Our summer community sponsors an annual Talent Show, which features brave souls of all ages strutting their stuff before a raucously supportive audience. As emcee, my major task entails encouraging people to perform. Actually, “encouraging” might be too soft a term. Cajoling, badgering and begging fit better, especially during the lean years. After all, no acts, no show.

I don’t mind. Heading this event reaps more rewards than other services to the community, such as hassling about bylaws or annual dues or property rights. And it’s great to see the growth of young performers from year to year. The shy sixyear old who trembled when she sang “ You’re a Grand Old Flag” is now a confident college athlete. The little boy who could barely reach the keys on the piano now makes skilled reports on science projects at his school. The teen who goofed around during a family skit now works in a law office. And on and on.

I like to think that the Talent Show plays a small part in helping young people — and even first-time performing adults — gain the confidence to get out there and take risks. I know that I get a kick out of it.

I get an even bigger kick out of serving along with my wife Tina as “host parents” to Bowdoin students. Over the last 10 years, we’ve been host parents to eight students, hailing from Oregon, California, Alabama, New York, Bulgaria and Cape Verde. And then there’s the rich cultural mix. We have come to know an African- American, a Chinese- American, a Japanese-American and an Hispanic-American as well as a Bulgarian and Cape Verdian.

The students don’t live in our house; rather, we serve as mentors, sounding boards, friends and — whatever. We’ve driven them to the airport, the emergency room, the dentist, Walmart, Freeport and the Maine Mall. We’ve stored their luggage (and the luggage of their friends) over the summer. We’ve taken them out for meals or gelato. We visited one of them in Scotland one year and Sicily two years later. We’ve shared their highs ( e. g. earning Phi Beta Kappa honors, winning a Fulbright Scholarship or giving a student speech at commencement) and lows (e.g. the death of a sibling). We’ve attended their plays, concerts, games and academic presentations. Finally, a bonus, we’ve gotten to know their friends.

I treasure my involvement with young people. They keep me young. ( I hope I don’t make them old!) Too often, I fear, we older types restrict our interactions with the young to our own children and grandchildren.

Perhaps my parents taught me the importance of staying connected with young people outside the family. My dad was a nationally ranked bridge player, and well into his nineties he would partner with people in their twenties and thirties, teaching them the finer points of the game with patience laced with a side dose of humor. My mother surrounded herself with adoring young people throughout her life because, well, that’s just who she was.

Whatever the reason, I will continue drawing energy from young people as long as they’re willing to put up with me.

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David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary or suggestions for future columns at dtreadw575@aol.com. For more information about the Bowdoin Community Host Program, contact David or Margo Knight ( knightdm@gwi.net) or go to: www.bowdoin.edu/ studentaffairs/ host-family-program/.