I.B.M. Ring 362 The Maine Mystics Bangor, Maine
Home News Officers Members Next Meeting Calendar Archive Hire a magician Join us!		Magic Week - October 25-31, 2007 Contents Magic Week - Why Participate? Scot Grassette, President, S.A.M. Assembly 174 Governor's Office Declares Art of Magic a "Hobby" Dan Cashman, Assistant Press Secretary, Office of the Governor Scot Grassette Calls for Letter-Writing Campaign President, S.A.M. Assembly 174 Marlene Clark Responds S.A.M. Regional Vice President, New England Danny Baker Reponds President, I.B.M. Ring 362 Bar Harbor Declares Magic Week Dr. Wilson Governor of Maine, Dead 38 Years, Issues Magic Week Proclamation Dr. Wilson

This is a message from Scot Grassette, President of S.A.M. Assembly 174.

Magic Week - Why Participate?

If we succeed in making magic week a national event, we will raise awareness and perception of magic as an art. The society's strategy to accomplish this monumental task is through proclamations, library displays, and community charity shows. When you participate in Magic Week you sort of get many birds with one stone, here are a few examples:

Library display - Raise awareness of magic as an art form, Promote national SAM/IBM, promote the Assembly/Ring, promote yourself. Libraries are a great way to target our audiences. People who go to the library may be more likely to be interested in the arts, and therefore more likely to check out a public show or already have an interest in magic and possibly join our group. A display could be an all out glass case featuring props, articles, and pictures, or it could simply be a poster featuring magicians of the past and info of SAM #174/IBM #362 - be sure to remember to put your business card there (information provided by - - - - - and is available for your next party).

Proclamations - Have your mayor or Town Manager proclaim Magic Week in your city or town (I sense a great photo op here!). I've already contacted the Governor's office and if possible will set up a meeting for the #174 and #362 to be there for the signing.

Community Shows - One of the original intentions of Magic Week was to provide magic to shut-ins and folks who were not normally able to attend a public performance. Volunteer for your local veterans home, handicapped facility or nursing home. It's really a great reward to entertain these folks and may be one of the most appreciative audiences you will ever perform for! Oh, and by the way... another great promotional item if you can't get the press there, have a picture taken, write a small paragraph and submit it to several local newspapers. Here again your promoting local, and national SAM and you're in the picture!

Also, please contact me if you have any questions on a press release or a proclamation for your town.

Here is what we have so far for Magic Week activities:

Please contact me with your Magic Week Activities, You do not have to be a member of the SAM to help out! I will compile a list of activities in Maine and submit them to National SAM. This list will help with the Society's goal of making Magic Week a national event!

Sincerely,

Scot Grassette
President, S.A.M. Assembly 174

Hello Scot,

Thanks for your request and your phone calls. It was a pleasure speaking with you last week.

Unfortunately, due to the high volume of requests that we are receiving for proclamations, our policy has been reviewed and we are no longer able to issue proclamations for hobbies.

I hope you understand and I wish you the best of luck.

Best,

Dan Cashman
Assistant Press Secretary
Office of the Governor
One State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0001
From: Cashman, Dan (Dan.Cashman@maine.gov)

Hello Compeers,

Please let Maine's Governor Baldacci know how you feel about his response to not issuing a proclamation for Magic Week this year. Maine has had the proclamation for the past four years and has several charity events planned for this year as well as library displays and local proclamations. Maine has several who make the majority of their weekly income from the Art of Magic.

Please take a moment, reply here.

Thank you,

Scot Grassette
Ralph Greenwood Assembly #174
"Leger De Maine"
Portland Maine
(Professional Magic Hobbyist) Doesn't sound right does it?

We can't ignore the governor's refusal. He may know some of you as hobbyists, but he may not be aware of implication of his action.

The S.A.M. is working to have Magic recognized as a performing art nationally, and it will be discussed in congress. This could give magicians access to Endowment for the Arts grants.

Here is the letter I will send to the governor via the link Scot gave us.

I also will send his refusal message to members of the national council.

Dear Governor Baldacci:

I urge you to reconsider declaring Oct. 25-31 Magic Week in Maine.

The request was made by Scot Grassette of the Ralph Greenwood Assembly #174, Society of American Magicians, which meets in Portland.

Magic Week is sponsored by the Society of American Magicians (S.A.M.), a worldwide organization of more than 6,000 members. We may be performers, hobbyists, collectors or dealers, but we also recognize that magic is a performing art that transcends national boundaries.

Magic Week recognizes the community service component to membership in the S.A.M.

The S.A.M. sponsors several service programs:

• Freedom from Drugs
• Veterans' Program (performances at veterans' hospitals)
• Magic in Special Education
• Trudy & Monti Scholarship Fund (for kids majoring in performing arts)
• Magic Camp scholarships

The S.A.M. also sponsors the Society of Young Magicians (S.Y.M.) for kids to age 17. Through performing magic, young people develop leadership skills and self esteem, skills that will serve them well as adults.

During Magic Week, magicians perform at nursing homes, hospitals, libraries and other places where people need a lift in their lives.

Members of Assembly #174, S.A.M. carry on this grand tradition of community service throughout the year. For example, in May, the assembly helped raise money for the Rumford High School Class of 2009. Assembly #174 also sponsors an S.Y.M. group: Assembly members volunteer their time to help and mentor these young people.

During Magic Week Assembly #174 members will perform at the Reiche Center Portland, and will present the "Theater of Marvels," a show for disabled veterans. The club also will have displays of magic at libraries in Portland, Rumford and elsewhere.

