Beginning August 4, 2007 ~~~ Lubec

Lubec Landmarks continues its restoration of McCurdy’s Smokehouse Packing Sheds, with new exhibits this summer providing glimpses of life and work in the last operating herring smokehouse in the United States. The new exhibits, which opened on June 30, are located in the Skinning and Packing Sheds. The smokehouse process and the dramatic extent of the marketing network that supported the industry are revealed through artifacts, ethnographic materials, and photographs taken by Frank Van Riper during the smokehouse’s last year of operation. A third new exhibit on the development of the industry from 1880 to 1990, revealing its significance for Washington County communities, will open on August 4. Van Riper will present a talk on his photographs during the summer, and consulting curator Edward Hawes will give another informative talk. For details on the exhibit or the events, please call (207) 733-1095.

August 10, September 13, October 11, and November 8, 2007 ~~~ Bethel

The Bethel Historical Society’s 2007 Summer Lecture Series, Maine Character and “Characters,” got 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.

August 11 and 25, 2007 ~~~ Jefferson

Jefferson celebrates its bicentennial in 2007 with a series of events and publications supported by several public education projects. In May, a Living History encampment with accompanying school programs showed what life was like for early 19th-century Jeffersonians. This summer, the Jefferson Historical Society will host five open houses at the 1869 Old Jefferson Town House. The open house dates are June 30, July 14, July 28, August 11, and August 25. Look for other bicentennial events using this online calendar: www.maine.gov/local/lincoln/jefferson/news.php.

September 11 - November 11, 2007 ~~~ Portland and Gorham

Michael Chute of North Parsonfield, Maine, is one of the artists represented in “Off the Grid: Maine Vernacular Environments.”
credit: Tonee Harbert

Seven years of research have gone into the first and only survey of contemporary self-taught art in Maine: “Off the Grid: Maine Vernacular Environments.” The project’s findings will be presented to the public this fall through two simultaneous art exhibits, a catalog, video and oral documentation, and related programming. The exhibits will run from September 11 through November 11 at the art galleries on both the Portland and Gorham campuses of the University of Southern Maine. A symposium on November 4, free and open to the public, will serve as a critical forum for examining the issues raised in the exhibits: what are the commonly-held beliefs abour Maine’s vernacular? how are these beliefs portrayed in self-taight art environments arising from that vernacular? how are cultural notions of authenticity assimilated in the display of such art? To learn more, please visit www.usm.maine.edu/gallery.

October 29 - December 3, 2007 ~~~ Blue Hill

This fall, the Blue Hill Consolidated School and the Downeast Educational Partnership will join forces with Primary Source to offer “Stories Told in Many Ways: Teaching African Culture Through the Arts.” This five-part seminar for K-12 educators in Hancock County will explore African culture through literature, art, and music. The program combines scholarly lectures with artists’ workshops and presentations by members of Maine’s African community. To enroll or find out more about the seminar, visit www.primarysource.org or call (207) 942-7146.

November 19, 2007 ~~~ North Berwick

Michael Sullivan is a librarian and literacy specialist in Portsmouth, NH. His work centers on motivating children-especially boys-to become enthusiastic readers and library patrons. He has authored two books for children and a handbook called Connecting Boys With Books. As the keynote speaker for the annual MSAD 60 Fall Forum, Sullivan will address over 600 staff members from the three communities in the district. He speaks at Noble High School on November 19 at 11:15 a.m. For more information, please contact Claudia Updike at (207) 698-4465.

April 16, 2008 ~~~ Farmington

The Wilton Free Public Library’s Hands On PAH! initiative is intended to make the library more accessible to the local and larger deaf community through collection development, technical services, and programming. In April 2008, nationally renowned deaf storyteller Peter Cook will visit Maine with his interpreter, Keith Wann. Cook will give a workshop on ASL storytelling and visual communication in the Nordica Auditorium at the University of Maine in Farmington from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 16. At 7:30 p.m., in the same location, he will give a storytelling performance. For further details, call the library at (207) 645-4831.

Through August 25, 2007 ~~~ Yarmouth

New to the Merrill Memorial Library in Yarmouth is this summer’s Teen Read program, which begins on July 2, 2007. Residents in grades 7-12 who keep a log of their summer reading can enter to win a prize. Other special efforts to make Merrill more welcoming to teens include movie nights, craft events, author visits, and a monthly book group. To learn about upcoming events, call children’s librarian Melissa Madigan at (207) 846-4763.

Through August, 2007 ~~~ Chebeague Island

This summer’s exhibit at the Museum of Chebeague History is entitled “Island Schools: Sustaining our Community from the 1750s into the Future.” Through teacher grade books, textbooks, class photographs, town records, teaching certificates, transportation information, graduate lists, newspaper articles, report cards, and oral histories, the exhibit will reveal how town schools have contributed to Chebeague Island’s vitality and-most recently-independence. The museum is located in the District 9 Schoolhouse and is open Tuesdays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. To learn more, please call (207) 846-5237.

Through 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 opened 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.

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.