Tuesday, October 27, 2015-- In this issue:

•  This Friday: Celebrity Spelling Bee!
•  "Tech Petting Zoo"  
•  Author Event: Joshua Chamberlain and the Civil War 
•  Opera Preview: Tannhauser
•  November Art: The Blue Hill Life Drawing Group

• Knitters are invited to learn about or get help with their Blue Hill Village Mittens-- a project to raise money to buy holiday gifts for local children in need-- THIS THURSDAY! October 29, 6:30 to 8:00 PM. More info here. 

• Orono author Robert Klose will discuss and read from his new novel Long Live Grover Cleveland at the Library
  THIS THURSDAY! October 29 at 7:00 PM. More info here.

• The Library's popular Celebrity Spelling Bee fundraiser is back for a third year THIS FRIDAY! October 30 6:30 to 9:00 PM at the Bay School's Emlen Hall. More info here.

• Join us for "Trick or Read" on Halloween, THIS SATURDAY October 31!  Kids in costume may stop in at the library anytime between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM and choose a free book! Photos will be taken that can be picked up at a later date.

The Library will host a "Tech Petting Zoo" on Thursday November 5 at 3:30 PM.  Several pieces of scientific and high tech equipment that the Library owns will be shown and demonstrated by Sarah Post of Cornerstones of Science, a Maine-based group with programs and resources to help people gain direct experiences of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The event is geared toward middle and high school aged youth but everyone is invited.

The equipment includes two telescopes (the first one was so popular a second one was purchased by Friends of the Library), two microscopes and a 3 D printer, 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.

The telescopes and microscopes can be checked out by parents or guardians and children must be monitored while they are using them. The Library also has binoculars for loan supplied by Downeast Audubon.  For more information call Rich at 374-5515.

This digital microscope can take photos and also can be taken off its mount and hand-held to focus on items that can't be put on the plate.

Matthew Langdon Cost will talk about and read from his new historical novel, Joshua Chamberlain and the Civil War: At Every Hazard at the  Library on Thursday November 5  at 7:00 PM.

  Joshua Chamberlain and the Civil War:  At Every Hazard is about one of that war's genuine heroes, a college professor with no formal military training who, together with a small company of men, turned the tide of the battle and the war with a bayonet charge at Gettysburg.  This was not the end of his exploits, however, and by war's end, he was so respected that Ulysses S. Grant chose Chamberlain to accept the South's surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia.

The novel traces his evolution from an arrogant, overbearing professor to unwitting and unlikely hero and leader of men.  Interwoven are subplots including the coming of age of a young orphaned aide, a complicated marriage, and of course, rousing battle scenes.

Matthew Langdon Cost graduated with a B.A. in history from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.  He has since published two mystery novels, Mainely Power and Mainely Fear. Joshua Chamberlain and the Civil War: At Every Hazard was published in April of 2015.  Cost was a business owner for ten years in Brunswick, Maine.  Later on he became a middle school social studies teacher for ten years, and has now dedicated himself to life as a writer.

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 Bagaduce Music Lending Library and Friends of the Blue Hill Public Library will present a preview of Richard Wagner's opera, Tannhäuser at 1:00 PM on Friday, November 6, at the Blue Hill Public Library. A live performance of the opera will be simulcast at the Grand in Ellsworth the following day, Saturday, November 7, from the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Peter Mattei as Wolfram in Wagner's Tannhäuser. Photo by Marty Sohl/ Metropolitan Opera.

According to the Met website, "James Levine conducts Wagner's early masterpiece in its first return to the Met stage in more than a decade. Today's leading Wagnerian tenor, Johan Botha, takes on the daunting title role of the young knight caught between true love and passion. Eva-Maria Westbroek is Elisabeth, adding another Wagner heroine to her Met repertoire after her acclaimed Sieglinde in the Ring a few seasons ago. On the heels of his recent triumph in Parsifal, Peter Mattei sings Wolfram, and Michelle DeYoung is the love goddess, Venus."

A scene from Wagner's Tannhäuser. Photo by Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera.

Local opera enthusiasts Linda Lesko and David Porter will summarize the plot, introduce the music and offer some ideas of special ways to enjoy the Saturday simulcast. All are welcome, no previous opera knowledge is needed, and admission is free. For more information, call the library at 374-5515.  

Members of the Blue Hill Life Drawing group will exhibit a collection of artwork in the Britton Gallery during the month of November. The exhibit, Drawing from Life, includes works in various media created mostly during, or inspired, by Tuesday night sessions with a live model posing for the artists. Started more than twenty years ago by artist Robert Shetterly, the loosely-knit group meets weekly to practice drawing skills in the company of dedicated artists, no instruction is given but they often inspire each other with works shared during the sessions.

Long-Legged Guy, sketch by Paul Trowbridge

Artists showing their works are: Margret Baldwin, Bruce Bulger, Eric Chase, Phil Chase, Steve Collier, Paula Dougherty, Nancy Kandutsch, Roger Kirby, David Morgan, Molly O'Rourke, Robert Shetterly, Paul Trowbridge, Matt Tunnessen, and others.
 

Watercolor by Margret Baldwin.

The show will be available for viewing during library hours from November 2 through November 28. The public is invited to an opening reception at the Library on Friday, November 6, from 4:30 to 6:00 PM. Refreshments will be served. For more information contact the Library at 374-5515.

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