Maine Senior College Network news & updates | |
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Welcome to the November newsletter
Fall classes are finishing across the state, but you don't need to be at a loose end because we have some great talks available!
Don't miss the OLLI at the USM writing seminar open to MSCN members, "My Body, My Story: Writing Illuminated Memoirs," with Dr. Misty Krueger and Dr. Lisa Hibl. This free seminar is hosted by OLLI at USM and USM Digital Humanities on November 18 from 9 am to 1 pm.
If you are feeling pessimistic about the state of the world, please take a look at Acadia SC's Food for Thought lecture titled "Shake-up moment in world affairs" with Seth Singleton on December 2.
And we have more offerings listed below. Take a look at the Newsletter Menu and then scroll down to find the article.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving!
Anne Cardale
Program Director
Maine Senior College Network
Wikimedia Image:
Harper's Bazar - Thanksgiving 1894
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Co-sponsored event presented by USM's Digital Humanities initiative and OLLI at USM.
A writing seminar open to MSCN members
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"My Body, My Story: Writing Illuminated Memoirs"
Friday, November 18, 9 am to 1 pm.
Free Event
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Join OLLI for this very special program on Friday, November 18, 9 AM to 1PM. We will be introduced to Maine Digital Collaborative (MDC), a digital public humanities forum for writers to share their perspectives on important contemporary issues—including Health and Wellness. MDC is a project of USM Digital Humanities.
The program will explore health and wellness as a holistic experience, involving body, mind, and spirit. Dr. Misty Krueger, from the Department of English at the University of Maine at Farmington, will be the keynote speaker. In "From Blonde to Blue and Beyond: My Chemo Hair Journey" Professor Krueger reflects on her experience of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment through writing as an act of self-expression and exploration. She will discuss how multimodal writing helped her confront her vulnerability, gave her the space to reflect on the relationships cultivated during her treatment, and provided an avenue for cleansing and healing.
Her powerful narrative–part digital feminism, part public humanities–will inspire further exploration of the ways in which expressive writing can clarify our experience and renew purpose during challenging times.
We will also have a guided writing session led by Dr. Lisa Hibl, Director, Russell Scholars Program, who specializes in writing and the environmental arts. This will be a great opportunity to enhance your narrative writing skills.
The program is being offered at no cost; we can accommodate up to 40 in-person attendees and we will offer a hybrid Zoom option as well. The program is co-sponsored by USM's Digital Humanities initiative and OLLI at USM.
How to Register
To register please send an email to OLLI at USM with your name, email address and phone number and a request to attend the program either via Zoom or live. Seats in the room will be by reservation only, first come first served through the email.
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Lewiston Auburn Senior College presents:
November's Food for Thought
with
Grace McCarthy, an expert on fraud and a speaker for AARP Maine
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Join Grace IN PERSON or by ZOOM.
Monday, November 14, 11:00 AM
Room 170, USM LAC
51 Westminster Street, Lewiston, ME
Grace is a former police officer from Maryland who was selected to attend the FBI National Academy. Her husband is a Mainer, and after several trips to Maine (and reading newspapers revealing very scant criminal activity), they decided that Maine was the place to start a family. For a few years, she worked as a substitute teacher and ultimately started a career with L. L. Bean in Security. Grace retired after 23 years as a senior analyst having spent the majority of her time investigating internal/external fraud. Currently, she is a member of the Bowdoinham Committee on Aging, a volunteer for People Plus in Brunswick, and a presenter from AARP’s Fraud Watch Network.
Grace will speak with those who wish to attend IN PERSON in room 170 at USM Lewiston/Auburn at 51 Westminster Street in Lewiston. For those who prefer Zoom, we will be putting out a link to sign in from home. The presentation will be Monday, November 14 beginning at 11:00 AM and lasting from 1-2 hours depending on questions and discussion. Due to COVID restrictions, we will not be serving food, but those who wish to get coffee and/or snacks at the university’s cafe are welcome to do so.
To attend please send us an email by Friday, November 11, at noon.
If you wish to be part of the ZOOM audience, please send us your name and email address and tell us you wish to attend the Fraud Alert - Food for Thought Lecture. You will receive a link on the morning of November 14th.
