Events at Member Institutions

On Thursday, June 6, 2019, the 75^th anniversary of D-Day, the Canton Historical Society hosts an interactive program, What They Carried on D-Day: A WWII History Presentation and Exhibit.  Doug Culver presents the history of D-Day, using original artifacts to tell the story of the day that changed the course of WWII – the day that ultimately changed the world. The program includes a presentation and interactive exhibit.  

This is not just an ordinary history talk – you will learn about D-Day through vivid stories about  ordinary men and their extraordinary achievements, made even more vivid by a first-hand view of the uniforms they wore, and the equipment and supplies they carried. You will gain a new understanding of WWII and the events of D-Day, and you will be sure to come away, saying, “I didn’t know that!”

Doug Culver has presented free WWII programs for the past 30 years for high school history students, veterans’ groups, museums, historical societies, and other organizations. He has consulted with countless individuals on the identification of military artifacts in family collections. For more information on Doug’s programs, visit: www.wwiiconsulting.com

This program is great for anyone interested in history, high school students, young adults, and those who want to learn more about how the events of WWII shaped our nation and the world as we know it today.  Admission is free and open to the public. Program times: 6:30-8:30 PM. Doors open at 6 PM. Seating is limited. Children under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult. Not recommended for very young children.

For more information, contact the Canton Historical Society:
Email - cantonmehistorical@gmail.com, or call 207-500-9893.

May 18^thfrom 9 am to 2 pm will be the annual Tate House Museum Herb and Plant Sale. The sale will be located at the museum on 1267 Westbrook St., Portland. The Museum garden contains heirloom plants that would have been found in an 18^thcentury garden for medicinal, culinary and fragrant uses. The sale will include perennials thinned from the historical garden. There will also be herbs and annual flowers supplied by Broadway Gardens as well as plants from the museum volunteers.

This year there will also be a used book sale so come and check out these greatly reduced volumes.

FMI

Peg Puza

Tate House Museum

207-774-6177

info@tatehouse.org

Join Yarmouth History Center for Antiques Appraisal Day on Saturday, May 4, from 10:00-2:00! This long-standing fundraiser returns this spring with appraisers Colleen Donovan and Christopher Considine from Foreside Antiques in Falmouth.

Prices: $10 for 1 item; $18 for 2 items; $25 for 3 items. The first item is free for members of Yarmouth Historical Society. Limit of 3 items per person. Single items only; please no large collections.

Yarmouth History Center is located at 118 East Elm Street in Yarmouth. Please visit www.yarmouthmehistory.org or call 207-846-6259 for more information.

New Senior Arts Program Coming to Museum L-A

            Museum L-A is thrilled to invite you to participate in its first senior arts workshop program! For the first installment of a three part workshop series, the museum will be hosting a free poetry workshop called “Seeing with the Heart’s Ear” lead by guest teaching artist Martin Steingesser. Martin is Portland Maine’ first Poet Laureate, an accomplished author, a performance poet, and a teacher. He will be guiding our workshop members on their poetry journey over the course of an 8 week session.

            This poetry workshop offers inspiration and opportunity for participants to learn new writing tools to serve their consciousness in expressive ways. The aim is to encourage and nurture stronger, clearer, and more expressive writing and poetry. The museum is looking for 12 willing participants over the age of 50 to join us on this poetry journey from April 13 to June 1, 2019. The workshops will happen at Museum L-A every Saturday from 10:30 am – 12:30 pm. After the 8 week session has ended, the poets, their friends and family, and the general public will be invited to attend a poetry reading event on June 7 from 5:00 – 7:00 pm to celebrate the amazing work they have accomplished.

            In addition to “Seeing with the Heart’s Ear”, Museum L-A will be hosting two more senior arts programs over the next year through a grant program called Seeding Vitality Arts in Museum. This initiative is funded by Aroha Philanthropies and was designed to support the development and expansion of successful creative aging programs. The goal is to inspire and enable older adults to learn, make, and share the arts in ways that are novel, complex, and socially engaging. This work is driven by teaching artists whose creative process and understanding of older adults bring joy, connection, improved health and well-being, and a renewed sense of purpose to older adults. Museum L-A was chosen as one of only 20 museums throughout the United States to receive this grant and although this is one of Museum L-A’s first dedicated senior arts programs, they are looking towards being able to continue this practice for many years to come.

            If you’re interested in registering for this poetry workshop, please call Museum L-A at 207-333-3881. Emma Sieh, Museum L-A’s Collection and Exhibits Coordinator, will be fielding all registration queries. For more information about the program, please visit www.museumla.org.

Come join the Tate House Museum on April 11 as we welcome Maine Historic Preservation Level 1 Archaeologist Norman Buttrick as he discusses the Zachariah Stevens’ Tavern site with an eye towards what it can tell us archaeologically. Buttrick studied history and archaeology at the University of Southern Maine and University of New Hampshire and received his master’s degree from the University of Maine. He is certified as a historical archaeologist by the Maine Historical Preservation Commission and taught for 38 years at Freeport High School. Buttrick received one of three historic preservation awards in 1993 for teaching archaeology to secondary students.

Norm will be exploring this 18^th century site on Stevens Avenue which was built in 1767-69 and was run as a tavern during the Revolutionary War by Sarah Brackett and continued as such into the 19^th century under the proprietorship of her son, William. The excavation of this site is being conducted this Spring under a Portland Adult Education class and with volunteers from the Deering Center Neighborhood Association. Norm will be providing information on that project.

This lecture will take place at 6:30PM at the Means House across the street from the Tate House Museum, 1267 Westbrook Street, Portland ME. Seating is limited so please call the museum at 207-774-6177 for reservations. Tickets are $15 ($12 for members and volunteers).

