Thomaston Library News

 

Spring Fever Book Sale

Through the month of April, The Friends of the Thomaston Public Library's Hallway Bookshop will celebrate spring by featuring a two-for-one sale on books about the following subjects:

• Flora & Fauna
• Food & Fun
• The Great Outdoors

In addition, all paperbacks are two for the price of one.

The Hallway Bookshop is located in the Thomaston Academy building at 60 Main Street. Items will be available for purchase during all open library hours.

 

Photo of Andrew Vietze by Bruce Hancock

Mutiny, Shipwrecks, and Cannibalism

 With Maine Author Andrew Vietze

 

 

The Thomaston Public Library is proud to present an evening with Maine writer and editor Andrew Vietze, on Tuesday, April 8th at 7 PM. Mr. Vietze will read from his recent book Boon Island, "a harrowing true tale of fraud, mutiny, shipwreck, and cannibalism on the desolate rock known as Boon Island." Many Mainers are familiar with the story of Boon Island because of the historical novel by that name written by Kenneth Roberts. Mr. Vietze will talk about the process of researching and writing his nonfictional account of that same event, involving the wreck of the ship Nottingham Galley.

The former Managing Editor of Down East: The Magazine of Maine, Andrew Vietze is the bestselling author of eight books, including the critically acclaimed Boon Island (Globe Pequot, 2012) and Becoming Teddy Roosevelt (Down East, 2010). Publishers Weekly called Boon Island "a maritime whodunit rife with twists and turns and high drama”; The Portsmouth Herald dubbed it “superb. . . both a well-researched history and a page-turning mystery that begs to be a motion picture.” Co-written with historian Stephen Erickson, it won a gold medal at the Independent Publisher Book Awards, was a ForeWord Book of the Year Finalist, and is the subject of a Travel Channel feature premiering this summer.

Becoming Teddy Roosevelt also won an IPPY, was a Book of the Year Finalist, and was the inspiration for Coastal Maine Botanical Garden's new program for middle schoolers, the Lunder New Naturalists. The book was formally honored by decree of the Maine State Legislature in 2010, hailed as “so symbolic of the spirit and unique character of Maine.” Vietze got his start at the Maine Times in the early 90s, and, in addition to his books, he's written for a wide array of publications, including: New York Times' LifeWire, Weather.com's “Forecast Earth,” Crawdaddy, Time Out New York, Explore, Big Sky Journal, AMC Outdoors, Popmatters, and American Songwriter. A Registered Maine Guide, he splits his time between an old farmhouse in Appleton and a cabin in the woods of Baxter State Park, where he works as a seasonal ranger.

For more information about Andrew Vietze, please see his website at www.andrewvietze.com. For more information about the event, please call the library at 354-2453.

 

 

 

Intergenerational Book Club to Discuss

Remarkable Creatures: A Novel

On Tuesday, April 15th, at 2:30 PM, the Thomaston Public Library's Intergenerational Book Club will discuss Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier.

In 1810, a sister and brother uncover the fossilized skull of an unknown animal in the cliffs on the south coast of England. With its long snout and prominent teeth, it might be a crocodile – except that it has a huge, bulbous eye. Remarkable Creatures, by Tracy Chevalier, is the story of Mary Anning, who has a talent for finding fossils, and whose discovery of ancient marine reptiles such as that ichthyosaur shakes the scientific community and leads to new ways of thinking about the creation of the world.

Working in an arena dominated by middle-class men, however, Mary finds herself out of step with her working-class background. In danger of being an outcast in her community, she takes solace in an unlikely friendship with Elizabeth Philpot, a prickly London spinster with her own passion for fossils.

The strong bond between Mary and Elizabeth sees them through struggles with poverty, rivalry and ostracism, as well as the physical dangers of their chosen obsession. It reminds us that friendship can outlast storms and landslides, anger and and jealousy.

On the third Tuesday of every month, the Intergenerational Book Club, a group of men and women of all ages, comes together to share their opinions and ideas about the book selection. Extra copies of the books are purchased by the Friends of the Thomaston Public Library from the Annual Appeal funds. We thank you for your donations. All are welcome at the Thomaston Library on April 15th at 2:30  p.m.

If you live in Thomaston and would like to attend but need a ride, please call the library at 354-2453 a week before the discussion date.

