May 1, 2007 ~~~ Standish
Building on a pilot project funded by the Council in 2006, students from St. Joseph’s College in Standish will help open the world of children’s literature to rural elementary school students in Otisfield and Waterford. The college students have arranged programs with noted Maine authors and illustrators: Paul Janeczko of Hebron visited Waterford on April 4 and Matt Tavares of Ogunquit was in Otisfield on April 26. Following these programs, the college students returned to the schools for follow-up visits involving art and literature activities. Finally, students, teachers, and parents from the schools will come to the St. Joseph’s campus to meet Anne Sibley O’Brien of Peaks Island on May 1. For more information, please contact Dr. Cynthia Mowles, Assistant Professor of Education at St. Joseph’s, at cmowles@sjcme.edu.
Back to the TopMay 3, 2007 ~~~ Saco
Poet Wesley McNair will give a free public reading of his work at 5:30 on Thursday, May 3. He appears courtesy of the Literacy Volunteers of Greater Saco-Biddeford, who will host a raffle, refreshments, volunteer recognition, and sale of McNair’s books during the evening. McNair, the former Poet Laureate of Maine, will read at Thornton Academy, 483 Main Street in Saco. For more information, please call the Literacy Volunteers at (207) 283-2954.
Back to the TopMay 3, 2007 ~~~ Belfast
In 2006, the Belfast Free Library expanded its poetry programming for adults, sponsoring both a workshop on odes and the Let’s Talk About It reading and discussion series called “American Traditions, American Innovations.” Both programs were received with such enthusiasm that the library will feature another reading and discussion series in honor of National Poetry Month in April 2007. This series, designed by Belfast’s Poet Laureate, Karin Spitfire, is entitled ”Reading Out: The Rancor, Hope, Passion, and Brilliance of Liberation Poetry.” Spitfire will facilitate four evening discussions of contemporary poets such as Adrienne Rich, Amiri Baraka, and June Jordon. The final discussion will take place at the library on May 3; call (207) 338-3884 for details.
Back to the TopMay 6, 13, and 27, 2007 ~~~ Winter Harbor
This spring, Schoodic Arts for All joins Northeast Historic Film to present the Downeast Maine Historic Film series at Hammond Hall in Winter Harbor. Six screenings, each followed by panel discussions, will bring the history of early life in this region to life for contemporary residents. Filmmakers Lisa and John Gfoerer appeared with their film, “Schoodic: Where Sea Meets Land,” on March 18. On April 1, log driver David Calder discussed “From Stump to Ship,” a film about the logging industry. A double feature on April 29 explored two communities with “A Century of Summers,” about the intersections between summer and year-round residents in Hancock, and “Cherryfield 1938.” On May 6, the 1947 documentary “Lobstertown” will be shown along with “The Peninsula,” a short film based on the book of that title by Louise Dickenson Rich. Granite sculptor Jesse Salisbury will lead the discussion of “Granite by the Sea,” an account of the granite quarrying industry on Vinalhaven. Finally, a collection of five short, silent films from the earliest days of film in Maine will be screened together on May 27. All films begin at 2 pm; for more details, call (207) 963-2569 or visit www.schoodicarts.org.
Back to the TopMay 10, 2007 ~~~ Portland
The Maine Olmstead Alliance for Parks and Landscapes will host Dona Brown, Associate Professor of History at the University of Vermont and author of Inventing New England: Regional Tourism in the 19th Century. In her lecture, “You CAN get there from here: Tourism and the Maine Landscape,” Professor Brown will revisit key locations in Maine-Old Orchard Beach, Katahdin, Old York-and reflect on the ways they have been used to shape Maine’s identity. The lecture is free and open to the public, beginning at 7 p.m. on May 10 at the Maine Historical Society. For further details, please call (207) 761-8081.
Back to the TopMay 10, June 14, August 10, September 13, October 11, and November 8, 2007 ~~~ Bethel
The Bethel Historical Society’s 2007 Summer Lecture Series, Maine Character and “Characters,” gets underway on May 10 with a lecture on Maine-Hawaii connections by Paul Burlin of the University of New England. On June 14, Earle Shettleworth will speak on “A Painter’s Progress: The Life, Work, and Travels of Harrison Bird Brown of Portland.” Vandall T. King of Rochester, NY, will explore Oxford County mines and miners on August 10. On September 13, William B. Krohn of the Maine Fish and Wildlife Research Unit will address “Joshua Gross Rich: Western Maine Pioneer and Wildlife Writer. David Fuller of Farmington will lecture on the spruce gum industry in Maine on October 11. Finally, Bethel Historical Society Director Stanley Russell Howe will present on the life and times of Elizabeth Mason Carter, one of Bethel’s most famous ”characters,” on November 8. For details, please call (207) 824-2910 or visit www.bethelhistorical.org.
