NEW MSCN HEADER (With border)
Issue No. 17
July 2011
The MSCN Newsletter

Welcome to your July newsletter! 

July illustration

 

Many of our senior college members have been out and about taking field trips this spring, and this issue of the MSCN newsletter features images and information about some of the excursions.

 

York County Senior College has provided a video of a field trip to Seguin Island that was part of a class about Maine Lighthouses. In addition, we have photos and information about a museum visit made by a Lewiston/Auburn Senior College class, an outing offered to Downeast Senior College members to learn about the history of making hooked rugs in Maine, as well as an excursion to Acadia National Park and the surrounding area by Gold LEAF Institute.

 

This month's "Poet's Corner" features a poem by Downeast Senior College's Francine Frank. 

 

Also remember that we are accepting poetry and digital photography submissions from Senior College members for the MSCN Poet Laureate and photography competitions. Information about how to enter is below.

 

We hope you have a happy summer, and we look forward to hearing about your summer classes and trips.

 

 

Sincerely, 

 

Kali Lightfoot

Executive Director

Maine Senior College Network   

 

York County Senior College Students Explore Lighthouses
Trip # 9 - Seguin Island.wmv
Trip # 9 - Seguin Island.wmv
This spring instructor Duane Prugh offered "Exploring Maine Lighthouses," at York County Senior College, a field trip class offering eight outings to see 30 southern Maine lighthouses.

Kathy Kane Authier took the photos of the trip to Seguin Island featured in the above video.

- submitted for York County Senior College by Gloria Day and Kathy Authier

You Are Invited to Enter the
MSCN Photo Contest

illustration of photographerMSCN is having its first photography contest; the theme of the contest is "Outdoor Maine": photos taken of the natural world in our beautiful state. If you are a member of a Maine Senior College you are eligible to enter. One entry per person; photos must be submitted in digital format, and must be previously unpublished. Please email your entry as an attachment to kallen@usm.maine.edu. Be sure to include your name, where your photo was taken, and tell us which Maine Senior College you belong to. Deadline for entries is November 1, 2011. The photographer of the image judged the top pick will receive a digital photo frame, and the winner will be announced in the December MSCN newsletter.

Spring Happenings at Lewiston/Auburn Senior College

Visit to Bates College Museum of Art

L/A at art museum

Lewiston/Auburn USM Senior College members Barbara Oliver, Phil Vampatella, and Pat Vampatella, pay close attention to Curator Anthony Shostak's description of a Marsden Hartley painting at the Bates College Museum of Art. The museum has a large collection of the Lewiston native's work. This was one of six destinations in a Special Destinations class led by Instructor Dot Rupert.  

Scholarships Awarded to Two Undergraduates

L/A scholarship awards photo

Charles Plummer, Chair of the Scholarship Committee at Lewiston/Auburn USM Senior College, presented two $1,000 scholarship awards to undergraduates Rachel Larkin, left, and Kristi Anderson, both of Lewiston, at the Annual Senior College Meeting held on May 9 at the Lewiston campus. Both young women will graduate in the spring of 2012 and are majoring in Social and Behavioral Science. They have achieved high ranks and are active in local community services. (Both photos by Rachel Morin.)

 

- submitted for Lewiston/Auburn USM Senior College by Rachel Morin 






























The 2011 Search Is On:
Who Will Be The Next MSCN Poet Laureate?

quill pen & scroll illustrationDo you write poetry? Are you a member of a Maine senior college? Then you could be the 2011 MSCN Poet Laureate! It's easy to enter -- just submit a piece of your unpublished work (one poem per person, please) to: MSCN, Attention: Kyle Allen, P.O. Box 9300, Portland, ME 04104, or email your poem to Kyle at kallen@usm.maine.edu. Be sure to include your name, contact information, and note at which Maine Senior College you are a member.
 
The deadline for submissions is November 1, 2011. The winner will be announced and their poem will be included in the December MSCN Newsletter, and the 2011 MSCN Poet Laureate will receive an Amazon Kindle e-book reader. We are looking forward to reading some fine poetry!

Downeast Senior College Group Learns Hooked-Rug History

photo of Downeast Sr Coll in front of Sea Coast Mission

A Downeast Senior College group poses in front of the Maine Sea Coast Mission's Colket Center in Bar Harbor, where the group visited to learn about the history of rug-hooking in Maine.



