Maine Senior College Network news & updates | |
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Welcome to the January 2025 issue of the MSCN newsletter.
Happy New Year! We have many excellent classes scheduled for your enjoyment. These include online courses to help you through the chilly days ahead. You will find some free classes available in the posts below. (If you have hesitated to try Zoom, these might be a great place to start!) If you fancy some virtual travel around Maine, you will find these talks and classes very enjoyable and a chance to hear from others across the state.
All offerings are possible thanks to the help of our network's outstanding volunteers. Volunteers answer the phones, help people book classes, and respond to your questions. Others donate their time to teaching or serving on their college boards. Board members decide the curriculum, find instructors, and make social events possible. Let us know if you have an hour or two to donate to your college and would like to volunteer! Please also consider donating to your favorite college. MSCN volunteers and donations help deliver lifelong learning to their local communities.
Anne Cardale
Program Director
Maine Senior College Network
Wikimedia Image:
GW Bellows - Street in Winter 1912
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Penobscot Valley Senior College
One-Day Zoom Presentation
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Aspects of Ordinary Salt
Tuesday January 14, 2025 4:00-5:00 PM – Zoom
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This presentation is free with your 2025 PVSC or other Maine Senior College Network membership. Members of other MSCN colleges should email Sheila to register.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Aspects of Ordinary Salt
Tuesday January 14, 2025 4:00-5:00 PM – Zoom
No required reading and no examination!
Steve Norton will discuss what he has learned about various demonstrations done with salt and water and why it should matter to everyone who cares about trees, soil, streams, lakes, fishes, and invasive species! Steve will introduce about 5 or 6 chemical elements (Na, Ca, Mg, K, H, and Cl) and two simple chemical equations. No mathematics. Steve will use PowerPoint images to clarify visually what he says orally.
Presenter: Stephen Norton
Over the last 5 decades, my students and I have studied and reported on the impacts of road salt and marine aerosols. A sobering message is that road salt behaves like acid rain, stripping elements from the soil that change the chemical nature of streams and lakes in Maine. The end of this string is a major paper under construction that lays out the changes that have been documented in 18 tributaries to Lake George, NY, and the lake itself from 1970 to the present. There are some amazing impacts.
The Zoom link and recording will be emailed to registered participants.
Penobscot Valley Senior College
Wikimedia Image
(Detail) Fopsen van Es Still life
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Lewiston Auburn Senior College
presents
New Americans in Androscoggin County
with Marina Chakmakchi
Tuesday, Jan 28th, 2025, from 1:00 - 2:30 pm
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New Americans in Androscoggin County with Marina Chakmakchi
Free Hybrid Lecture held in person at the Auburn Public Library and on ZOOM
Everyone who registers will receive a link to ZOOM in their email on the morning of the class and may attend in person or by ZOOM.
New research from the American Immigration Council shows that immigrants in Androscoggin County from faraway places such as Burundi, Somalia, Djibouti, and Brazil paid over $24.0 million in taxes and held over $74.0 million in spending power in 2019. Marina Chakmakchi works with immigrant-origin students at USM to ensure that they reach their potential and enrich our community at the same time. She will provide a general overview of the report and discuss immigrant-origin USM students residing in Lewiston-Auburn.
Presenter: Marina Chakmakchi is a multilingual international professional. She has worked as a women’s rights lawyer in Russia, a student advisor in England, and an ESL teacher in Turkey. Marina first came to Maine in 2003 as an international student to study law. She now guides immigrant-origin students and internationally trained professionals as a Global Talent Navigator at the University of Southern Maine.
Register Online
Lewiston Auburn Senior College
Artwork by Julie Heirsteen
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University of Maine at Augusta
Winter Lecture Series 2025 Starting Soon
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Tuesday, January 14, 1:00 PM
WHAT HATH FRANCIS WROUGHT?
Presenter: Mike Bell
Join us for the free UMASC Winter Lecture Series 2025, presented exclusively over Zoom.
You don’t need to be a Senior College member for this series. Lectures are weekly on Tuesdays at 1:00 pm on Zoom starting January 7th and running through February 25th.
Come to one or come to all. Sign up online through our website. Once registered, we will send a Zoom link to you weekly ahead of the scheduled time. Hope to see you soon in the Zoom gallery!
If you have any questions, contact us by email or phone 207-621-3551.
Winter Lecture Series
January's offerings are listed below. Four more offerings are available in February.
Tuesday, January 7, 1:00 PM
SONGKRAN – THE THAI NEW YEAR CELEBRATION
Presenter: Elizabeth (Liz) Champeon
Tuesday, January 14, 1:00 PM
WHAT HATH FRANCIS WROUGHT?
Presenter: Mike Bell
Tuesday, January 21, 1:00 PM
TAKE A HIKE WITH KENNEBEC LAND TRUST
Presenter: Theresa Kerchner and the Staff of the Kennebec Land Trust
Tuesday, January 28, 1:00 PM
QUESTION – “WHAT IS AMERICAN MUSIC?” ANSWER – “IRVING BERLIN!”
Presenter: Peter Rosenberg
University of Maine at Augusta
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SAGE Zoom Presentation
Presque Isle had a Steamboat - What?
Tuesday, Feb. 18, 6:00 – 7:00 PM
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The Nathan Perry Steamboat, an early 19th-century vessel, was a pioneering effort to connect Presque Isle, Maine, with surrounding areas via the Aroostook River. Commissioned by entrepreneur Nathan Perry, the steamboat transported goods, particularly lumber and agricultural products, and served as a vital link for trade and communication in the region. Despite challenges like shallow waters and harsh weather, the vessel highlighted the transformative potential of steam-powered transportation in a remote, developing area. Steamboat symbolized innovation, boosting the local economy and setting the stage for future advancements in northern Maine’s infrastructure and commerce.
