Maine Senior College Network news & updates

June 2022

Welcome to the June newsletter


This month's newsletter lists some great treats for the summer! If you move quickly, you can sign-up for the first of Midcoast SC's Summer Wisdom lectures on June 1st. Or, you can join Lewiston-Auburn SC's Food for Thought session with astronaut Audrey Powers on June 3rd! And there are many more treats listed for June with OLLI's social popups. Read on for more information about all these free Zoom treats!


Anne Cardale

Program Director

Maine Senior College Network

Wikimedia Image:

Summer Fantasy by George Bellows


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Please scroll down the page to see each article!


Lewiston-Auburn SC

Audrey Powers and her role at Blue origin - June 3


Midcoast SC

"SUMMER WISDOM 2022

Free Weekly Lecture Series in June


OLLI at USM

Virtual June Events At OLLI

OLLI Pop-Ups!


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Other News


AARP Coffee Chat on Zoom

Power in Aging: Older Adults. Self-Empowerment, and Reframing Aging in the World!

- Marilyn R. Gugliucci


The Franco-American Collection

Le Grand Jack (Jack Kerouac’s Road) Documentary Screening and Q & A

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Book Review

by Pat Davidson Reef:

"Peaks Island Past and Present" by Kimberly Erico MacIsaac






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Lewiston-Auburn Senior College presents:


Food for Thought

Audrey Powers and her role at Blue origin

Friday, June 3 at 4:00 pm

Free!

Audrey Powers and her role at Blue origin

From NASA to Lockheed Martin to Blue origin, Audrey has worn many hats: flight controller, vice president of Mission and Flight Operation and Training, vehicle maintenance, and launch complex infrastructure at Launch Site One, executive sponsor of Blue origins New mercury Business resource, and of course, an astronauts' helmet.


Join us for a FREE ZOOM presentation.

Friday, June 3, 2022, 4:00 pm


To attend, send an email to Lewiston-Auburn SC by noon on June 2. Mention "Audrey Powers and her role at Blue Origin" when registering.

We will send you an email with the link on the morning of the event.

Just click on the link, and you are there!


Artwork by Judy Hierstein

Lewiston-Auburn Senior College


MIDCOAST SENIOR COLLEGE Presents




SUMMER WISDOM 2022

Free Weekly Lecture Series in June

sponsored by

Sunnybrook Senior Living Community

Free!


Summer Afternoon by Winslow Homer

Wikimedia Image

Click here to open the Summer Wisdom brochure


Guide to registration

You must register to join the Midcoast SC Summer Discussions.


  • Locate the registration link beneath each of the Virtual Discussions listed below.


  • Note! Registration is Free!


  • Remember! You must register for each individual discussion!


  • You may register at any time before each event.


  • You will receive a link to the Zoom event on the morning of the event.

JUNE 1

SAMOSET AND INDIGENOUS-EUROPEAN INTERACTIONS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 17TH CENTURY

 


Jody Bachelder




On March 16, 1621, Samoset, a Sagamore of the Wawenock, was the first Indigenous person to make contact with the colonists at Plymouth Plantation when he emerged from the forest and welcomed them in English. The extraordinary thing about Samoset’s story is that he was not from Plymouth. Samoset’s home was more than 200 miles away on the coast of present-day Maine in the village of Pemaquid. 


Jody Bachelder is the author of the forthcoming book, Here First: Samoset and the Wawenock of Pemaquid, Maine. She grew up on the Pemaquid Peninsula where Samoset and the Wawenock lived and, like many people of European descent, she knew little about the Indigenous people who called the area home for thousands of years. She began her research asking, “What was Samoset doing in Plymouth?”

 

REGISTRATION LINK TO: FREE MSC ONLINE JUNE 1 TALK


Midcoast SC Website 

Email: Midcoast SC

JUNE 8

THE DISEASED SHIP: A CAUTIONARY TALE ABOUT NEW ENGLAND'S TWIN PLAGUES

 


Meadow Dibble




A majestic Maine-built ship docked at Boston’s Long Wharf on August 1, 1819, completing a nearly year-long voyage to West Africa and the West Indies that only a few crew members were fortunate enough to survive. This dramatic story features a prominent Yankee sea captain, a tragedy on the high seas, a viral outbreak, a major political cover-up, and a conspiracy of silence that has lasted two centuries surrounding New England’s involvement in the slave trade. 


