March/April, 2005 ~~~ Rockland/Belfast

"Body, Mind, and Spirit: Hospice in Maine" is a photography exhibit honoring the nurses, patients, and families on the hospice care journey. The exhibit, organized by Kno-Wal-In Home Care and Hospice in Rockland, was on display at the Penobscot Bay Medical Center in Rockport in November and December 2004. In March, the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland will host the exhibit, followed by the Hutchinson Center in Belfast for the month of April.

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March — April 5, 2005 ~~~ Oxford Hills

The Oxford Hills region, which includes the towns of Buckfield, Norway, South Paris, Oxford, Harrison, Waterford, Hebron, Otisfield, and West Paris, will hold a "One Book, One Community" program this spring, using the novel Ernie's Ark by Oxford Hills native Monica Wood. For the kick-off on February 1, Wood visited Hebron Academy and presented an evening program at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School. In February and March, book discussions and related activities will take place throughout the area at public libraries, high schools, and workplaces. The program culminates on April 5 with another visit from Monica Wood.

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March & April 2005 ~~~ Portland

Longfellow's Shorts is a public reading series designed to inspire interest in literature by using Portland Stage Company actors as readers, bring the written words to life. The readings fall into two categories: writer-based evenings and theme-based evenings. Past writer-based programs, for which readings include both the author's recent work and material that has influenced it, have featured appearances by Colum McCann, Rodman Philbrick, and Gregory McGuire. In event-based programs, readings are drawn from a variety of material to focus on a single theme, usually a holiday. The 2004-05 Longfellow's Shorts season opened with a holiday event for families, with readings such as A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas and Moishe's Miracle by Laura Krauss Melmed. Tom Perrotta, author of Little Children, was featured in an author-based program on January 31. In March, the actors celebrated Irish literature, and in April, a second author will appear. The series is co-hosted by the Portland Stage Company's Affiliate Artists program and Longfellow Books. For more information, contact Anita Stewart, Artistic Director for the Portland Stage Company, at (207) 774-1043 x106.

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April 6, 2005 ~~~ Scarborough

The Scarborough Public Library hosted a poetry writing workshop for young adults during the month of March. Bruce Spang, a published poet who teaches at Scarborough High School and has collaborated with Baron Wormser on a project to help teachers teach poetry, led the four sessions and compiled an anthology of the students' work. The workshop concludes with an anthology publication party and poetry reading by the participating students. This event is free and open to the public at the Scarborough Public Library, April 4 at 6:00 p.m. After the event, copies of the workshop anthology will be available for loan at the library. Call (207) 883-4723 for details.

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April 9, 2005 ~~~ Brunswick

"Designing Maine Neighborhoods: Shaping Landscapes and Community," the fifth annual conference of the Maine Olmsted Alliance for Parks and Landscapes, will take place at Bowdoin College on April 9, 2005. The program will explore ways in which towns can build new developments that are compatible with the character of existing neighborhoods, with attention to density and designed landscapes. Speakers include Alex Krieger, Professor of Urban Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and Theresa Mattor, landscape architect with Monro Associates and principal surveyor for MOAPL's Survey of Maine's Historic Designed Landscapes. The conference is co-sponsored by the Bowdoin College Environmental Studies Program, the Maine Society of Landscape Architects, and Maine Preservation. For more information or to register for the conference, please contact the Maine Olmsted Alliance at (207) 761-8081 or moapl@maine.rr.com.

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April 10 and May 3, 2005 ~~~ Portland

The Portland Symphony Orchestra's "Concert Conversations" are informative lectures that help concertgoers understand music and the environment in which it was created. Speakers include some of the most highly acclaimed composers, musicians, historians, and professors from central and southern Maine. On April 10 at 1:15, Scott Harris will address "Waltzes: Music of the Season." On May 3, PSO Musical Director Toshiyuki Shimada will discuss "Melodic Inspirations: Tchaikovsky's blend of melody and symphonic form." The lectures, held in the rehearsal hall of the Merrill Auditorium, are free of charge, and refreshments are provided. For more information, call (207) 773-6128.

