Happenings for the Public at MAM Member Institutions

Surveyors and Settlers in the Kennebec Valley at Colonial Pemaquid

Lecture presented by the Friends of Colonial Pemaquid

Monday, July 8, 7 p.m.

The Friends of Colonial Pemaquid is pleased to sponsor their first evening lecture of the season, presented by Roger Collins, with assistance from Peter Morrisey. Both speakers are historic interpreters at Old Fort Western. For many years prior to the revolution, settlers, squatters, and trappers occupied land in locations so remote that they lacked accurate surveys or viable authority. Land could be had almost for the asking. After the revolution the Kennebec Proprietors, owners of extensive wilderness lands commenced the process of securing their claims. Local farmers dressed in Native American costume resisted surveying efforts and harassed and intimidated surveyors, sheriffs, and deputies. Collins and Morrissey will address this time in Maine history with an emphasis on the role of the surveyor. The lecture will take place at the Contented Sole Restaurant adjacent to the museum. Admission is $5, and free for members. FMI:  (207) 677-2423 / www.FriendsofColonialPemaquid.org. 

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream!

Event at the Ruggles House, Columbia Falls

Sunday, July 7, 1-3 p.m.

Join the Ruggles House for an old-fashioned ice cream social Sunday July 7 from 1-3 p.m.. Enjoying ice cream cones on the lawn and tours of the house are a great way to spend a summer afternoon. Held rain or shine. The Ruggles House is located at 146 Main Street, Columbia Falls. FMI: www.RugglesHouse.org.

“Pictures Serene and Sublime: Traditional White Mountain Art Recaptured”

Exhibit at the Bethel Historical Society

Opening July 6

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, numerous artists (including many from the so-called Hudson River School) captured the awe-inspiring summits and verdant glens in the White Mountain region of northern New Hampshire and western Maine. Including many of these early landscapes, this exhibit also highlights the work of Erik Koeppel and Lauren Sansaricq, nationally-recognized plein-air artists who have developed a love for the expressive potentials of traditional representation. The eight-week exhibition, a collaboration between the Bethel Historical Society and the Museum of White Mountain Art at Jackson, New Hampshire, will feature a variety of White Mountain landscapesundefinedmost of which will be for saleundefinedby these two highly acclaimed artists. Purchases will benefit the Bethel or Jackson historical societies. Mason House exhibit hall; Free (donations appreciated). The Bethel Historical Society is located at 10 Broad Street, Bethel. FMI: (207) 824-2908 / www.bethelhistorical.org.

Behind Closed Doors

Tours of Castle Tucker, Wiscasset

Friday, July 5 and September 6, 10 - 11:30 a.m. 

Come and peek into the nooks and crannies of Castle Tucker on a special Behind Closed Doors Tour. Led by Site Manager Peggy Konitzky, this leisurely in-depth tour includes rooms and stories not included on the general tour. See additional bedrooms and unique connecting spaces on three floors of this thirty room mansion. Advance registration is required. $10 Historic New England members, $15 nonmembers. Castle Tucker is located at 2 Lee Street, Wiscasset. FMI: l (207) 882-7169.

Come join the fun at Bug Light Park where the South Portland Historical Society will host its annual Fourth of July South Portland!  

The museum will open at 10am and the barbecue will start at 11am. Hot dogs, hamburgers, sausage sandwiches and more will be available for
reasonable prices.  At 12 noon, we will enjoy a lively reading of the Declaration of Independence by Benjamin Franklin.

**Afternoon activities for kids will include old-fashioned games at 1:30, followed by Lobster Lore, an educational program sponsored by
Weathervane Seafoods, at 2pm.** 

Celebrate our nation’s birthday with music, a picnic and games at the park, watch the kite flying (or fly your own) and take in the
spectacular views of Casco Bay. Don’t forget to stay for the fireworks!

“200 Years a Landmark”: Celebrating the Dr. Moses Mason House

Event at Bethel Historical Society,

Tuesday, July 2, 1:30 p.m.

Join us as we mark the bicentenary of the Society’s Mason House, which was begun in 1813 and renovated and restored by the William Bingham II Trust for Charity in 1972-73. A highlight of this event will be the unveiling of a professionally designed scale model of the Dr. Moses Mason House, Bethel Hill’s oldest residence, created by BHS member James Auman of Warren, New Jersey, and Norway, Maine. Mason House exhibit hall; free and open to the public. The Bethel Historical Society is located at 10 Broad Street, Bethel. FMI: (207) 824-2908 / www.bethelhistorical.org. 

Columbia Falls 150^th Anniversary Celebration

Town-wide house tour

Saturday, June 29, 1 to 4 p.m.

The Ruggles House is pleased to help celebrate the 150^th anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Columbia Falls. Events include a town-wide Historical House Tour on Saturday, June 29, from 1 to 4 p.m., featuring tours of the Ruggles House. And while you participate in other activities, stop in the garden at the Ruggles House for refreshments. The Ruggles House is located at 146 Main Street, Columbia Falls. FMI: www.RugglesHouse.org. For more on the 150th celebration, visit http://www.columbiafallsmerecord.org/150th_Celebration.html. 

Maurice Prendergast: By the Sea

Exhibition at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick

June 29 through October 13

This is the first exhibition to present the seaside work of the Post-Impressionist painter Maurice Prendergast (American, 1858-1924), whose sophisticated and sensitive renderings of beaches, coves, and bathers were often inspired by his visits to Maine. The exhibition brings together works with identifiable locations in Maine and elsewhere, with paintings whose “place” is not defined by geography but by their context in the grand traditions of western art. FMI: (207) 725-3275 / bowdoin.edu/art-museum.

*Living History Tours

At the Washburn-Norlands Living History Center, Livermore

Opens for the summer on June 29

Norlands opens on Saturday, June 29, for “Living History Tours” and will be open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from June 29 through August 31. Visitors to the site are engaged by people who portray a local person, someone you might have met had you visited in 1870. It could be someone cooking in the farmer’s cottage, if it’s not too hot, or a Washburn granddaughter, Ada Washburn or Anna Maud Washburn, in the Washburn Mansion, or the school ma’am in the one-room schoolhouse who will encourage you to practice your mental arithmetic and penmanship using a quill pen under her watchful eye. On Saturdays, the 1887 Washburn library will be open for a special program on Livermore soldiers during the Civil War. Living history tours are a fun way to learn about history and what rural Maine life was like in the late 1800s. Bring your imagination and ask all the questions you want. You can bring a picnic lunch and we will provide the lawn, the picnic table and the beautiful setting. $10 adult/$6 children under 12 yo. FMI: www.norlands.org / (207) 897-4366.