Meadow Dibble, Ph.D., is Director of Community-Engaged Research at the Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous, and Tribal Populations in Maine, and a Visiting Scholar at Brown University’s Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice. Since 2016 she has researched complicity among Cape Cod’s sea captains while developing The Atlantic Black Box Project.

REGISTRATION LINK TO: FREE MSC ONLINE JUNE 8 TALK


Midcoast SC Website Email Midcoast SC


JUNE 15

THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD IN MAINE

 


Mark Alan Leslie

 

Maine’s connection to the Underground Railroad, which helped slaves escape to Canada prior to the Civil War, ran deep. Important centers and transit points existed in Portland, Brunswick, and Topsham. We will hear how this remarkable “railroad” facilitated many slaves’ hazardous journey, and how Mainers from Kittery in the south to Fort Fairfield in the north risked heavy fines and jail time to violate the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Mark Alan Leslie is the author of 14 books including True North: Tice’s Story, a fictional (but based on fact) tale about the Underground Railroad in Maine and how it abetted one Kentucky slave’s harrowing experiences. 


REGISTRATION LINK TO: FREE MSC ONLINE JUNE 15 TALK


Midcoast SC Website Email Midcoast SC




JUNE 22

WELCOMING NEW MAINERS: EXPLORING RECENT COMMUNITIES OF ASYLUM-SEEKING PEOPLE IN MAINE AND ONE TOWN’S RESPONSE

 


Erin Mangalam

 

In 2019, asylum-seeking people from The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola arrived in Portland, Maine, where a shelter at the Expo provided cots, meals, bathrooms, interpretation, and cultural support to hundreds of families. Later that year, about 25 families were moved to the Bath/Brunswick area, changing the landscape of the schools, social services, and the towns themselves. The reasons behind this recent demographic change, the families’ arduous journeys, and how the community of “old” Mainers came together to support their new neighbors is the subject of this talk. Originally from Auburn, Maine, 


Erin Mangalam completed her MSW at Boston College. In 2016, she was part of the founding board of local nonprofit The Emergency Action Network (TEAN), dedicated to harnessing the generosity of the community to serve Brunswick’s most vulnerable members. 


A pre-recorded video will be posted on the morning of June 22 on our website at midcoastseniorcollege.org.


At 1 p.m. we will host the Zoom Q&A.


REGISTRATION LINK TO: FREE MSC ONLINE JUNE 22 TALK


Midcoast SC Website Email Midcoast SC


Osher Lifelong Learning Institute presents:


OLLI Pop-Ups!

VIRTUAL JUNE EVENTS

Free and open to MSCN members!

Laughter by Umberto Boccioni 

Wikimedia Image


Scroll down to see the list of events and registration information


Pictionary Game "Night"

Tue, June 7 | 3:30 p.m.

Wed, June 22 | 3:30 p.m.

with Star Pelsue


Are you the Picasso of stick figures? Maybe your bear looks more like a mouse. You don't need to be an artist to play this drawing game. Be prepared to laugh and enjoy yourself for the hour. This game not only entertains it also teaches you how to use the Zoom Whiteboard feature.  

CHILL OUT: Cookless Summer Cooking

Tue, June 7 | 5:00 p.m.

with Gael McKibben & Star Pelsue


Why turn the oven on when there's plenty of heat outside and plenty of no-cook, chiller recipes like gazpacho, Greek or Caprese or Panzanella Salad, and a whipped mascarpone Nutella dessert. 


Please join us to share your favorite no-cook recipes and learn what others are doing to beat the heat on picnics, boat trips, and patio suppers. This is a requested topic.

Trivia Game Night

Mon, June 13 | 7:00 p.m.

Mon, June 27 | 7:00 p.m.

with Star Pelsue & Elizabeth Housewright


Use those fun facts you have stored in your gray matter. Join us for some laughs and interesting questions that will have your brain scanning your mental files for what some may call trivial inform

Podcast Perspectives: 

Ocean, People Planet - The Impacts of Climate Change

Tue, June 14 | 7:00 p.m. 

with Star Pelsue


NEW POP-UP: Together, we will listen to a podcast and discuss our thoughts on the topic.


Amid growing public concern about rising seas, extreme weather, and disappearing biodiversity, we will hear from Michael Oppenheimer, the Albert G. Milbank professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University and a longtime participant in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change. He explains the science behind the planet’s changing environment, its effects on the ocean, and possible solutions to avoid “the climate danger zone.”

