M ~ The moose with loose poops
A ~ A is for Acadia
N ~ Nautilus
E ~ Emmeline
B ~ Bag of bones
T ~ Take heart
Maine
Summer’s here! Don’t forget to write!
School is out; the weather’s warm; it’s time to hit the road, explore old (and new!) favorite places, and share your adventures and travels with friends and family. Long before Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat, postcards were the way to drop a line and keep folks up to date. We have a wonderful collection of Gardiner-themed postcards in our Community Archives Room. Many of them depict scenes around town, but there are also quite a few that were more generic, novelty cards into which Anytown, USA, could be inserted — and Gardiner was not to be left out of the fun!
Here are some classics that recently entered our collection — Enjoy! At just over 100 years old, these range from about 1900-1915.
And don’t forget,
If you’re in search of a happy home, come to Gardiner, Me., this is a classy spot!
Happy Summer, everyone!!!
Unsung Heroes
Recently I saw the film, The Way We Get By, directed by Aron Gaudet who grew up in Old Town, Maine. Many of us here in Maine have heard of the troop greeters at the Bangor Airport. Actually, I have been there at the same time waiting to fly out. At the time I didn’t really know what was going on. This is a wonderful film about some wonderful Mainers who are making a huge impact in such a small, personal way.
The product description from Amazon.com says: “The SXSW Special Jury Award winning The Way We Get By is a deeply moving film about life and how to live it. Beginning as a seemingly idiosyncratic story about troop greeters – a group of senior citizens who gather daily at a small airport to thank American soldiers departing and returning from Iraq, the film quickly turns into a moving, unsettling and compassionate story about aging, loneliness, war and mortality.
When its three subjects aren’t at the airport, they wrestle with their own problems: failing health, depression, mounting debt. Joan, a grandmother of eight, has a deep connection to the soldiers she meets. The sanguine Jerry keeps his spirits up even as his personal problems mount. And the veteran Bill, who clearly has trouble taking care of himself, finds himself contemplating his own death. Seeking out the telling detail rather than offering sweeping generalizations, the film carefully builds stories of heartbreak and redemption, reminding us how our culture casts our elders, and too often our soldiers, aside. More important, regardless of your politics, The Way We Get By celebrates three unsung heroes who share their love with strangers who need and deserve it.“
You can reserve this film online via the Minerva system or just give us a call and we will do it for you.
Maine State Park Pass
Here is a reminder to our patrons that the Gardiner Public Library will once again be providing a Maine State Park pass for you to use free by checking it out with your Gardiner library card. The pass goes out for three days on a first come/first served basis and allows a vehicle and all its occupants’ free access to a State Park in Maine.
Enjoy the warm weather now that it has arrived!
Museums
Maine has some other great art museums besides the Portland Museum of Art that are perhaps not necessarily on your radar. For future planning, I would like to suggest an upcoming exhibit at the Bates College Museum of Art at the Olin Arts Center in Lewiston. Beginning in June and running until October, Bates College Museum of Art will be featuring Maine’s own Dahlov Ipcar in a show that is drawn mainly from private collections. Find out more about this exciting exhibit at the Bates College Museum of Art web site – http://www.bates.edu/museum/exhibitions/upcoming/dahlov-ipcar-a-life-in-the-arts/
Latest Snowfall In Maine
Yes, we are tired of it. Yes, it seems it will never go away. But, have you ever wondered when was the latest recorded snowfall in Maine?
This was featured on B98.5 FM Central Maine’s Country Radio Station’s website:
The latest recorded snowfall in Maine goes to Caribou, Maine, on May 25, 1974 they recorded 0.2 inches of snow.
So, if you do see some flakes tomorrow and your furnace kicks on, it’s nothing we can’t handle. We’re Mainers!
And this confirms it from the
Late Season Snowfall across northern Maine
…2nd latest measurable snowfall on record at Caribou, Maine…
A cold upper low tracked across northern Maine during the early morning hours of May 23, 2015. The air mass was cold enough that the precipitation that fell across far northern Maine fell mainly as snow. A total of three tenths (0.3″) of an inch of snow was observed at Caribou, Maine on May 23, 2015. This broke the previous record for May 23rd of a trace of snow observed in 1990. It was the greatest snowfall ever observed so late in the season. It was also the 2nd latest measurable snowfall on record at Caribou. The all-time latest measurable snowfall was May 25, 1974 when two tenths (0.2″) of an inch of snow was observed.
