Marsha Bordner will be the first featured speaker in the GPCAAC 4-Part Lecture Series. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

BY SHERI TRUSTY

MARBLEHEAD – When Dr. Marsha Bordner was a young girl growing up on a farm in Logan County, her elementary school teacher read the class a poem by Carl Sandberg. The poem, with serious tones unlike the usual light and merry rhymes read to children, affected her deeply, inspiring a lifelong passion for poetry.

“It was like a lightbulb went off,” she said. “Poetry was my first love.”

Bordner will be the first speaker in the Greater Port Clinton Area Arts Council (GPCAAC) 4-Part Lecture Series. Bordner will present “The Art of Poetry” on Tuesday, Feb. 11. During her talk, she will share three poems, including the poem she heard in elementary school that brought the world of poetry to her farmhouse door.

Since GPCAAC announced that Bordner would be a featured speaker, she has been asked the same question over and over again: “Why are you talking about poetry?” Those that ask don’t know that her academic roots are in literature. She holds a PhD in English.

Bordner is well-known locally for the impact she brought to Northwest Ohio when she served as president of Terra State Community College in Fremont. The college thrived under her leadership. Buildings were built or renovated, and enrollment increased. The college honored her impact by naming a building after her, the Marsha S. Bordner Arts and Health Technologies Center.

Bordner has improved the lives of so many people in the area that locals forget she had a life before coming to Fremont. She taught English at Clark State College for seven years, served as the college’s dean for seven years, and then advanced to academic vice president. From there, she accepted the position of president at Terra.

So, on Feb. 11, Bordner will return to her first love and inspire others to see the beauty, rawness and word-heart connection that flow from poetry.

The GPCAAC 4-Part lecture series was created to keep the community connected to art while The Arts Garage (TAG) is temporarily closed for renovations. Each lecture will be held at the Beach Glass Lounge at 5874 E. Harbor Rd. in Lakeside-Marblehead. The event will include lunch, a cash bar, and a speaker presentation. Tickets cost $50 per session or $175 for all four. The discounted price is available through Feb. 8. For each event, the cash bar opens at 11:30 a.m., lunch is served at noon, and the speaker presentation begins at 12:45 p.m.

The lecture schedule features:

• Feb. 11: Marsha Bordner, “The Art of Poetry”
• Feb. 25: Jeanette Oleksa, “The Art of Costume Design”
• March 11: Beacon President Ali Hermes and the Beacon Team, “The Art of News”
• March 25: Rose Lucas Haninger, “The Art of Makeup”

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit https://www.gpcaac.org/about-1-2.