Back to the TopMay 22, 2007 ~~~ Portland
The public premiere of Susan Poulin’s new one-woman show, “The Full Angel,” will be held as the kick-off event to this year’s Active Aging Expo, presented by Southern Maine Agency on Aging. Poulin will perform a series of vignettes about how her family was reshaped during the illness and subsequent death of her mother from cancer. In private performances for medical audiences, this performance has received very positive reviews. The Agency on Aging hopes that the performance, on the evening of Tuesday, May 22, will draw a younger audience of family caregivers who cannot attend the daytime Expo on the following day. The performance will be interpreted in ASL and transcribed on a large screen for the hard-of-hearing. Following the performance, psychotherapist Heather Taylor Davis will facilitate a discussion. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. at the Portland Sports Complex on Warren Avenue; suggested donation is $3. For more information, please call the Agency on Aging at (207) 396-6500.
Back to the TopMay 24, 2007 ~~~ Portland
The Telling Room, greater Portland’s community writing center, will present a forum called “A Sense of Place: Maine Writers on Maine” in Portland on May 24, 2007. Four Maine writers-poet Betsy Sholl, spoken word performer Sontiago, novelist Monica Wood, and short story writer Lewis Robinson-will speak about their work and how it is informed by Maine. In addition, Joe Conforti, professor of American and New England Studies at the University of Southern Maine, will provide insight into the tradition of place-based writing in Maine. While it is open to the public, the primary audience for the forum is the teachers and students who participate in the Telling Room’s educational programs. Related curriculum activities will be distributed to local middle and high school teachers months prior to the forum. UnumProvident is lending the Telling Room its Clipper event hall for the May 24 event. This hall is located in UnumProvident’s Home Office 3, 2211 Congress Street, Portland. For more information, please visit www.tellingroom.org.
Back to the TopMay, 2007 ~~~ South Paris
The famous McLaughlin Garden in South Paris will open a new educational exhibit for visitors in May 2007. A permanent installation at the welcome point for visitors will showcase the story of this historic site. Printed materials will detail the history and horticultural significance of the 20th-century garden as well as the architectural features of the 19th-century farmhouse and barn. To plan a visit, call (207) 743-8820 or visit www.mclaughlingarden.org.
Back to the TopJuly 9 - 20, 2007 ~~~ Peaks Island
Peaks Island Children’s Workshop, the only child care center on Peaks Island in Casco Bay, sees its school-age population double during the summer months. To accommodate these children, the Workshop runs a summer camp called Island Rovers. In 2007, the camp program will offer a different theme each week. Two of the themes are notable for their arts and humanities content. During the week of July 9, staff from the Maine Historical Society will facilitate “Now and Then: Exploring Peaks Island History.” The campers will visit the Fifth Maine Regiment Museum, view the Eighth Maine Regiment Memorial, and talk with senior residents of the island. They will end the week with a visit to the Portland Harbor Museum’s “Then and Now” exhibit. The following week, photographer Craig Davis will work with the children to create a “Then and Now” book. The book will be shared with seniors at the Peaks Island Senior Center and housed at the Peaks Island Library. To learn more, please call (207) 766-2854.
Back to the TopJuly 12, 2007 ~~~ Rockland
On July 12, 2007, Coastal Senior College presents Mahmud Faksh, professor of political science at the University of Southern Maine, at Rockland Town Hall, starting at 7 pm. Dr. Faksh will speak on U.S./Middle East relations as part of the John Syrett Distinguished Lecture Series, held each year in honor of a beloved volunteer professor for Coastal Senior College. For more information, please call (800) 286-1594.