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April 27, 2005 ~~~ Portland

A diverse coalition of institutions of faith and learning will present "Living in an Age of Genocide: Remembering the Victims, Preventing the Perpetrators" on April 27 in the Hannaford Lecture Hall at the USM Abromson Community Education Center. This program commemorates two significant anniversaries: the 90th anniversary of the Armenian genocide and the 60th anniversary of the end of the Holocaust and the defeat of National Socialism. It will feature Professor Hubert Locke of the University of Washington, an ordained Christian minister and the co-founder of the Conference on the Holocaust and the German Church Struggle, the oldest Holocaust conference in the United States, now in its 35th year. A panel of local descendants of genocide victims-including Native Americans, African Americans, Armenians, Jews, Cambodians, Rwandans, and people of Darfur-will appear alongside Professor Locke to discuss the effects of genocide. Co-sponsors of this program are the Academic Council for Post-Holocaust Christian, Jewish, and Islamic Studies at USM; the NAACP; the City of Portland; the Armenian Cultural Society of Maine; the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine; the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland; and the Maine Council of Churches. For more information, call USM Professor Abraham Peck at (207) 780-5331.

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May 2— 6, 2005 ~~~ York

Grade four students and their families from Lyman Elementary School are in the midst of a yearlong training program that will culminate in a fifty-mile hike along the Eastern Trail from Portsmouth, NH, north into Maine. The group will travel roads written about by Sarah Orne Jewett, learn about historic architecture, and discover local folk tales from communities visited along the route. On the second day of the hike, they will walk with a guide through historic York Village. The students will document their trip in journals and through photography. The hike is planned for May 2-6, 2005.

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May 15th, 2005 ~~~ Hinckley

On May 15, a retrospective exhibit of the life and works of renowned author, illustrator, and field biologist Bernd Heinrich will open at the L.C. Bates Museum. Heinrich has an enduring connection to Maine: he is an alumnus of the Good Will-Hinckley Homes for Boys and Girls, and he currently does much of his research and writing at a farm in the mountains of western Maine. The exhibit includes eight cases of historic documents, photographs, objects, watercolors, text panels, and drawings. In addition, a catalog prepared by the exhibit curator, William Lipke, features an essay written by Heinrich for this project. A children's program on four Wednesdays in July and school visits throughout the year will make the exhibit accessible to all ages. Bernd Heinrich and William Lipke will each make public appearances before the exhibit closes on October 15, 2005. The L.C. Bates Museum is located on Route 201 in Hinckley. For details, please call (207) 238-4250.

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"Réveil-Waking Up French" is a documentary film that explores the struggle for cultural survival among the Franco-American communities of New England. Filmmaker Ben Levine has been based in Maine for over twenty-five years. His film reveals the importance of language preservation and reacquisition for personal and cultural renewal. To increase the utility of the documentary as an educational resource, Levine and co-sponsors from the Penobscot School, the Franco-American Heritage Center, and the University of Maine are adapting it into a short film that will be distributed on DVD to schools and libraries. Look for this version to air on PBS in the spring.

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"Barn Again! Celebrating an American Icon" is an exhibition organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and the National Building Museum, with assistance from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. "Barn Again!" will be on display at the Saco Museum from April 9 through June 8, at the Musée culturel du Mont-Carmel in Lille from June 15 through August 12, and in the Mason House Exhibit Hall at the Bethel Historical Society from August 19 through October 22, 2005. To strengthen the local impact of the exhibit, each site will sponsor public programs. Families are invited "Downtown on the Farm" at the Saco Museum on May 21 to experience demonstrations, activities, and crafts. On April 28 and September 9, architectural historian Christi Mitchell, of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, will give presentations on the history of Maine barns. On October 8, a lecture by William Bunting will precede a festive barn dance. Bunting is the author of A Day's Work, a two-volume collection of historic Maine photographs (Tilbury House). Exhibit and event details are online at www.mainehumanities.org/programs/barnagain.html.

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"Memories of World War II: Photographs from the Associated Press Archives," an exhibition of 121 black and white photographs, will be on view at the Ogunquit Museum of American Art from August 29 through October 15, 2005. Among the photographs are the well-known picture of a sailor and a nurse kissing in Times Square on VJ Day and the Pulitzer Prize-winning picture of the Marines raising the flag at Iwo Jima's Mount Suribachi. In addition to the photographs, the museum will present special events including education programs, photography workshops, and public lectures. The museum is located at 543 Shore Road in Ogunquit. For details, call 646-4909 or visit www.ogunquitmuseum.org.

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