Lewiston-Auburn Senior College
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OLLI at USM
Don't Miss This OLLI Foodie Popup!
Thursday, November 10, 4-5:30 pm
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Join the OLLI at USM's free Foodie popup on Thursday, November 10 from 4-5:30 pm when guest participant Sandy Oliver will be a part of the discussion about both your favorite and also unique Thanksgiving dishes. Yes, there is cranberry sauce, but what did Maine's Colonials really serve?
Sandy Oliver has been New England’s pre-eminent food historian since she founded the open-hearth cooking program at the Mystic Seaport Museum in 1971. Her research into period recipes blossomed into magazine articles, historical society talks, and Food History News, which she published for decades. She is the author of three cookbooks: Food in Colonial and Federal America, Saltwater Foodways, and Maine Home Cooking, as well as an ongoing weekly food columnist—Taste Buds—for the Bangor Daily News.
Sandy joins us from Islesboro. She is thought to be the original researcher on truly local Maine food and can still whip up a batch of hardtack and is willing to share the recipe for quince marmalade, which she says used to be quite common in our state.
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Gold LEAF Institute
Should The Next Car You Buy Be All Electric?
Online Class - $6
Dec 6th, 2022: 10:00 - 11:30 am
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Should The Next Car You Buy Be All Electric? with Paul Mullin
For most of our driving lives, vehicles had motors powered by gasoline or diesel fuel. In an effort to reduce carbon emissions and their detrimental effect on the climate, there has been a push to transition from these carbon fuels to electric power. First came hybrid, then plug-in hybrid, and more recently all-electric vehicles. Although only 5% of new cars now being purchased are electric, it is anticipated that most cars in the future will be electric. Paul will review factors to consider when deciding whether to go all-electric, and his experience with purchasing, owning and operating an electric-powered vehicle.
Paul has been an active member of Gold LEAF for a number of years, and the moderator of the Views on the News discussion group.
Register Here!
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Acadia Senior College
Shake-up moment in world affairs
with Seth Singleton
Food for Thought Presentation
December 2, 2022 - 11:30 a.m.
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Join Seth IN PERSON or by ZOOM. $15
Friday, December 2 - 11:30 a.m.
World power relations and the global economy are changing fast. Governments are in trouble everywhere. Climate change hangs over the future. Fear and foreboding thrive. Are democracy and human rights a quaint ideology of bygone times, trampled by a rising phalanx of dictators? Does Russia’s war in Ukraine mark a new era of conquest and imperialism? Will nationalism snap the global supply chains that send us clothes, cellphones, can openers, and cars, but also enrich a few at the expense of the many? Will drought and flood send waves of climate refugees fleeing across borders? As governments dither on climate change, must we choose between destroying the planet and turning off the heat and the lights?
Much of this fashionable pessimism is exaggerated. I respectfully disagree with Chicken Little. We will try to consider, with data and evidence and historical common sense, what is happening and may occur, and will try to provoke some optimism and some discussion.
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Seth Singleton studied Russian history at Harvard and political science at Yale. He has taught international relations since the 1960s, most recently at the University of Maine. He has been academic dean in universities in the US and overseas, and has lived in Tanzania, Russia, Ecuador, and Vietnam. He lives in Hall Quarry on MDI.
Luncheon details
The luncheon at Birch Bay Village in Hulls Cove, begins at 11:30 and costs $15, payable at the door; the lecture is from noon to 1:00. Reservations are required and MUST BE RECEIVED by noon Wednesday, November 30th. Because ASC must pay for all reservations, if you cancel after noon on Wednesday, November 30th you will be responsible for payment.
Zoom Link for online participants
The Zoom presentation begins at noon. If you register for the online talk, you will receive the link the day before.
Register Here!
Or send an email to Acadia SC.
Acadia Senior College
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
When is Art? by Erik Pevernagie.
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
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SAGE at UMPI
The People's Guide to Reliable News
with Andrew Birden
Nov 16th, 2022
Wednesday, 9:30 - 11:30 am
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Students will learn to identify fake and biased news, understand the history and motivation for the creation of fake and biased news, and how to use tools to find reliable news reports online.
