost for individual music lessons can be $30 - $45 for a half hour lesson each week. and the cost of purchasing an instrument can run hundreds or thousands of dollars. This is prohibitive for many households in our community. Nearly half of all households in Saginaw County are ALICE households (Assets Limited, Income Constrained, Employed), meaning they do not officially fall below the poverty line (and therefore don't qualify for a lot of financial assistance) but are employed at a level that barely covers essential expenses and leaves little room for "extras" like music lessons. Major Chords for Minors providing free music lessons and instruments helps the whole family, not just the individual student. Happier healthier kids increase household stability and population retention, as families more often choose to stay and invest in a community that invests in them. When our kids are doing better, we're all doing better. 

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In addition to the weekly music lessons, we offer our more experienced students the opportunity to play in an ensemble performance band. They have additional practice time together every week and learn to collaborate with fellow musicians, try new music styles, and develop a stage presence for performing at community events. With their performances they experience the opportunity to participate and contribute to their community ... a powerful experience for young people who often have no sense of their own role in creating art and connection in their community. During the summer and throughout the year our rock bands perform in front of thousands of people at events like Party on McCarty, Friday Night Live, Rock the Block, the Art Fair, and at local businesses (Valerie's Downtown, Artisan Urban Bistro, Oracle Brewing, White's Bar, Cafe 476).