Mad Gab Game "Night"

Thu, June 16 | 3:30 p.m. 

with Star Pelsue


The game takes well-known phrases but completely changes the words in that saying and turns it into a completely nonsensical sentence. So players will need to think outside the box when hearing certain words to figure out what they could possibly mean. The key to understanding Mad Gab is about what you hear as opposed to what the other players are saying.  


Example - Heaven Nice Hay 

Answer - Have a nice day

Virtual Book Exchange

Thu, June 16 | 6:30 p.m. 

with Anne Cass


Come share a book(s) you've read.

Coffee Klatch Chats

Sat, June 18 | Anytime between 9 and 10 a.m.

with Star Pelsue


Tired of having your morning coffee alone? Join Star anytime between 9 and 10 a.m. No specific topics to discuss. Please bring your favorite hot beverage, and let's get to know one another.

Grappling with the US Healthcare System as a Patient

Mon, June 20 | 7:00 p.m.

with Elizabeth Housewright & David von Seggern


We have, as OLLI members of some age, had negative experiences in navigating health care for ourselves and our loved ones. We seek a lively discussion on what problems exist, from a patient's view, in dealing with the healthcare system and what tips individuals may have to make it easier. 


We seek suggestions that will enable us to deal with health care without raising our blood pressure. Information and anecdotes on health care in Maine specifically would be helpful. Although many of us may wish to change the system, this conversation is about how to deal with it as is.

Podcast Perspectives: 

Three Ways to Prepare Society for the Next Pandemic

Wed, June 22 | 7:00 p.m. 

with Star Pelsue


NEW POP-UP: Together, we will listen to a podcast and discuss our thoughts on the topic.


Stat: 2000: More than 2,000 of the 3,143 counties in the United States have no daily local newspaper. Listen to an interview expert Penny Abernathy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who has documented the spread of news deserts across the United States.

Tips for OLLI Pop-up Registration


Sign in first, then browse.

When you are ready to register (after midnight Wednesday morning), sign in first, then look for "Special Events."


OLLI online registration

 


Click the date, not the title.

When you find the pop-up/course you want to register for, click on the date below the title (not on the title itself) and then scroll down to find the Add to the Cart button.


Contact OLLI if you need assistance.

OLLI Office Hours:

Monday - Friday

8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.


Phone207-780-4406

E-mailOLLI at USM

Provide the name of your senior college

And say which virtual events you want to attend.


OLLI at USM Website

Other News

Power in Aging: Older Adults. Self-Empowerment, and Reframing Aging in the World!


Presenter: Marilyn R. Gugliucci,


Invitation to join:

The AARP Coffee Chat on Zoom on 

Friday, June 17, 2022, 9:30 - 10:30 a.m.

Older Age is often associated with disease and decline and there is a good reason for that – our society socially constructed it that way!  To age optimally it is important to understand why our society views aging the way it does AND what we can do about it. There is a yin/yang associated with aging; having a base of understanding will provide a new platform from which to effect change in the way we perceive age, how we age, and how we exercise our own empowerment in the world to address ageism.


Presenter: 

Marilyn R. Gugliucci, MA, PhD, AGHEF, GSAF, AGSF, NAOMEF

Professor & Director Geriatric Education and Research

University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine


The objectives of the program include:


 1)  To offer a quick review of why our society views aging as it does

 2) To illustrate how one can challenge these existing views

 3)  To provide experiential components to advance learning on the merits for reframing aging.

CLICK HERE! Register for the AARP Coffee Chat "Power in Aging"

The Franco-American Collection at the University of Southern Maine, Lewiston-Auburn College, presents:


Le Grand Jack (Jack Kerouac’s Road) Documentary Screening and Q & A


Monday, June 6, 2022, 6 pm-8 pm

This is a hybrid presentation.


The Franco-American Collection at the University of Southern Maine invites you to join them!


In-person at Lewiston-Auburn College on Monday, June 6, 2022, 6 pm-8 pm, for a screening of the documentary Le Grand Jack (Jack Kerouac’s Road) A Franco-American Odyssey. Following the screening, there will be a Q & A period with the filmmaker, Herménégilde Chiasson. 


If you are unable to attend in person, watch the film at home and join for the Q & A portion of the evening on Zoom! Please click here to register! 


How to watch the film before attending the Q & A on Zoom.

