Sheri Sweet-Holcomb receives the "Golden Plunger" Award from Library Director Rich Boulet for a good deed above and beyond the call of duty.

@Blue Hill Library

Tuesday, May 6, 2014-- In this issue:

•  Events This Week... 
•  Reception: Jonathan Fisher: Art, Spirit and Nature  
•  Discussion: 60 Years on, Living the Good Life In Maine 
•  New Service: Telescope For Loan  

• Girls and Boys aged 7 and up are invited to a workshop on Japanese washi paper dolls THIS SATURDAY May 10 at 1:00 PM. The workshop will start with a kamishibai paper theater story, and afterwards children will create their own characters with poster board, glue, special Japanese patterned paper, mizuhiki cord, and markers. The workshop is free but space is limited and participants must register using our web calendar or by calling us at 374-5515.  

     The public is invited to a reception for the current  exhibit: Jonathan Fisher: Art, Spirit and Nature at the  Library on Thursday, May 15 from 4:30 to 6:00 PM. The exhibit is in the Howard Room cases, and goes through the end of July.

Painting of a red-bellied woodpecker by Jonathan Fisher, which must have been done in Massachusetts before he came to this area, since red-bellieds have only recently arrived here, having extended their range northward.

      The exhibit is put together by Rick Sawyer, vice-president of the Jonathan Fisher House Memorial and features a selection of Fisher's paintings, drawings and other works. This July the group will be celebrating the 200th anniversary of the completion of the house that Fisher designed and built.
 
     Jonathan Fisher was the first minister in the town of "Bluehill, " starting in 1796 and serving the town for the next 41 years.  The exhibit is available for viewing during Library hours subject to the meeting room schedule. For more information call the Library at 374-5515.

     Bangor Daily News reporter Abigail Curtis will talk about her part in the newspaper's recent multimedia retrospective, Living the Good Life In Maine about the 60-year-old "Back to the Land Movement," on Thursday, May 15 at 7:00 PM at the Library. 

Judy Berk began raising goats in a derelict vegetable canning factory in Brooks shortly after she came to Maine with a boyfriend in 1975.

     The retrospective is a five part series by five different reporters, available for viewing on the newspaper's website.  The series tells the stories of people who were part of that movement, and includes the perspectives of the native Mainers whose towns they moved to, as well as children of the back-to-the-landers and what they are doing today.  It also includes Helen and Scott Nearing, who inspired many of these back-to-the-landers and who built their own homestead in Brooksville, attracting legions of idealists to their doorstep.

Gusta Ronson built her home in Monroe, Maine, and now owns a shop in Belfast called "Good Deeds".

     Curtis, originally from Orono, found that some of her childhood memories of rural Maine in the early 1980s were given a lot more context through the research and reporting for this project. She says she feels grateful to the back-to-the-landers for bringing contra dancing back to Maine, because it is a favorite past time. When not hiking around the state or dancing in its grange halls, Curtis enjoys traveling. She has reported in California, Columbia, Cuba, Canada and Honduras, and received her master's degree in journalism from the University of California at Berkeley.

     Curtis has been with the Bangor Daily News since 2004, during which time she's covered the news of Hancock, Knox and Waldo counties. She lives in Belfast. There is no charge for this event, and everyone is welcome. For more information, call the Library at 374-5515.

     The telescope was purchased with a grant funded by the National Science Foundation and administered by Cornerstones of Science and the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance (MMSA), two non-profits based in Maine. Cornerstones of Science works to increase scientific literacy by strengthening public libraries' capacities to serve as gathering places for informal scientific discovery. MMSA works to support science, technology, engineering and mathematics education from kindergarten through college in Maine.

     Patrons checking out the telescope will get a short lesson in its use, and an up-to-date star chart to aid in the location of particular stars, planets, etc.  For more information call Pat at 374-5515 or visit our events calendar at www.bhpl.net.

Don't hesitate to call us for more information at 207-374-5515.