Membership in Tuesday Forum benefits professional women

Jane Searles serves as president of the Tuesday Forum. The group meets for lunch each Tuesday noon at the Roundhouse Restaurant. Searles says that Tuesday Forum functions as “a place to go to network with other women, and provides for the advancement of business and professional women.”

The 70 members also benefit from friendships and social support through sharing their diverse occupations, backgrounds, and lifestyles with each other.

Searles joined the Tuesday Forum in 1980. She says, “There is no pressure to work on a lot of committees; there is no political agenda.” The Tuesday Forum exists solely for its members’ benefit; there are no fund raising or service projects. According to Searles, “It’s a place to go and just be there, a treat to yourself.”

Each week, an invited speaker addresses the meeting about contemporary community, business, and career-oriented issues. Once a month, a member is asked to present a personal and professional profile to the membership.

Women who are interested in knowing more about Tuesday Forum are encouraged to attend three or four meetings. Searles says, “Reservations are not necessary, and membership is open to all women.”

Together with her duties as president of the Tuesday Forum, Searles works as the regional manager of the Maine Displaced Homemakers Project (MDHP), located on the University College Campus in Bangor. She holds bachelor’s degrees from the University of Maine in sociology and elementary education.

Before joining MDHP, Searles worked as a teacher and as an intake specialist and case manager for the Training and Development Corporation. She has also been an officer in other civic groups and is very involved in the Bangor community; she has traveled extensively through the United States, Japan, and Hong Kong.

Searles started working at MDHP in 1986. Ninety-five percent of the program’s clients are women; Searles identifies the clients she works with as “people who have lost, or are in danger of losing, their source of income, due to life changes that may be beyond their control. Women who are divorced, separated, or widowed, as well as those whose marriages are at risk, or whose spouse becomes unemployed or disabled, may benefit from the services that Displaced Homemakers offers.

About three years ago, Cindy Brewer joined the Tuesday Forum after she read an advertisement in “Midweek” announcing that a personnel director from NASA was scheduled to address the group at an upcoming noon meeting.

About Tuesday Forum meetings, Brewer says, “I’m always glad I went.” The meetings present an opportunity for the members to meet other women who have things in common with them. The personal profiles presented monthly allow the members to get to know each other through sharing personal, career and family backgrounds. Weekly programs feature speakers who address business, social, and women’s issues.

Brewer works as a personnel assistant for the Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. She has worked for the company for 12 years, starting in the accounting department; she has held her present position for three years.

Brewer holds a bachelor’s degree in business and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Maine. To complete the required coursework for her graduate degree, she attended evening classes at UM while working full time at her current job.

Some of Brewer’s duties include wage-and-salary administration, employee-recruitment, and implementing and writing the company’s affirmative-action plan. Brewer says that she likes to be involved in the community and thoroughly enjoys her work.

About three years ago, Kathy Goodwin wanted “to get to know other people in the community, who had common goals and interests.” Elaine Commeau, a co-worker and Tuesday Forum member, invited Goodwin to a Tuesday Forum meeting.

Goodwin enjoys “both personal and professional benefits” through membership and says that “networking is a very important part of Tuesday Forum.”

She relates, “There have been times when a member who was out of work presented a personal profile and subsequently made a successful employment contact.”

“It amazes me when members seem to be so comfortable sharing their life histories. I don’t feel like I could do that,” Goodwin adds. “The program committee does a great job lining up speakers every week.”

She particularly enjoyed hearing the supervisor from New England Telephone’s directory-assistance office, who explained how that system works. “My business is in customer service, so I felt we had something in common,” says Goodwin.

She is the senior commercial-accounts specialist for the Dunlap Corp., one of the largest insurance agencies in the Northeast, with eight branch offices in Maine, New Hampshire and Connecticut. She has worked for Dunlap for seven years and appreciates the staff teamwork that is a vital part of their business.

Goodwin relates, “One of the best things about my job is working for my boss, Mike McInnis.” She works closely with customers, handling the larger commercial-lines accounts with premiums averaging $50,000 per account.

Goodwin is responsible for “getting the best pricing for the best coverage for the customer. In insurance, the least expensive policy may not be the best coverage.” She stays busy, both personally and professionally, being a member of the First Baptist Church; the president of the local chapter of Insurance Women of New England; and the treasurer of the Bangor-Brewer Management Club.

Goodwin enjoys quilting when she has time and adds, “A big joy in my life is my 2-year-old daughter. It’s a lot of work and a lot of fun.”

Melissa Finnegan is a free-lance writer who lives in