Marsden Hartley
Do you know who Marsden Hartley was? If you are interested in what Maine has contributed to the culture of the world, then you should know who he is even if you do not know yet. Hartley was born in Lewiston, Maine in 1877 and died in Ellsworth in 1943. His contribution to world culture? Wikipedia calls him an American Modernist painter and says “he wanted to become ‘the painter of Maine’ and depict American life at a local level. This aligned Hartley with the Regionalism movement, a group of artists active from the early- to mid-20th century that attempted to represent a distinctly ‘American art.’ He continued to paint in Maine, primarily scenes around Lovell and the Corea coast, until his death in Ellsworth in 1943. His ashes were scattered on the Androscoggin River.”
Colby College Museum of Art in Waterville is currently featuring an exhibition titled Marsden Hartley’s Maine which will run through November 12, 2017. The museum’s web site at http://www.colby.edu/museum reports that, “This exhibition will explore Marsden Hartley’s complex, sometimes contradictory, and visually arresting relationship with his native state—from the lush Post-Impressionist inland landscapes with which he launched his career, to the later roughly rendered paintings of Maine’s rugged coastal terrain, its hardy inhabitants, and the magisterial Mount Katahdin.
Hartley’s renowned abstract German series, New Mexico recollections, and Nova Scotia period have been celebrated in previous exhibitions, but Marsden Hartley’s Maine will illuminate Maine as a critical factor in understanding the artist’s high place in American art history. Maine served as an essential slate upon which he pursued new ideas and theories. It was a lifelong source of inspiration intertwined with his personal history, cultural milieu, and desire to create a regional expression of American modernism.
The exhibition is organized by the Colby College Museum of Art and The Metropolitan Museum of Art.”
Check out this exhibition for the unique style with which Hartley has been celebrated, for the man’s unique view of Maine and its inhabitants, and for the wonderful Colby College Museum of Art building and collection which have a splendor all their own.
An Alphabet of Maine Titles
A friend and I were talking the other day, and we wondered if it would be possible to create an alphabetical list of books containing Maine places.
My list isn’t quite alphabetical, though the Maine places ARE in alphabetical order. As you will notice, I did use poetic license with two letters – X and Z. Please leave a comment if you have ideas for these two special letters!
FRIENDSHIP makes the heart grow fonder
History of ISLESBOROUGH, Maine
Thomas JEFFERSON builds a library
Mr. Goodhue remembers PORTLAND
Maine Reading
M Maine : an explorer’s guide
A Archeological excavations at Pemaquid, Maine
I It
N Nectar
E Ebbing tide
T Train to Maine
I Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop & Cafe
T Trespasser
L Lighthouse keeper’s daughter
E Enjoying Maine birds
S Stern Men
F Fairyhouses of the Maine coast
O One morning in Maine
R Route 1 Maine
T Time of wonder
H Heroes are my weakness
E East Hope
S Somewhere off the coast of Maine
U Under the dome
M Maine 24/7
M Mirror of Maine
E Exit the milkman
R Real Maine food
Sure Signs that Spring is Coming!
Backyard Grilling: Last weekend, I joyfully cooked hamburgers and hotdogs outside on the grill with friends and family. Of course, the ground was covered with snow, but the food and camaraderie were fantastic.
2. No Jackets: On Wednesday of this week, we had a delightful taste of Spring weather. I rebelled in the morning by not wearing a jacket as I headed to work, and on the way home I had the windows rolled down in the car as I enjoyed 53 degrees. Okay, so it was only one day, but it was simply gorgeous.
3. Walking: People are beginning to take leisurely strolls to enjoy the sunshine. At work, people are taking walks outside on their lunch-break instead of eating, just so they can soak up the warm sunshine.
4. Productivity Increase: After yawning all week due to the time change, I am finally feeling great and full of energy, ready to tackle my To Do list in full force and with a smile!
5. Birds: While washing dishes, I looked out my kitchen window and was pleasantly surprised to see a little Robin Redbreast happily fluttering in the tree. A sure sign!
So winter can have one last hurrah this weekend, and I will enjoy snowshoeing one last time. Then I shall declare winter OVER. I know Spring is coming, because yesterday, on the way home from work, I saw MOVING WATER in an otherwise frozen lake. So bring on the thaw! Bring on mud season! Soon I will be having lunch outside at my favorite spot, the Gardiner Waterfront, doing my favorite thing, reading a book (checked out of course from the Gardiner Public Library).