May 2025

South Coast & York County Senior Colleges Present:



Invitation to a Zoom Gathering:

Caring For the Future… Youth and Elders in Dialogue for a Healthy Planet.

Saturday, May 10, 2025

10:00 AM – 12:00 PM EDT

This event is free

This is the second pilot gathering where a small international group of youth and elders will come together to discover collective and individual paths leading to a healthy planet.

We’ll explore what we are individually good at, what work needs to be done, and what brings us joy.

Whatever your age, if you have a desire to find, together with others, a climate action that can be brought to life in your individual circumstances…then this gathering is for you.

Workshop facilitators: 

Bert Cohen, I have taught sustainability to students from elementary to university level for over 35 years. On an international level, I founded and co-directed the Belize-NH Teacher Program and am currently part of the founding team of Caring For the Future Community of Practice, which brings together activists from several continents to accelerate and scale the progression towards a healthy planet.

Paul Doherty,   I bring my overall 45 years of experience in education, broadcasting and ministry to my involvement in Maine’s Senior Colleges, most recently, as it might apply to sustainability and other environmental issues.  In that vein, I have taught courses in Spirituality and Sustainability, particularly as the two work together.

Jeff Goldsmith, I have been teaching about meditation since 2020 and about climate change for the past few years, before becoming a Biddeford Sustainability Commissioner last year. I am a board certified Addiction Psychiatrist since 1981.  I taught medical students, nursing students, and doctors doing their training in addiction medicine and psychiatry for about 40 years, running the addiction psychiatry fellowships for 20 years. 

Registration: Select one of the senior college links below.

Since this is a pilot program, there is no tuition fee.

South Coast Senior College

or

York County Senior College

Photo by William Hayes on Pixabay

Lewiston Auburn Senior College

present

Astronomy, Space Science, and the Environment

with Douglas N. Arion, PhD

Tuesday, May 13th from 1:00 - 3:00 pm

In-person and Zoom Class

This event is free

“Astronomy, Space Science, and the Environment"

with Douglas N. Arion, PhD.

Free

IN PERSON at Auburn Public Library and ZOOM

Everyone who registers will receive a link to ZOOM in their email on the morning of the class, and may attend either in-person or by ZOOM if desired.

Astronomers are the 'canaries in the coalmine' and leaders in addressing a number of new and major environmental issues. Light pollution, space crowding and space debris, and climate change are all connected with our disciplines. As individuals and communities, we can make a difference - but only if we know what the issues are and how to address them. The documentary film, Defending the Dark, tells the story of our work combatting light pollution and protecting the dark skies of northern Maine, with lessons that can be applied anywhere. Our workshop and presentation will discuss these and other environmental issues that we can, and must, address.

Douglas Arion, PhD is the director of Mountains of Stars, a public science outreach and education program that engages the public with 'environmental awareness from a cosmic perspective,’ is Professor Emeritus of Physics and Astronomy and Donald D. Hedberg Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Entrepreneurial Studies at Carthage College, and has been a leader in many astronomy educational programs. Arion led the effort to create the AMC Maine Woods International Dark Sky Park, which protects over 100,000 acres in Maine – the last substantial dark sky region in the eastern 2/3 of the US. He produced Defending the Dark, a documentary on dark skies in Maine that has been shown on PBS across the US and at several major film festivals. Among his many awards and honors is Dark Sky Defender Award from the International Dark Sky Association.

Douglas Arion, PhD is the director of Mountains of Stars, a public science outreach and education program that engages the public with 'environmental awareness from a cosmic perspective,’ is Professor Emeritus of Physics and Astronomy and Donald D. Hedberg Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Entrepreneurial Studies at Carthage College, and has been a leader in many astronomy educational programs. Arion led the effort to create the AMC Maine Woods International Dark Sky Park, which protects over 100,000 acres in Maine – the last substantial dark sky region in the eastern 2/3 of the US. He produced Defending the Dark, a documentary on dark skies in Maine that has been shown on PBS across the US and at several major film festivals. Among his many awards and honors is Dark Sky Defender Award from the International Dark Sky Association.

Register here for Astronomy, Space Science, and the Environment

Lewiston Auburn Senior College

Wikimedia Image

A New View of the Tarantula Nebula. (NASA)

Acadia Senior College

present

The Cartography of Early Exploration: Facts, Faith, Fantasy, and Fraud

Friday. May 23, From 11:30 am - 1:00 pm

Hybrid event - Free via Zoom

Reserve your seat now!

At this month's Food for Thought presentation, Michael Pancoe will share his love and knowledge of historical maps. From their profound insights, often obtained at great sacrifice, to their misconceptions, sometimes lasting for centuries, maps are amazing cultural documents. On the one hand, maps attest to the quest for knowledge, the bravery of explorers, and the advancement of technology. They can be profoundly artistic. On the other hand, maps often reflect cultural prejudice, fierce nationalism, wishful thinking, and sometimes downright fraud. Our brief discussion will explore the intersection between these forces, all on a single sheet of paper. 

While a physician by trade, Michael Pancoe has enjoyed an enduring interest in maps since childhood. He grew up literally on the shores of Lake Michigan but migrated East to Dartmouth College for both undergraduate and medical education. For the past 44 years, Michael has called Downeast Maine home. His earliest cartographic interests were driven by “cutting-edge” knowledge of the Great Lakes and New England. However, for more than 3 centuries, “cutting edge” proved to be more like the tide of the Gulf of Maine - fluid, changing, and not always predictable.

The in-person lunch and presentation will take place together at Birch Bay Village in Hulls Cove, starting at 11:30 a.m. The cost for attending the lunch and lecture $17.

The Zoom-only presentation is free and begins at noon. If you register for the online talk, you will receive the link the day before the event.

