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PHOTO: The audience enjoys the Kingfield POPS in 2017. (Scott Landry photo)
KINGFIELD – A community effort has saved the Kingfield POPS summer concert, and the event is on track to be held in 2023, despite an earlier announcement it would not be.
A new board has taken over and already secured many of the elements needed for the concert, scheduled for June 24, at Kennedy Farm. The former board, on Dec. 1, had announced the concert would not continue because of a severely depleted board.
Marie Daigle was appointed board president, Julia Eggleston vice president, Leslie Norton secretary, Bruce Turcotte, treasurer and Chris Rushton co-treasurer.
Shannon Garwich, who joined the board in 2022 and was instrumental in pulling off the concert last summer has remained. Other new and returning board members are Taylor Jordan, Bobby Brown, Polly MacMichael, Annie Twitchell, Jed Nickerson, Michelle Veilleux, Nicola Hanczar, Stephanie Rushton and Baylis Eggleston. Nickerson is school program liaison.
“The Kingfield POPS have been a cherished event that I have shared with my family, young and old, since its inception,” Daigle said. “I have greatly appreciated what the POPS bring to this community in terms of the summer event, the school programming and the scholarships for local students. Research shows that those who live long, live well. Ensuring that access to the arts is a critical part of this. In a region with a superior quality of living and a gateway to the great outdoors, I believe with conviction that we must not only preserve what the POPS currently offers to our community, but grow this organization with a vision for the future.”
Daigle has been a project manager and programming developer in science education and leadership, and said those skills and her passion for ensuring a future for the Pops long-term will help the board set goals, and to effectively achieve them.
The Bangor Symphony Orchestra has been penciled in for June’s concert, and the Kennedy Farm venue has been secured. The stage and sound setup, fireworks and the fields off Salem Road for parking have been arranged. The board will work throughout winter and spring, Daigle said. She added, though, the effort won’t be successful without community support, and area residents should “stay tuned” to find out how they can help.
The POPS began in 2003, and has been held every year, except a two-year hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic. The POPS also offers programming in area school districts, with an instrument repair and loan program and by bringing performers into the schools.