Hybrid Class Cost: $10
- SAGE or MSCN membership is required to attend this class.
Two-Step Registration
Step 1
Email us at SAGE at UMPI
- Send us an email answering the following questions.
- Are you signing up to take this class in person or online?
- (Note: this is a Hybrid class.)
- Please provide the name of your Senior College.
Step 2
- Having sent your Step 1 information by email:
- Register for the class by paying for your seat!
SAGE at University of Maine Presque Isle
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Lavinia Wren and the Sailmakers
by Irene Drago
Published by Maine authors Publishing
Pages 304 Price $19.95 paperback
Reviewed by Pat Davidson Reef
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“Lavinia Wren and the Sailmakers” by Irene Drago is a moving historical drama about the importance of the sea in small towns of Maine and New England from 1865 to 1924, with a focus on Thomaston, Maine. Like a fine tapestry, it weaves many people into a story revealing the courage, endurance, and hardships of a community that makes its living from the sea.
In 1865 the arts of building ships and sailmaking were the key industries that provided a strong economy to the rural seaside town of Thomaston, Maine, a small New England town where everyone knew each other and when the bell rang at the local prison the town knew a prisoner had been hanged.
The novel is fictional but draws from history and opens right after the Civil War. While the characters are made up, real places like Boston Harbor and Colby College in Waterville are mentioned. For example, the Dunn and Elliot Sailmaking Company really existed and was known as the D & E of Thomaston. The D & E was the mainstay of the community like the Pepperell Mills of Biddeford, the Dana Warp Mill of Westbrook, and the Sappi factory of Jay, Maine. In fact, the author thanks the descendants of the D.& E Company for providing information on their company's history and the growth of the town of Thomaston.
Some important characters introduced at the beginning of the book and traced throughout the story include Lavinia Wren, an orphan living in Thomaston with her aunt and uncle. Another key character is Gray Rowley, a sailor who sails on a ship called “Sunbeam” and becomes a sailmaker. James Sutton, Gray’s best friend on the “Sunbeam” becomes a ship's captain. Meanwhile, Charles Ranlett Flint, the son of a prominent shipbuilder, catches Lavinia’s eye. Lavinia’s close friend, Amelia Counce, is another important figure in the story. The growth of these characters and the growth of sailmaking and shipbuilding in Maine are at the heart of "Lavinia Wren and the Sailmakers."
As the story unfolds in 1865, Charles Flint’s father and uncle move their shipping business to New York, and Charlie goes off to Brooklyn Polytechnic School but writes letters home to Lavinia in Thomaston and comes home to see her at Christmas. Lavinia, called “Vinnie” for short, goes to Colby College and is one of the first five women to enter the school located inside the little city of Waterville. She finds Colby competitive for women and basically a man’s school. However, she is a modern woman who forges on with her studies and writes a paper on women in the local prison. She later works with the women in teaching them a profession.
Lavinia likes Charlie, who remains a key character throughout the story. However, she falls in love with Gray Rowley who asks her to marry him. The story is about their adventures together as their children arrive, times change, and friends grow in different directions. Seeing the development of the characters makes maritime history come alive on a personal level.
The novel reflects six decades of change both in their family as well as in society in general. From 1865 right after the Civil war to 1924, just after women got the right to vote, an amazing span of history reflected in the novel and in Maine.
The writing is warm and intimate, bringing history alive through the eyes of the characters. The characters become our friends as we get to know them. The struggles of accepting change faced by Lavinia and her family face are timeless. For example, scientific advancements in shipbuilding change just as social customs change. Seeing the maritime history of Maine grow and change through the personal struggles of people in the novel makes history personal and very interesting.
This book is important because America was built from small towns like Thomaston, Maine, and built by the ship and sail-making industry that brought goods around the world.
We often read about pioneers who moved West, but the real heroes who enlarged our nation were the pioneers of the sea in Maine and New England. They were the sailors and captains who braved the unknown mysteries of the ocean to improve commerce globally. If you love the sea and reading about its maritime history, you will love this novel about the seacoast of Maine, the town of Thomaston, and the growth of shipbuilding and sailmaking in America.
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