For these and many more reasons, I urge you to declare Oct. 25-31 "Magic Week" in Maine.

If you would like to learn more about the Society of American Magicians, please visit www.magicsam.com

Sincerely,

Marlene Clark
S.A.M. Regional Vice President, New England

Dear Dan:

Having been a professional magician using magic to earn my livelihood for the past 34 years and for the past 13 years here in Maine, I take exception to magic being classified by the Governor's office as a hobby. As president of The Maine Mystics, Ring #362 of the International Brotherhood of Magicians here in Maine, I am well associated dozens of the other hardworking, tax-paying professional magicians and entertainers in this state.

I am sure that between these professionals and their clients there is a great number of people who enjoy paying admission, watching and being entertained by magic.

I urge you to have the staff reconsider the joint request of the Society of American Magicians Assembly #174 and the Ring #362 for a proclamation celebrating National Magic Week.

Thank you for your attention in this matter.

Danny A. Baker
President IBM Ring #362
"The Maine Mystics"
Bangor, Maine

Click image to download PDF.

October 5, 2007. At its meeting on October 2, the Town Council of Bar Harbor voted to proclaim October 25-31 as Magic Week. The proclamation was introduced by councilman Rob Jordan, executive director of the Criterion Theatre and Arts Center, a nonprofit organization, acting on behalf of the Society of American Magicians.

For more than forty years, the Society of American Magicians has recognized the anniversary of the death of Harry Houdini on Halloween in 1926 with a special week of events to highlight the charitable work of the Society throughout the year. Members of the Society perform for schools, libraries, children's daycare centers, and nursing homes, for those who cannot afford the luxury of live entertainment. The free shows are part of the service programs by its members.

Local magicians Dr. Wilson and Professor Miller, of Miller & Wilson's Theater of Marvels, will give a charity performance for disabled veterans at the Maine Veteran's Home in Bangor on Halloween. The pair will join three other magicians for the Legend of Houdini show at the Criterion Theatre on Saturday, October 27, at 7:00 pm, as part of the six-day Halloween Festival at the Criterion. Other members of the Society of American Magicians will perform in a community show at the Reiche Center in Portland on October 28.

The week ending on Halloween has been proclaimed as Magic Week for over forty years by states, cities, and towns across the country. So far this year, eight states have issued proclamations. The Governor's office in Maine, which has for the past four years issued a Magic Week Proclamation, declined to do so this year, citing a change in policy. A proclamation is expected to be passed by Rumford, Maine's Capital of Magic, later this month.

While Dr. Wilson was disappointed by the refusal of the Governor's office to issue a Magic Week Proclamation this year, he was not deterred from his goal of having all of Maine experience Magic Week. He has scheduled a private séance at the Criterion Theatre for October 10, where a carefully selected group of sitters will attempt to contact the departed spirit of a former Governor of Maine. Dr. Wilson hopes to have the spirit of the former Governor declare October 25-31 as Magic Week "for eternity."

Dr. Wilson recently observed, "It is easier to call forth the spirit of a dead Governor than it is to get past the press secretary of the living one."

Professor Miller and Dr. Wilson of Theater of Marvels will perform in the Legend of Houdini show at the Criterion Theatre on October 27 before giving a charity performance for disabled veterans in Bangor on Halloween as part of Magic Week.

Percival Proctor Baxter, the Governor of Maine from 1921 to 1924, proclaimed October 25-31 as Magic Week in Maine "for eternity" in a séance held on October 10 at the historic Criterion Theatre in Bar Harbor, Maine. The séance included members of the press and VIP guests who have been generous in the effort to preserve the Criterion Theatre, an Art Deco jewel built in 1932.

Governor Baxter's proclamation appeared as a message written on slates following contact with the Governor's spirit, who spoke briefly through the medium, Dr. Wilson. The message was the climax of a séance that included demonstrations of psychometry, crystal energy, and the answering of questions put to the spirits by the sitters.

The Bar Harbor town council passed a Magic Week proclamation on October 2. Rumford, Maine's Capital of Magic, is expected to issue a proclamation next week. The current Governor of Maine, who for the last four years has issued a Magic Week proclamation, declined to do so this year, citing a policy change.

Dr. Wilson scheduled the séance following the word from the Governor's office, fulfilling a pledge to Marlene Clark, S.A.M. Regional Vice President for New England, to obtain a Magic Week proclamation from the Governor of Maine at the historic Criterion Theatre during the month of October.

	Séance at the Criterion Theatre, October 10, 2007. Sitters whose faces are visible in this photo (from left): Earl Brechlin (Mount Desert Islander), Kate Jordan (Mount Desert Islander), Dr. Wilson, Bonnie Sawyer, Karen Zimmermann, Nan Lincoln (Bar Harbor Times)
	Séance at the Criterion Theatre, October 10, 2007. Sitters whose faces are visible in this photo (from left): Richard Sassaman, Meri Fox-Szauter, Erin Uliano (Criterion Theatre and Arts Center), Tom Sawyer, unidentified sitter, Kate Jordan (Mount Desert Islander), Dr. Wilson (face illuminated by flame).
	Séance at the Criterion Theatre, October 10, 2007. Dr. Wilson parts the veil to the spirit world while sitters look on. Left to right: Dr. Wilson, Bonnie Sawyer, Karen Zimmermann, Nan Lincoln (photo by Earl Brechlin).