INSIGHT ON EYESIGHT

​Presenter: Karen Cote • Tuesday, Sept. 28 

Your eyes are miraculous organs. Learn about how the parts of the eye work and what happens when there is dysfunction. This course will include functional anatomy and the causes of common diseases of the eye. Simulators of eye diseases will be used by participants to help imagine what eye diseases cause. Time will be devoted to Q and A.

Karen Shane Cote has worked in the field of low vision rehabilitation for over 45 years. She is a Certified Low Vision Therapist and has lectured nationally and internationally. Her job before retirement was low vision consultant for the state of Maine.

HISTORY OF THE STATE SEAL

Presenter: Ron Kley & Kate Tremblay 
Tuesday, October 5 

Following a video of Ron Kley discussing the role Benjamin Vaughan played in the design of the Maine State Seal, Ron will do a question and answer session with participants. Then Kate Tremblay will give a brief presentation on the “Reimagining the State Seal” Contest that was held in 2020, where Maine artists submitted competing designs for a re-imagined state seal for the present century. “The winning design incorporates references to new crops, native and immigrant people, as well as female farmers.”

Ron Kley is the historian and archivist
of the Vaughan Homestead in Hallowell.

Kate Tremblay is the executive director
of the Vaughan Homestead.

UNDERGROUND RAILROAD IN MAINE

Presenter: Mark Alan Leslie   •  Tuesday, October 12

Maine’s crucial part in the Underground Railroad that helped slaves escape to Canada in the 1800s included a number of Central Maine residents who put their lives and fortunes in peril by breaking the law — the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.

​Mark Alan Leslie is a longtime journalist whose career started as a reporter for the then-Waterville Sentinel, Leslie first burst on the literary scene in 2008 with his novel Midnight Rider for the Morning Star, based on the life of Francis Asbury, America’s first circuit-riding preacher.

Since then, in addition to True North, he has written The Crossing about the Ku Klux Klan in Maine in the 1920s and three contemporary thrillers: Chasing the Music about the hunt for King David’s music of the Psalms, The Three Sixes about Islamic terror cells in America, and the just-released The Last Aliyah about the Jewish escape from America when the United Nations bans Jewish emigration to Israel; and Torn Asunder, an End Times novel. A Cause Most Splendid: The Battle for the Bible is due out soon.

WADING INTO DEEP TIME: 
How an Ancient Plant Became the Maine State Fossil

Presenter: Dean and Sheila Bennett   •  Tuesday, October 19

This PowerPoint lecture traces the discovery of the Trout Valley Formation, one of the world’s outstanding sources of the first land plants, including the Maine State Fossil, Pertica quadrifarcia.

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Sheila Bennett has a doctorate degree in biological sciences from the University of Maine. She retired from teaching at the University of Maine at Augusta where she was awarded emeritus status for her 30+ year service to the campus. During her teaching, she taught a laboratory science course, SCI120, on statewide television for many years.

Dean Bennett has PhD in Resource Planning and Conservation from the University of Michigan. He is Professor Emeritus from the University of Maine at Farmington where he taught secondary science education. He has eleven published books about nature, wilderness, and human relationships with the natural world. 

MR. SPEAKER!
The Life of Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill

Presenter: Mike Bell •  Tuesday, October 26

Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill believed in his heart that government could make a difference in people’s lives. From the state legislature of Massachusetts to the Speaker’s chair in Congress, he lived his motto that “All politics is local.” They simply don’t make them like Tip anymore.

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Mike Bell loves American history! With a master’s degree in both history and teaching, and an undergrad degree in political science, he has enjoyed a varied career in teaching and historical interpretation. Mike appeared on a History Channel special about PT 109, and for over 20 years he has portrayed many historical figures, including Butch Cassidy and Sam Houston.

REMOTE PLACES ON OUR PLANET – Part 1

Presenter: Elizabeth Reinsborough  •  Tuesday, November 2

Why would anyone want to go to remote places?
This PowerPoint two-lecture series will focus on several destinations on each continent that most would consider remote. We will look at how to get there, what there is to see on arrival and perhaps answer the question above.

Elizabeth Reinsborough was born in Northern Ireland. She was educated at Queens University, Belfast and University College, London. She has worked in a plant breeding program in Tanzania and taught biology in Maine for 20 years. Elizabeth has traveled extensively both in this country and abroad. She enjoys hiking and for 20 years was a maintainer on the Appalachian Trail in the 100-mile wilderness. She often contributes to the lecture series.

REMOTE PLACES ON OUR PLANET – Part 2

Presenter: Elizabeth Reinsborough  •  Tuesday, November 9

Why would anyone want to go to remote places?
This PowerPoint two-lecture series will focus on several destinations on each continent that most would consider remote. We will look at how to get there, what there is to see on arrival and perhaps answer the question above.

Elizabeth Reinsborough was born in Northern Ireland. She was educated at Queens University, Belfast and University College, London. She has worked in a plant breeding program in Tanzania and taught biology in Maine for 20 years. Elizabeth has traveled extensively both in this country and abroad. She enjoys hiking and for 20 years was a maintainer on the Appalachian Trail in the 100-mile wilderness. She often contributes to the lecture series.