For more information, please go to the Acadia SC Food for Thought webpage.

Ready to reserve your place? Select the Zoom Only option on the registration page.

Acadia Senior College

Wikimedia Image

1561 map of the Americas by Sebastian Münster

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI)

present

Living on Earth as if We Want to Stay

Mike Nickerson

Friday, July 11th • 9:30 – 11:30 A.M.

Zoom Workshop - Fee $20

Mike Nickerson co-founded the Institute for the Study of Cultural Evolution in 1971. He coordinated activity on the Canada Well-Being Measurement Act, drawing attention to the advantages of a Genuine Progress Index (GPI).

Along with the Guideposts for a Sustainable Future video, numerous articles, pamphlets, and speaking engagements, he has written three books on sustainability. He says anyone can help by aspiring to more fun, less stuff.

This is a repeat remote workshop. Format includes lecture and discussion.

Mike Nickerson co-founded the Institute for the Study of Cultural Evolution in 1971. Along with numerous articles, pamphlets, and speaking engagements, he has written three books on the topic. The most inclusive being Life, Money and Illusion; Living on Earth as if We Want to Stay.

Registration opens to the Maine Senior College Network on June 9th.

Directions for MSCN member registration: Contact OLLI by email, leave your name and phone number, and tell them you want to sign up for "Living on Earth, as if We Want to Stay." OLLI will contact you to enroll you.

(MAY 28 online registration opens for OLLI members.)

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

Wikimedia Image

George Bellows - Summer City

AARP News

AARP Maine invites you to the next Fraud Watch Zoom call with Volunteers Phil Chin and Pam Partridge.

• Our focus this month will be the Top Ways to Spot Job Scams. Register here for the May 8, 2025, Fraud Watch!
• We also encourage you to bring your own questions and scam prevention tips to this informative discussion.

Each year, AARP Maine hosts free document shredding events around the state.

Free shredding events coming up:

• Bucksport, Friday, May 23. 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
• Bangor on Friday, June 27. 9:00 am - 1:00 pm

Please visit our website here to learn about these events and to register. All are welcome!

Do you need a scam prevention speaker for your group? 

AARP has trained volunteers who deliver free presentations on topics such as cyber security, identity theft, Romance Scams, imposter scams and more. AARP provides free helpful scam awareness resources to all participants. Please click here to complete our online request form.



On Great Fields

by Ronald C. White

Pub. Random House 2023

Pages 483. Price $35.00

Reviewed by Pat Davidson Reef

Everyone needs a hero in America right now. I found one from Maine in the book titled “On Great Fields”, by Ronald C. White. It is a biography of General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain born in 1828. The book is written with a special excitement and intimacy of the Civil War period of 1861-1865, but reflects the anxiety of today dealing with traumatic changes in our nation. It places the reader side by side with Chamberlain in Gettysburg as he experienced the war.

On July 1, 1863 the men of the Twentieth Maine regiment entered Pennsylvania. They stopped just after midnight a few miles east of a small town named Gettysburg.

Young Colonel Joshua Chamberlain stood overlooking Little Round Top Hill in Gettysburg and wondered what he was doing there. He was far away from his home in Maine. He was 5 feet 10 inches tall, mild mannered, and soft spoken, just a young college professor at Bowdoin college from a small town in Brunswick, Maine. However he was a strong minded patriot with deep faith and had volunteered in the Union Army.Yet he had never been in a war before. His job was to defend the Union army’s back so it could not be attacked from the rear. He was outnumbered and out of ammunition. But he led the Twentieth Maine regiment in attacking first with only bayonets by rotating soldiers going down the hill and not in a straight line.The enemy was surprised and overwhelmed and the victory of Little Round Top at Gettysburg on July 2, 1863 became legendary. It would change the life of Chamberlain forever because Chamberlain saved the back of the Union army during the battle of Gettysburg. He was in many battles before the end of the war becoming a general with many medals and being wounded 6 times by 1865 at the end of the war.

After the war he went back to Bowdoin College to teach. He Joined his wife Fanny in Brunswick,Maine where they made a home and brought up four children. Their home in Brunswick is now a house museum. Chamberlain was so well known in Maine that he was asked to run for governor. He ran for governor from the Republican party and won in 1869. In those days the governor’s term was one year. He ran for 4 years and won each time ending in 1871. In that year Bowdoin College asked him to be President of the College and he accepted. He brought in modern languages, sciences and a respect for women, although he rejected a woman student who applied to take Bowdoin’s medical program to become a doctor. He retired as President of Bowdoin at the age of 54. 

A man for all seasons with great leadership qualities, he found another job in leadership in Portland, Maine at that age of 54. He became the Harbor Master in a job titled, Surveyor of the Port of Portland, where he was in charge of all goods coming in and going out of the city. His office was in the beautiful old building of the Custom House in Portland, now owned by the federal government and for sale.

Traveling back and forth to Portland from Brunswick every day became too much for Chamberlain, so he bought a home on Ocean Avenue in Portland in 1910, near where Cheverus High School is located now. At that time he could see Back Cove and the water which he liked.

Chamberlain died at 85 in Portland in 1914 from wounds from the Civil War, but he left a legacy of honor in defending our nation when he was needed. He lives on as one of Maine’s true American heroes because he was born in a small town from an ordinary family and rose to be an extraordinary human being as a patriotic leader in our nation during the Civil War, President of Bowdoin College, Governor of the state of Maine, and a successful businessman in charge of Portland Harbor. He was a role model of integrity and independent spirit, a Maine hero in American culture. I recommend the book highly.

CHAMBERLAIN’S HOME in Brunswick is now a house museum and is open this Memorial weekend in May. After Memorial weekend, it will be open Tuesday through Saturday through October. Call for ticket information and specific times open during the summer at 207- 729-6606.