Travel from Portland to the Kennebec Valley by stagecoach had begun long before Augusta had been selected for the Capitol site.  As early as 1792, Caleb Graffam rode the post and conveyed newspapers from Portland to Hallowell.  By December of 1793, he carried passengers from Portland to Hallowell in a sleigh. This was just once every two weeks, but it made a good start.  Up until the advent of the railroads in Maine, stagecoaches carried visitors, politicians and business men between Portland, Maine’s interim capital, and Augusta.  Stage owners were frequently tavern owners as well.  What better business model than being able to physically carry your customers to your tavern’s front door!  The presentation will cover the roads, stage lines, and taverns used to convey and accommodate travelers from Portland to Augusta and include stories of actual travelers who braved the winter snows, summer storms and some reckless stage drivers.

KHS speaker, western history author, entrepreneur and inventor, Leland J. Hanchett, Jr., has now published his first book on Maine’s history and his ninth book overall.  After sixteen years in computer design and manufacturing, Leland started his own manufacturing company, founding Hanchett Entry Systems, Inc.  A Swedish company bought him out in 1998.  Lee then wrote six books about Arizona followed by one on Montana.  During his engineering career, he patented thirty electronic, optical and mechanical devices.

The Kennebec Historical Society April Presentation is free to the public (donations gladly accepted).  The presentation will take place on Wednesday, April 17, 2019, at 6:30 p.m. at the Hope Baptist Church, located at 726 Western Avenue in Manchester.

SMOM's Skee Spree will take place on April 20th at Barker Lodge - Sunday River. This event is a fundraising silent auction - with Spring and Summer as its focus! Items include - white river rafting trips, gold outings, home décor, items of jewelry and much more! Bidding starts at 10am and closes at 3pm. 

Augusta, ME. — Imagine living in a century-old lightkeeper’s house on the coast of Maine. It sounds like a fantasy, but for Tom and Lee Ann Szelog, dream became reality when they settled into the keeper’s quarters at the Marshall Point Lighthouse in Port Clyde, Maine. Join the Szelog’s to experience what it’s like to live in an authentic and operating lighthouse on the Maine coast on Wednesday, March 20th at 6:30 p.m. at the Maine State Library.  In a narrated photography presentation based on the Szelog’s book, Our Point of View – Fourteen Years at a Maine Lighthouse, witness the ever changing tide of emotion and drama through compelling stories and extraordinary photographs. Published by Down East Books, Our Point of View has been honored as one of the Best Photo Books by Shutterbug magazine and was the winner of Best Maine-Themed Book in the Maine Literary Awards from the Maine Writers and Publishers Association. The book also is a Gold Medal winner from the Independent Publishers Association.

The Szelog’s home was remote by most people’s standards, yet relatively accessible for a lighthouse station. Sometimes they had only wildlife and passing boats for company, but not for long, because the spell of the lighthouse drew pilgrims in all seasons. People came to rest, to play, to marry, to meditate, and to celebrate – all within view of the keeper’s house and the lenses of Tom’s camera.

Thomas Mark Szelog has spent his entire life observing, writing and/or photographing wildlife. He has been a full-time professional photographer for 40 years, specializing in photographing wildlife, nature, and landscapes. He has earned the reputation and is often described as “one of Maine’s most renowned wildlife photographers,” and is a recipient of the Philip Hyde Award, presented annually to a photographer who is working to preserve the condition of the natural environment through the art of photography. Lee Ann is the President of Simply Put, LLC, specializing in presentations on communication, attitude, and human relations. As passionate wildlife advocates, they also work collaboratively, sharing their words and photographs in narrated photography presentations and books to educate and inspire people about the important role our natural world plays in our lives. Their most recent book, By a Maine River explores the natural beauty found in their own backyard. 

The Kennebec Historical Society March Presentation is co-sponsored by the Maine State Library and free to the public (donations gladly accepted) and will take place on Wednesday, March 20, 2019, at 6:30 p.m. at the Maine State Library located at 230 State Street in Augusta.  

John Christie Heritage Classic

FREE ADMISSION!

Formerly know as the Heritage Classic Auction, this newly named and organized event will include a Silent Auction from noon to 4:45, an exciting Historical/Entertainment program on "Early Sugarloaf Nightlife" followed by a Live Auction at 5:30. There are many great items to bid on from 2 night - all-inclusive stay at Sugarloaf to many Gift Cards to local establishments! A great event to support our mission - to celebrate, preserve and share the history and heritage of Maine skiing.

For over one hundred years, Camp Keyes has been known as the headquarters for the Maine National Guard in Augusta. But how did that site on the hill come to be chosen? Who is it named for? Who trained there, and why? Come listen as Captain Jonathan Bratten (historian for the Maine National Guard) answers those questions and describes the role that Camp Keyes has played in five different conflicts and for generations of Maine soldiers and airmen.

Our February speaker, Captain Jonathan Bratten is the Command Historian for the Maine National Guard. In this capacity, he has produced multiple articles on the history of Maine's soldiers, appearing in such publications as “The New York Times,” “The Washington Post,” “Army History,” “On Point,” and “Army Magazine.” He has also appeared in the Smithsonian Channel documentary, “Americans Underground: Secret Cities of World War I” and served as a historian in France for the Army’s World War I Centennial commemorations. Additionally, Captain Bratten is the commander of the 251st Engineer Company and a veteran of Afghanistan. He and his wife live in Portland, Maine.

The Kennebec Historical Society February Presentation is free to the public (donations gladly accepted).  The presentation will take place on Wednesday, February 20, 2019, at 6:30 p.m. at the Hope Baptist Church, located at 726 Western Avenue in Manchester.