Maine has a fascinating association with the  history of hooked rugs, as a recent exhibit at the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland testified. In the 1920s, the Maine Sea Coast Mission, now on
West Street in Bar Harbor, initiated home hooked-rug-making as a way for island fishermen's wives to make money during winter months.

This April, a group from Downeast Senior College visited the Maine Seacoast Mission to hear Judith Burger-Gossart, an expert on hooked rugs, speak on the Mission's 1920s rug project and that of the Grenfell Mission in Newfoundland. Both rug-making efforts existed at about the same time. Members of local rug hooking groups were also invited and attended the talk. Marianne Barnacle, archivist at the Maine Sea Coast Mission showed both groups the locally made hooked rugs in the Mission's collection. The visitors also toured the Mission's Colket Center, the former summer home of the Colket family that was donated to the Sea Coast Mission. Sturgis Haskins and Elaine Dow co-led the field trip.

- submitted for Downeast Senior College in Ellsworth by Sturgis Haskins.

An Excursion to Acadia

UMF's Gold LEAF members recently made a three-day, two-night trip to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. During their time there, they toured Jackson Laboratory, took a morning walk with a park ranger along a misty coastal path, visited a rock quarry and museum, hiked along the park's carriage roads, and took the opportunity to do a little shopping in the town.
 
More than a dozen members participated in the field trip and all pronounced it a pleasant outing.
Photo 1 of Gold LEAF trip to Acadia

Gold LEAF members listen to Steven Hayes, founder of The Maine Granite Industry Historical Society, tell tales of the rock workers he has gotten to know while building his museum on Mount Desert Island.




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo 2 of Gold Leaf Acadia Trip

Steven Hayes prys apart a piece of granite that Gold LEAF members have helped him split

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- submitted for Gold LEAF Institute in Farmington by Richard Matthews.  

 

drawing of loons on a pond
The
Poet's
Corner




Moose  Lips Camp

 
The loon is suspended in a lofty mist,
its fluted notes lift sharply
then are buffeted by the
lavender fog
smoking off the morning pond.
 
Last night we stood as fairies
at the feet of pines who stand
guard over the forest for
longer than a grizzled logger
can count.
 
Stars are dotted like eyes to
eternity far beyond the canopy
of pine boughs that shelter us
like umbrellas holding out the
other world from which we
came.
.
Blessings hover around our
evening table, gifting us with
chicken pot pie made with
the tender meat of range-fed
birds and unshaped oatmeal
cookies treat us to
the rich taste of butter and
brown sugar.

Three aging women lying around
the camp can still remember and
belt out the words to Birth of
the Blues and raise their
plastic cups to goodnight
with a toast of Grand Marnier.

- by Francine Frank, Downeast Senior College, Ellsworth

In This Issue
York County Senior College Students Explore Lighthouses
Enter the MSCN Photography Contest!
Spring Happenings at L/A Senior College
Who Will Be The 2011 MSCN Poet Laureate?
Downeast Senior College Group Learns Hooked-Rug History
Gold LEAF Institute Takes An Excursion to Acadia
The Poet's Corner
Don't forget to go to the Maine Senior College Network website to find out what is happening around the state!

Maine Senior College Network 
Maine Senior College Network
Links

Acadia Senior College


Augusta Senior College
 
Bridgton Senior College

Coastal Senior College

Downeast Senior College

Gold LEAF Institute

LEARN

Lewiston-Auburn Senior College

Midcoast Senior College

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

Penobscot Valley Senior College

SAGE at UMPI

Senior College UMaine Hutchinson Center

St. John Valley Senior College

Sunrise Senior College 
 
Western Mountains Senior College

York County Senior College
The Maine Senior College Network Display Boards are available to any senior college that would like to borrow them. For more information, check out the link below.

 
 
About Us
Maine Senior College Network
P.O. Box 9300
Portland, Maine 04104-9300
(207)780-4128
(207)780-4317 (fax)
 
Kali Lightfoot
Executive Director
 
Anne Cardale
Director of Communication 
Director of Conferences
fmyers@usm.maine.edu

Kyle Allen
Coordinator
kallen@usm.maine.edu
Trouble opening our pdfs?

Adobe Reader Icon

Download Adobe Reader by clicking the button above.
Submissions
Please submit your articles and photographs to Kyle Allen at kallen@usm.maine.edu




Deadline:  Third week of each month for the following month's edition