Instructor: Kim Smith, local historian and treasurer of the Presque Isle Historical Society.
Register Online
Seniors Achieving Greater Education (SAGE)
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MSCN Winter Classes 2025
The following colleges have posted their Winter 2025 Class offerings.
Acadia SC
Winter 2025 Classes
17 Classes: 8 In-Person, 4 Zoom, 5 Hybrid
Augusta SC
Winter Lecture Series 2025
8 (free) Zoom lectures
Lectures are weekly on Tuesdays at 1:00 pm on Zoom starting January 7th and running through February 25th.
Belfast SC
Winter 2025 Classes
14 Classes, 9 In-person, 5 Zoom.
Coastal SC
Winter 2025 Classes
7 Classes. 3 in-person, 4 Zoom
Gold LEAF Institute
Winter 2025 Classes
10 Classes. 6 in-person, 4 Zoom
Lewiston Auburn SC
Winter 2025 Classes
18 Classes. 2 in-person, 12 Zoom, 4 Hybrid
Midcoast SC
Winter Wisdom Free Lecture Series
7 in-person lectures
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
Winter 2025 Classes
27 classes plus 10 workshops:
8 in-person classes, 3 in-person workshops
17 Zoom classes, 6 Zoom workshops
2 Hybrid classes, 1 Hybrid workshop
(Classes are open for MSCN member registrations on January 2nd; please contact the OLLI office to register.)
Penobscot Valley Senior College
Winter 2025 Classes
8 Classes. 7 Zoom, 1 Hybrid
Seniors Achieving Greater Education (SAGE)
Winter 2025 Classes
5 Classes, all available on Zoom
South Coast
Winter 2025 Classes
4 Classes, 1 in-person, 3 Zoom
Sunrise
Winter 2025 Classes
6 Classes, 1 Zoom, 5 Hybrid
Western Mountains
Winter 2025
Free Public Lecture (in-person)
York County
2025 Gary Sullivan Lecture Series
Wednesdays. January 8 - March 26
9 Lectures, 2 In-person, 7 Zoom (all Zoom sessions start at 4:00 pm)
Please visit the MSCN Course Catalog web page for any updates to this list of winter classes from the network.
Wikimedia Image
Mikkel Mandt - View of a Street
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Sondheim: His Life, His Shows, His legacy
by Stephen M. Silverman
Pub. Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers 2023
Pages 293 Hardcover $35.00
Reviewed by Pat Davidson Reef
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“All that is good in art is the expression of one soul talking to another..." This well-known quote by John Ruskin, a 19th-century art critic, applies to the music of Stephen Sondheim, a Broadway musical composer and lyricist of the 20th and 21st centuries. Sondheim’s wonderful music has lifted the soul of our nation in and out of political elections and national traumas for many decades. The music of Stephen Sondheim in Broadway plays like: Westside Story (1957), Gypsy (1959), Company (1970), Sweeney Todd (1979), Sunday in the Park with George(1983), and “Into the Woods”(1986), provide an indelible atmosphere of never giving up and reflect his amazing talent. There is nothing like Broadway musical theater to help lift everyone’s soul, heal a broken heart, or help deal with frustrating day-to-day disappointments because music transcends it all. It is both soothing and uplifting. Music and art absorb pain and give joy, including stimulating patriotic spirit over the years.
In this book, you can see many of Sondheim’s creations in photographs depicting actions on the stage of his famous productions. Theater sets and attractive close-up photographs of Sondheim and other great musicians, as well as famous actresses and actors such as Elaine Stritch, Angela Lansbury, Natalie Wood, Jerome Robins, and Arthur Laurents, can be seen throughout the book.
A favorite passage in the book deals with the process of how Sondheim was hired to do the lyrics for “Westside Story.” Leonard Bernstein interviewed him with a small group and liked him. Bernstein then called Sondheim and invited him to join the creative team working on “Westside Story.” Sondheim was flattered but wanted to call Bernstein back. So, he called Oscar Hammerstein for advice and asked, “What do you think? I am more interested in doing the music.” Hammerstein said, “Accept it.” “Three gifted professionals interviewed you (Martin Gabel, Arthur Laurents, and Leonard Bernstein). You can do music later!!!”
Stephen Sondheim was only 25 at the time he went to work on “Westside Story,” and it was an opportunity that he never regretted accepting. Sondheim’s “Westside Story" lyrics united and complimented the uplifting music, communicating what the music conveyed in words. Sondheim had a special genius for merging lyrics of meaning to musical sounds.
Jules Styne, who did the music for the play “Gypsy” in 1959, said about Sondheim, “When you soar musically, Sondheim knows intuitively he must say something as important as the actual notes.”
Sondheim personified musical theater in America for more than 60 years. He died at 91 in 2021 after a full and creative life. He left behind a legacy of creativity for all generations, which people will enjoy forever. His words are timeless, and his musicals give joy yet convey some sadness, but all with sensitive meaning. Sondheim’s timeless lyrics in "Westside Story" in 1957 reflect a love for America and its struggles and we are experiencing similar struggles today. Broadway musicals have often been a mirror image of our society and its values. They have shown us both our strengths and weaknesses and often reflected humor that is badly needed while giving us hope for the future in creative ways.
Anyone looking for a lift in the new year might like to read this book and enjoy the work of Stephen Sondheim; he leaves a legacy of survival through his creativity that remains uplifting and timeless today.
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