Back to the TopJuly 13, 2007 ~~~ Hinckley
The Central Kennebec Heritage Council consists of seven museums and historical societies working together to promote the cultural richness of their section of the Kennebec-Chaudière corridor. Drawing on the exhibit development and oral history workshops made possible by the Maine Humanities Council over the last two years, the member museums have organized the Central Maine Works project for the summer of 2007. Each site will examine an aspect of central Maine labor from a perspective that suits its location and collections. For example, Victor Grange in Fairfield Center will present “The Work of the Grange in Building Community.” The project kick-off, a lecture and slide presentation by Whitefield writer Bill Bunting, is scheduled for July 13 at Good Will-Hinckley. Member museums will host open houses on the following day, and most exhibits will run through the fall. For details, please contact the individual sites or call the L.C. Bates Museum at (207) 238-4250.
Back to the TopJuly 18; August 11 and 15, 2007 ~~~ Lovell
Among the many educational programs of the Greater Lovell Land Trust are a summer lecture series and an annual educational forum. These programs support the mission of the Trust: to protect the ecosystems of the Kezar Lake and adjacent watersheds. On July 18 at 7:30 pm, Martin Engstrom, longtime forecaster at the weather station on Mt. Washington, will recount his experiences. On August 15, anthropologist Alvin Morrison will speak about the famous 1725 conflict between Lovell settlers and Pigwacket Natives. This local stalemate-skirmish became an epic myth of American jingoism with the help of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Both of these lectures will take place at the Charlotte Hobbs Library. The forum is planned for the morning of August 11 at the Lovell VFW Hall, with keynote speaker Tom Wessels addressing the topic of “Reading the Forested Landscape.” Wessels is the author of Reading the Forested Landscape and The Myth of Progress. For more information, please call (207) 925-1056 or visit www.gllt.org.
Back to the TopJuly 20 - August 12, 2007 ~~~ Lewiston
In conjunction with the 25th Anniversary Bates Dance Festival, Dr. Suzanne Carbonneau will conduct a residency from July 20-August 12, 2007. She will contribute program notes and present scholarly “Inside Dance” lectures for public performances by David Dorfman Dance, Bridgman Packer Dance, and Pearson Widrig Theater. She will also design and moderate “Global Exchange,” a panel discussion with choreographers from Africa, Asia, and Latin America, on July 26. For tickets and other details, please visit www.bates.edu/dancefest.
Back to the TopJuly 27, 2007 ~~~ Camden
On Friday, July 27, 2007, the Camden Philosophical Society will present a one-day conference called “Philosophy at the Edge.” This free program, hosted by the Camden Public Library, will feature talks on diverse mainstream topics in contemporary philosophy by leading academic philosophers, with the goal of making these topics comprehensible to a non-academic audience. Topics will include environmental ethics, the philosophy of time, medical ethics, and the philosophy of work. The Society, which was founded in 2005 and regularly attracts audiences of 25-50 people for its lectures and book discussion groups, intends to make this summer conference an annual event. For details, please visit www.philosophyedge.com.
Back to the TopJanuary 15 - August 1, 2007 ~~~ Rockland
As the town of Swan’s Island restores the historic Burnt Coat Harbor Light Station (built in 1872), residents hope to simultaneously restore an understanding of how the buildings were used. With the help of a 2006 planning grant from the Council, island resident Donna Wiegle began conducting oral history interviews with the surviving children of 1930s lighthouse keeper Roscoe Chandler. The oral histories, combined with photos and explanatory text, were presented at the March 5 town meeting, and a related exhibit will be on display at the Maine Lighthouse Museum in Rockland from January 15 through August 1. A permanent outdoor exhibit will be established on Hockamock Head, adjacent to the lighthouse station. To learn more about this project, please visit www.swansisland.org and click on “Lighthouse.”
Back to the TopApril - November, 2007 ~~~ South Portland
The Portland Harbor Museum’s 2007 exhibit is entitled Picturing Portland: A Century of Change. This exhibit will employ the concept of “rephotography” (pairing old photographs with current ones) to explore the many aspects of Portland Harbor that have changed or remained the same. Many of the old photographs will come from the museum’s Angell Collection of glass plate negatives from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The contemporary images will be taken by members of the Bakery Photographic Collective. The exhibit opens April 27 and runs through November 25, 2007. An accompanying series of lectures, events, and activities will include photography workshops and a scavenger hunt for children. For event listings and museum information, please visit www.portlandharbormuseum.org or call (207) 799-6337.
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Notes from an Open Book welcomes feedback from its readers. Please contact Diane Magras by email at diane@mainehumanities.org or by phone at (207)773-5051 ext. 208 (toll-free 1-866-637-3233, ext. 208) to respond.