Click on the photo above or use the link:

Please click here to watch the movie


Herménégilde Chiasson was born in New Brunswick, Canada in 1946, and is an Acadian poet, playwright and filmmaker. He also served as the lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick between 2003-2009. Monsieur Chiasson holds many titles and memberships, including: Officier de l'Ordre du Canada, chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres de la France, member of the Société royale du Canada, de l'Ordre du Nouveau-Brunswick and de l’Ordre des francophones d'Amérique, and is considered the “father of Acadian modernity.” 


The event, presented by the Québec Delegation in Boston, will include a presentation of the Franco-Route, an initiative championed by the Delegation, a presentation (on video) from the mayors of St-Pacome and St-Hubert, the villages Jack Kerouac's parents came from, a showing of the movie (subtitled in English) and a Q & A with Monsieur Chiasson, moderated by Marie-Josée Duquette of the Delegation. 


For more information or to RSVP, contact the FAC archivist, Anna Faherty by phone (207) 753-6545.


Peaks Island Past and Present

by Kimberly Erico MacIsaac

Published by Maine Authors Publishing 

Pages 156 Hardcover Price $27.95


Reviewed by Pat Davidson Reef


A summer trip to Peaks Island might be a great adventure after reading "Peaks Island: Past and Present" by Kimberly Erico MacIsaac.This comprehensive history with photos of pioneer families and landmark buildings brings another world to explore right off the shore of Portland, Maine. It is considered part of the city of Portland, but it has an elementary school, fire department, and police department.


"Since the 1760s, the island has been inhabited in summers by Native Americans and European fishermen and a few hardy souls that stayed all year round," stated the author. By the 1800s, two small fishing villages, Forest City and Trefethen emerged on opposite sides of the island.


George Cleeve arrived in what is now Portland in 1632. He obtained a land grant in 1637 from Sir Fernando Gorges, the British Proprietor of the Province of Maine. This tract of land included the Portland Peninsula and Peaks Island, plus a parcel of land in South Portland near the Fore River.


For over 200 years, the island changed hands among generations of the Cleeve family until a family member deeded it to a Boston merchant named John Phillips in 1861. Philips never went to the island, but his daughter Mary and her husband George Munjoy built a home there.


Reading about the history of Peaks Island is to hear the familiar names of Portland's streets. For example, the island's early pioneering families were the Bracketts, Woodberrys, Skillings, and Parsons. All names are now part of the history of Portland.


After the Civil War. Peaks Island became a well-known resort for summer visitors. From 1880 through 1893, Peaks Island had a summer theater and an opera house and by 1900, Peaks Island had some beautiful hotels. The most famous Peaks Island theatre was called "The Gem." A photo of it is in the book and it is amazing. Fourteen-year-old John Ford worked as an usher in the "Gem." Performers from the Barrymore family, Rudy Valley, and George M. Cohan played there. Unfortunately, the spectacular theatre burned down in 1934. It was thought a cigarette butt carelessly thrown on the ground caused the fire.


During the 1900s, the author states that Peaks Island became "The Place" to visit in the summertime. It was the Atlantic City of the East seacoast.

In 1941 the U.S. Army built a military base on the Island and it became an important defense location for America.


This is the most exciting chapter because it deals with World War II. No one on Peaks Island was alarmed when in 1939 a German art photographer arrived on the Island. He claimed to work for a German Travel magazine. But then the islanders realized he was a spy sent by Germany to check out the landing areas for ships. The location had deepwater areas such as Portland Harbor, a good landing location for German submarines.


After Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the forts on the East coast were fortified. Preble in South Portland, Williams in Cape Elizabeth, Levitt on Cushing Island, Mckinley on Great Diamond Island, and Peaks Island became important defense locations. The Peaks Island Military Reservation was large, an important component of the defense system in Casco Bay and Portland Harbor during the war. The army took over 19 acres of land and built a barracks and military base on the Island. Battery Steele was considered the "Crown Jewel" of the Casco Bay defense system. It was the largest gun battery built during World War II anywhere in the United States.


Peaks Island's history covers many varied and rich moments in the growth of our nation. Now considered a summer haven, it is also known for the fishing industry and natural beauty. The Island has about 800 residents all year round but swells to 2000 or 3000 in the summer. It has wonderful restaurants and shops and is an ideal place to go for a summer's day outing.



An appendix at the back of the book gives lists of the early pioneer families. Herb Adams, professor of history at Southern Maine Community College and former Maine state legislator said about this book, "Everyone who has ever loved a small town, a big family, or a special place will treasure this book because Peaks Island, Maine is all three." I agree and recommend the book highly, as well as a visit to Peaks Island this summer!


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