In: 101 Series, Events, News, Online Program, Outdoors

Join us for Central Maine Weather 101 live via Zoom on Thursday, July 9 at 1:30 pm!

Local meteorologist & former Navy weather forecaster Ed Hummel presents a short virtual course on how weather works in this part of Maine and how it’s changing due to climate change (& will continue to change as the whole climate system continues to warm).

Ed, who also taught high school science and math at Dexter Regional High School for almost 20 years, will be glad to answer your weather-related questions! (Hmmm…wonder what he thinks about weather apps??)

This program is free & open to the public. To participate, join the Zoom meeting at: https://networkmaine.zoom.us/j/85471254755 (Meeting ID: 854 7125 4755) You can also dial in by phone at: 1-646-876-9923.

In: Community, Events, News, Online Program

Want to learn how to prepare healthy foods on a limited budget? Come to a virtual workshop taught by a trained nutrition professional!

This free 4-class online series will give you the skills to shop, cook, and eat healthy foods while staying within your food budget. There will be recipe demonstrations and time for questions at each fun and interactive session.

All participants will receive a free gift along with a colorful cookbook with 24 healthy, low-cost recipes and nutrition tips.

When? Choose your own adventure! ***Pick one per week***

Where? Zoom! Link will be provided upon registration.

Please contact Greta at 207-564-3350 or thompsonfreelibrary@gmail.com to register.

WEEK 1WEEK 2WEEK 3WEEK 4
Monday, July 6
9 am		Monday, July 13
9 am		Monday, July 20
9 am		Monday, July 27
9 am
Wednesday, July 8
12 pm		Wednesday, July 15
12 pm		Wednesday, July 22
12 pm		Wednesday, July 29
12 pm
Thursday, July 9
6 pm		Thursday, July 16
6 pm		Thursday, July 23
6 pm		Thursday, July 30
6 pm

In: Authors, Events, Maine History, News, Online Program

The State of Maine and the Ku Klux Klan. It’s an improbable antithesis, but not only did the KKK take root in Maine in the 1920s, the group’s first daylight parade in America was held Sept. 3, 1923, in nearby Milo. The parade made newspaper headlines across the country, heralding the possibility of “klaverns” across the Northern states.

This astonishing time in Maine’s history, left out of textbooks for nearly 100 years, will be explored by author Mark Alan Leslie as part of Thompson Free Library’s Bicentennial Speaker Series at 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 18.

“Milo, Dexter, Newport and Bangor-Brewer were hotbeds of KKK activity in the 1920s,” Leslie said. “I’m certain that when the Klan held its first state conclave in a forest outside Waterville in 1923, some from this area were among the 15,000 who attended.”

Indeed, the Klan reached such heights that it helped elect Governor Ralph Owen Brewster, the mayors of Rockland, Saco, Bath and Westbrook, the Speaker of the Maine House and a number of other political and law-enforcement leaders.

An estimated 19 percent of the state’s population supported the Southern-based secret society, Leslie said, adding, “While few African-Americans lived in Maine at that time, the KKK’s targets were French-Canadians, Catholics and Irish and Polish immigrants as well as Jews.

In his talk “Maine Burning: The Ku Klux Klan Invasion” Leslie will tell the tale of the extraordinary rise and fall of this organization which, now and again, still makes headlines in Maine today.

This event is free and open to the public. To participate, join the Zoom meeting on Thursday, June 18 at 6 pm: https://networkmaine.zoom.us/j/84237161160 (Meeting ID: 842 3716 1160) You can also dial in by phone at: 1-646-876-9923.

The Crossing by Mark Alan Leslie

The Monmouth resident’s fictional novel, The Crossing, is a sweeping — and ultimately uplifting — look at the KKK’s impact on a small western Maine town in 1923.

The AFA Journal called Leslie “a seasoned wordsmith…in the class of John Grisham” and the Midwest Book Review termed his insights into world politics and culture “staggering and frighteningly realistic.”

Leslie earned Featured Book status from Publishers Weekly for his 2015 book, True North: Tice’s Story, a novel about the Underground Railroad in Maine.

In: 101 Series, Arts & Crafts, Community, Events, News, Online Program, Sustainable Living

Since washing our hands is more important than ever, now is the perfect time to learn how to make soap. Join us Tuesday, June 16 at 1:30 pm for Soap Making 101.

Brooke Isham of Lomah Farmstead in Sangerville will teach us how to make beautiful, cold processed natural soap from ingredients that can be found locally, using simple equipment. She currently sells her soap online and at various Farmer’s Markets. She specializes in soaps that are free of synthetic fragrances & colorants.

Feel free to ask questions & share your own soap making tips!

This program is free & open to the public. To participate, join the Zoom meeting at: https://networkmaine.zoom.us/j/88370670600 (Meeting ID: 883 7067 0600). You can also dial in by phone at: 1-646-876-9923.

In: Community, Events, News, Online Program

Join the Voices from HOME Oral History Project for a live storytelling event on the theme “Together” on Friday, May 22 at 6 pm.

Helen Keller once said, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”

We want to know:

How have you spent time together? Have you worked with your community to make it better? Was there a time when you were feeling totally alone and then, surprise, someone showed up to fill the void? Or vice versa: you were the one who showed up when needed? Did someone or something bring you together with the love of your life? Have you worked to get your life together, alone or with others? Maybe an exciting night with friends is something you still talk about. We want to know what you’ve done together!

The key word here is “together,” and whatever memory or story that conjures up, sharing it with us on story slam night could be entertaining or perhaps inspirational. Come together (but apart on Zoom) to share your 4-8 minute TRUE story, or listen to the stories of others!

Photo courtesy of the Dover-Foxcroft Historical Society

You can join online at: https://networkmaine.zoom.us/j/85129257760 or dial in by phone: 1-646-876-9923. (Zoom Meeting ID: 851 2925 7760.)

Voices from HOME is also involved in a regional project to collect stories about life in Central Maine during the COVID-19 pandemic. Help us document this important time in history by contributing a story, image, audio recording, or video to the Heart of Maine Emergency Archive.