 

Wood-turned vessels created by Peter McCrea of Thomaston

On display throughout the month of April

Peter uses fresh local wood to create objects that may be functional, such as toys, lidded boxes, whimsical pieces, kitchen tools, doll-house scale miniatures, serving bowls, and urns, but more often tend toward decorative vessels with vivid natural color, grain, and live bark rims. Burls, a form of unusual growth in Black Cherry, Sugar and Silver Maple and Quaking Aspen, create a very desirable material for decorative turnings. Ambrosia Maple, a uniquely-colored, local Red Maple, which has been invaded by a tiny beetle, is another desirable material for creating spectacular decorative objects.

Wood-turning involves the use of a lathe, which securely grips the wood and rotates it rapidly allowing the manipulation of hand-held sharp tools to create shapes that typically possess symmetry about the axis of rotation. Since wood changes its shape upon drying, most of Peter's work is "twice-turned," with a six-month drying interval between the initial forming of a heavy-walled shape and the final turning and finishing.

More of Peter's work can be seen at Once A Tree in Camden and Archipelago in Rockland.

 

Saltwater Film Society Screening of The Village

Tuesday, April 17th, 6:30 PM

In a quiet, isolated village in Pennsylvania, inhabitants have reached an agreement with the creatures who reside in the surrounding woods: the townspeople do not enter the woods, and the creatures do not enter the village. This agreement is violated when Lucius Hunt seeks medical supplies from towns beyond the wood. Animal carcasses, devoid of fur, begin to appear around the village, causing the council of elders to fear for the safety of the village.

This film features a stellar cast that includes William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Cherry Jones.

For more information about the Saltwater Film Society, please see their website, http://www.saltwaterfilmsociety.org/.

 

 

Fresh Flower Arrangements Enhance

Thomaston Public Library 

Thomaston Public Library would like to thank Thomaston's new florist and gift shop, The Flower Goddess, which opened in late March at 144 Main Street, for the beautiful arrangements of fresh flowers they have been bringing in to the library every week. These lovely arrangements now adorn our display table and the Spring Fever book-sale table in the Hallway Bookshop. Mark Andersen, from the shop, delivers the fresh flowers each week and always checks back within a few days to snip stems and refresh the water, to keep the bouquets looking lovely.

The Flower Goddess, whose tasteful selection of gift merchandise is predominantly the work of Maine artists and craftspeople --  pottery, mobiles, prints and cards, ornaments, fabric art, cutting boards, books, and a whole lot more -- was where the library chose to go this past week, Volunteer Appreciation Week, to honor our wonderful volunteers. Laurie Lynn Tracy, The Flower Goddess's proprietor, attached a fresh rose to a gift certificate and wrapped each little gift beautifully in paper and ribbon to create the lovely tokens of our appreciation presented to the volunteers who help us so much each and every week.

So, thank you, Flower Goddess, and thank you so much, volunteers, for all you do for us and for our wonderful partnerships with all of you!

 

 

"Welcome to the Rockland Career Center" Event

Tuesday, April 29, 1 PM

The Thomaston Public Library is offering an afternoon program to introduce the local community to the broad spectrum of services available at the Rockland Career Center for those seeking jobs, changing careers, or looking into a host of other life resources.

A Career Center consultant will present a slide-show, walk attendees through the Maine Job Bank, distribute handouts, and answer all of your questions about the career center's many services, which range from computer use, faxing, and scanning to job training, resume-help, and content and contact information about job openings in the area and the state.

If you are seeking new-job training or information on how to become self-employed, if you are considering taking the GED or going back to college, if you're curious about Veterans Services possibilities or the availability of apprenticeships, if you just want to brush up your interviewing skills, the Rockland Career Center -- Maine's Employment Resource -- is a great place to start, so bring your questions to this informative session.

Bake Sale on Saturday, April 26th, 10 AM to 1 PM

The Library will host a bake sale on Saturday, April 26th, in the main room of the library. The proceeds of the bake sale will go to support the very ambitious children's summer-reading-program currently in the works for this coming summer. (We plan to offer community kids 40 days of indoor and outdoor fun, great books, and delicious, healthy food. Stay tuned for more details on the library's summer offerings for children!)

Saturday's bake sale will feature a variety of home-baked items. If the Easter Bunny's recent visit has left your sweet tooth craving more, stop by the library and pick up some fresh, baked goods!