Maine’s Dave Rowe Trio will bring their dazzling three-part harmony, hot guitar picking, and jaw-dropping fiddling to the Thomas Room, 729 Broadway, South Portland, on March 17 at 7:30 p.m. A portion of the proceeds from the St. Patrick’s Day celebration will benefit the Maine Irish Heritage Center in Portland.

The trio has gained a national reputation for their mix of Celtic, folk and maritime music. They were invited to perform at Milwaukee Irish Fest, the world’s largest Irish music festival, in 2006 and 2007. In addition to their daily shows at the fest last summer, they participated in a tribute to Irish bard, Tommy Makem, who died August 1, 2007. The inclusion of the trio was especially appropriate since Rowe’s first professional job as a musician was as bass player for Tommy’s sons,  the Makem Brothers, when he was 15 years old.

The group began in the spring of 2004 when Rowe was looking for a new direction following the death of his dad, Tom Rowe, who was a founding member of trio Schooner Fare as well as Turkey Hollow which included the younger Rowe and Denny Breau. Rowe met fiddle player Ed Howe formerly of Wake the Neighbors, and bass guitarist Kevin O’Reilly and asked them to join him on an album he was producing as a tribute to his dad.

The trio had their first rehearsal on St. Patrick’s Day before a live audience and they have not slowed down since. The trio has released five critically acclaimed albums and tours across the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic States and Midwest.

Scott Alarik, writing for the Boston Globe, said, “In their youthful zest, pulsing melodicism, and pedal-to-the metal energy, Rowe and his pals prove there’s nothing retro about carrying on the family name.”

Individual tickets are $20 and $30 for a couple and are available in advance at Bull Moose locations as well as the Maine Irish Heritage Center, 780-0118, or by calling Dave Rowe at (866) 655-7171. Tickets will also be sold at the door.

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Oxford County Medical Reserve Corps(MRC) received a $10,000 Capacity Building Award from the Office of the Surgeon General through the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO). The grant is designated to be used to recruit, screen and train volunteers to assist medical, public health and mental health agencies in the event of a major emergency. The MRC was founded after President Bush’s 2002 State of the Union Address, in which he asked all Americans to volunteer in support of their country. It is a partner program with Citizen Corps, a national network of volunteers dedicated to ensuring hometown security. Citizen Corps, along with AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and the Peace Corps are part of the President’s USA Freedom Corps, which promotes volunteerism and service nationwide.
MRC units are community-based and function as a way to locally organize and utilize volunteers who want to donate their time and expertise to prepare for and respond to emergencies and promote healthy living throughout the year. MRC volunteers supplement existing emergency and public health resources.MRC units are provided specific areas to target that strengthen the public health infrastructure of their communities by the U.S. Surgeon General. These are outlined priorities for the health of individuals, and the nation as a whole, which also serve as a guide to the MRC. The overarching goal is to improve health literacy, and in support of this, he wants us to work towards increasing disease prevention, eliminating health disparities, and improving public health preparedness. MRC volunteers can choose to support communities in need nationwide.In Maine, the MRC is coordinated through Don Ward at Maine CDC. Oxford County MRC is working with hospitals, ambulance services, health related agencies, and local health authorities to develop the teams. Preliminary plans are in place for a team at Stephens Memorial Hospital under the direction of Emergency Management Director Mike Hatch. Other agencies have expressed interest in the program but have not yet committed to the project.