The library is currently open Monday through Friday from 10:00am-5:30pm and Saturday 9:30am-12:30pm. The Children's Room and Archives are open by appointment. Please call for details: 207-582-3312.

Happy New Year

Ever wonder about the tradition of the ball dropping in Times Square?  The website www.timeanddate.com says, “A particularly striking aspect of the New Year’s Eve festivities is the ball drop in Times Square in Manhattan, New York City.  The ball is made of crystal and electric lights and is placed on top of a pole, which is 77 feet, or 23 meters, high.  At one minute before midnight on December 31, the ball is lowered slowly down the pole. It comes to rest at the bottom of the pole at exactly midnight.  The event is shown on television across the United States and around the world.  The event has been held every year since 1907, except during World War II.

Across the United States a range of cities and towns hold their own versions of the ball drop.  A variety of objects are lowered or raised during the last minute of the year.  The objects are usually linked to an aspect of local history or industry.  Examples of objects ‘dropped’ or raised in this way include a variety of live and modeled domestic and wild animals, fruit, vegetables, automobiles, industrial machinery, a giant replica of a peach (Atlanta, Georgia), an acorn made of brass and weighing 900 pounds (Raleigh, North Carolina) and ping pong balls (Strasburg, Pennsylvania).”

Still looking for something to do on New Year’s Eve?  Check out these celebrations in Maine’s biggest city of Portland:

https://www.eventbrite.com/d/me–portland/new-years-eve-parties/

Let’s all plan on a wonderful and positive year in 2019!

New Year’s Resolutions – Archivally Inspired!

New Year’s Resolution to lose weight.

Whether or not you’re committing to New Year’s Resolutions (or Intentions) this year, here are some great photos from our Community Archives Room that might help inspire us all to stick to our ideals in 2017….

Lose Weight
Gardiner’s 1911 Police Force collectively weighed 2,800 pounds, winning a nationwide contest!
Save Money
Now Camden Savings Bank, Gardiner Savings Institution built their ultra-modern facility in the 1950s.

 

Eat Healthier
MacDonald’s Bakery opened in 1921 and operated for over 70 years where the Craft Beer Cellar is now.

 

Spend More Time Outdoors
Shown here in the 1920s, Spring Cove on the Brunswick Road was a summer hot spot for decades.
Read More
1947 Summer Reading participants at the Gardiner Public Library in what was then the Children’s Room and is now the Hazzard Reading Room.

 

Cut Down on Sweets
In 1923, Condos Candy Shop sold sweets where the Village Jeweler is now.

 

Carpool If You Can
This photo was taken in September 1940, just before the Sawyer Grain building (now Gardiner Feed) was built.

 

Get More Sleep
A young Gardiner man resting in his Bates College dormitory, c.1914.

 

Take a Class
The Kennebec School of Commerce operated in the upper floors of the bank building on the corner of Water and Church Streets from the mid-1930s through the 1940s and drew students from across the state.

 

Adopt a Pet
This 1920s cutie has ties to a Gardiner family and features prominently (along with many other dear pets) in their treasured scrapbook, which now lives in the Community Archives Room.
Make the Most of Less Than Perfect Situations
During the Flood of 1936 (just like those of 1896 and 1987), Gardiner folks temporarily adopted a Venetian lifestyle.
Shop Locally
Some of us still remember milk delivery from local farmers.  Today, this early 1900s Gardiner farmer could bring his wares to the Farmer’s Market or the Co-Op!

Start a Big Project You’ve Been Meaning to Do

Gardiner dug up and re-paved Water Street in the early 1980s.
 Keep a Journal / Learn a New Language
This 1896 journal was kept by a Gardiner man on River Avenue and donated by a later homeowner who discovered it — for the life of us, we have been unable to translate his unique shorthand.  Any ideas?
Stop and Smell the Roses (or Any Flowers)
This 1920s snapshot comes from a Gardiner family’s large collection of negatives, many of which we are seeing for the first time in all their glory  — thanks to our negative & slide scanner!
Exercise More
We have many old sports photos of Gardiner teams.  This one is simple titled “An Early Gardiner Baseball Nine” and is probably from the late 1800s.
Remember Important Dates
If you can’t get enough of historic Gardiner, you can enjoy even more beautiful photos AND stay on top of 2017 with a copy of our new calendar — still on sale at the library, Boys & Girls Club, and all around town for only $10.  All proceeds benefit the library and the Boys & Girls Club.
 
 
Happy New Year to All!!
 
– Dawn Thistle, Special Collections Librarian

 

Movies for New Year’s Eve!

Ah, New Year’s Eve!  The promise of a fresh start in a new year!  There are many movies we can think of right off that deal with the Christmas holiday season, but how well has Hollywood dealt with the holiday of New Year’s?  Quick – what movie comes to mind when I say “Happy New Year!“?  Not much comes to mind, does it?

So, in the spirit of the holiday, here are a few movies that have New Year’s as the background for important plot lines:
Poseidon Adventure (1972)At midnight on New Year‘s Eve, the SS Poseidon is struck by a 90-foot tidal wave and is capsized.
The Godfather, Part II (1974) – Michael confronts his brother, Fredo, as a traitor on New Year’s Eve.
Sunset Boulevard (1950)  Gloria Swanson hosts the strangest New Year’s Eve party imaginable for her old Hollywood fogies.
Ocean’s Eleven (1960)  Danny Ocean and his friend Jimmy Foster recruit their buddies to rob four of the biggest casinos in Las Vegas on New Year‘s Eve.
After the Thin Man (1936)  A New Year’s Eve dinner brings murder.
Sleepless in Seattle (1993)  Ah, romance !
While you were sleeping (1995)  Who wouldn’t want to spend New Year’s Eve with Sandra Bullock?
When Harry met Sally (1989)  “I’ll have what she’s having.”
Diner (1982)  One of the guys is set to marry his fiancé on New Year’s Eve IF she can pass his sports quiz thus proving herself (at least in his mind) a perfect match.
Scott Handville, Assistant Director