Tuesday, October 20, 2015-- In this issue:

•  Spelling Bee Features Local Personalities
•  Author Event: Long Live Grover Cleveland
•  "Trick or Read"
•  Not Too Late to Participate in the Mitten Project

• Join the Library's Play Reading Group TOMORROW, WEDNESDAY, October 21 from 6:30 to 9:00 PM. This month the group will read Arthur Miller's The Crucible. More info here.

• Swan's Island resident Gary Rainford will talk about and read from his new book, of poetry Salty Liquor, at the Library THIS THURSDAY October 22 at 7:00 PM. This is Rainford's first full-length collection of poetry.

The Library's popular Celebrity Spelling Bee fundraiser is back for a third year on Friday October 30 6:30 to 9:00 PM at the Bay School's Emlen Hall. Ten brave local personalities will face off to see who can spell the best under pressure in front of an audience. Unlike school spelling bees, there will be musical commentary by Paul Sullivan, wine and refreshments. Plus when a contestant misspells a word the library makes money because the audience can buy spellers back in the game. Add to this a healthy dose of humor and you have a fun family event that will keep you chuckling for days.  What better way to support the library?

The exciting culmination of last year's bee with as co-runners up Scott Springer and Elmer Fudd aka John Bannister bow to the winner of the Bee Anne Cushman.

Fred Cole, Surry School principal will return as bee master. The stage will be set by design master Julie Jo Fehrle and refreshments will be provided by sponsors Barncastle, the Blue Hill Wine Shop, and Millbrook Company Bakery & Restaurant. This is your chance to find out if the town selectman can out-spell the High School jazz band director, and whether a retired GSA English teacher can best a WERU radio host.

Contestant Jay Peterson takes his turn in last year's bee.

Contestants will include: Tanya Bannon, Kristie Billings, Gayle Durnbaugh, Steve Orlofsky, Jim Schatz, Oscar Liang Sun and a wild-card volunteer from the audience.  The master of ceremonies will be Shelley Latham, Library Development Associate, and the judges will be Blue Hill Consolidated School principal, Shelly Schildroth, and a guest.

The library wishes to thank our local sponsors: The First, Blue Hill Co-op, Blue Hill Inn, Blue Hill Memorial Hospital, Lambert Coffin Law Office, Parker Ridge and Beehive Development. For more information, contact the Library at 374-5515.

Orono author Robert Klose will discuss and read from his new novel Long Live Grover Cleveland at the Library on Thursday October 29 at 7:00 PM.

In the story Grover Cleveland College is dying, and the shock is too much for the college's founder and president, Cyrus Cleveland- a direct descendant of President Grover Cleveland-who begins to die in tandem with his school. In a last bid to save his beloved institution, he wills the college to his nephew Marcus Cleveland, a used car salesman in New Jersey who has never been to college, much less administered one.

Marcus faces the impending calamity with cheer, an incorrigibly sunny attitude, and ample naivete, but is totally unprepared for the stew of discontented faculty, internecine rivalries, and unforeseen events that threaten to upend his every effort to rescue the school from the threat of extinction.

Robert Klose teaches at the University of Maine at Augusta. He is a regular contributor of essays to the Christian Science Monitor. His work has also appeared in Newsweek, the Boston Globe, Reader's Digest, Exquisite Corpse, Confrontation, and elsewhere. His books include Adopting Alyosha-A Single Man Finds a Son in Russia; Small Worlds-Adopted Sons, Pet Piranhas, and Other Mortal Concerns; and The Three-Legged Woman and Other Excursions in Teaching. Long Live Grover Cleveland is his first novel.

Books will be available for sale and signing. This event is sponsored by the Library, there is no charge, and everyone is welcome. For more information, call the Library at 374-5515.

The Library will again be celebrating Halloween with "Trick or Read" for children. Kids in costume may stop in anytime between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM on Saturday, October 31, and choose a free BOO-k! Books for all ages of kids will be available, from board books for babies to chapter books for the older set. Photos will be taken that can be picked up at a later date. For more information call 374-5515.

Lisa Arhontes-Marshall, Annika Marshall and Chris Marshall at last year's Trick or Read.

The Blue Hill Village Mitten project, in honor of the 75th anniversary of the Library on Parker Point Road, is on display through the end of November. The mittens, designed by Library volunteer Marjorie Yesley specifically for this project, are based on multi-colored Latvian knitting techniques. The mittens are knitted by volunteers and are offered for sale at $45 per pair, with the money collected to be used for buying holiday gifts for community children this coming December.

MIttens just dropped off a few days ago, knitted by Susan Guilford.

And here's some good news: it's still not too late to be part of this fun and worthwhile initiative! The Library will continue to add mittens to the display until the very last day of November, so anyone who is interested can still download the free mitten pattern at www.bhpl.net and join the fun. Completed pairs may be dropped off at the Library's circulation desk. Please be sure to include your name, town, and type of wool used with every pair.  Two more mitten knitting groups for fun and troubleshooting will be offered on Thursdays, October 29 and November 12 from 6:30 to 8:00 PM.

The color combinations are endless!

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