You are invited to participate in the Voices from HOME Oral History Project. Join us for a recording event on the theme “Roots” at the Thompson Free Library on Friday, April 12. Drop in anytime between 9 and 5 to conduct a brief oral history interview with a family member, friend, or neighbor. We will provide recording equipment and suggested questions to help guide your interview. We will also provide scanning equipment for your family photos and other documents. With permission, your recording and images will be become part of the Voices from HOME oral history archive.

Voices from HOME is a community-based oral history project coordinated by the Thompson Free Library and funded by a grant from the Maine Community Foundation. Our project partners include The Commons at Central Hall, the Dover-Foxcroft Historical Society, and other participating organizations and community members. Each month, Voices from HOME will host a recording event on a different theme at locations around the Heart of Maine region.

Project goals: 1) Connect community members across generations and experiences through the act of sharing and listening to stories. 2) Explore the past, present, and future of life in the Heart of Maine (Piscataquis County and neighboring communities). 3) Create an online archive to preserve our region’s history for use by students and other community members.

Please contact the library if you have any questions about this project.

Piscataquis County Soil and Water Conservation District will host an introduction to permaculture at the Thompson Free Library on Tuesday March 5th, 2019 at 5:30 pm.

You may be wondering, “what is permaculture?” or “how do I implement these practices on my land?” Steve DeGoosh and Brooke Isham from Land of Milk and Honey Farmstead in Sangerville, ME will be sharing their knowledge and how they have implemented permaculture on their properties, both urban and rural. They will be presenting basic instruction on how to get started and will leave you inspired on how you can interact harmoniously with the landscape around you, while producing food, energy and shelter in a more sustainable way.

Steve DeGoosh (Ph.D) is a former Associate Professor from Northern Michigan University (NMU) in Earth, Environmental and Geographical Sciences, and is a certified permaculture instructor. Brooke Isham (MA) is a graduate of both NMU and Western Michigan University, and is a certified permaculture designer. They are integrating permaculture design into their 16-acre farm, where they raise bees, sheep and chickens, grow vegetables, and make soap. You can find more information about LOMAH at www.lomahfarmstead.com or on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Think spring and explore new ways to grow food this year! Come and listen to this informational discussion, just one of a series of Permaculture events PCSWCD plans to offer this year. Join us for the movie “Inhabit: A Permaculture Perspective” in June, with details to follow, and an autumn discussion of walking the land with certified permaculture designer Courtney Williams from Marr Pond Farm.

If you plan to attend, please RSVP to PCWSCD at 207-564-2321, ext. 3.

February is Low Vision Awareness Month. Stop by the library to check out this fun display, which includes information about braille and low vision. Try spelling a word in braille or reading braille books, and learn more about resources and services.

Do you have Macular Degeneration or Diabetic Eye Disease? Or other eye conditions? Looking for resources and support? The Dover Low Vision Group meets the first Friday of each month from 10-11:30 am at the Thayer Parkway Community Room (33 Thayer Parkway, Dover-Foxcroft). All are welcome to attend.

For information on vision rehabilitation services, vision medical services, transportation resources, and more, visit the Iris Network Resource Directory at: https://www.theiris.org/resources

Parrots from the Siesta Sanctuary will visit the Thompson Free Library on Saturday, February 9 at 11:30 am!

About the event:

“At least three of our best talking and dancing parrots from our 80+ parrot flock will present Parrots 101. And you can take home a feather! Henrietta, a cockatoo, along with RiRi, an Amazon, and Jose, a macaw, will demonstrate typical parrot behavior and eating habits. Meanwhile, Fritz and Margaret Buschmann will explain what parrots eat, where they come from and what’s their future in the world. Thankfully, the future for the birds at Siesta Sanctuary is to stay put. Siesta Sanctuary does not re-home parrots but can refer to organizations that do.

In 2006 Margaret and Fritz Buschmann founded the non-profit Siesta Sanctuary as a home for parrots who have been displaced and need permanency. Parrots are wild animals that live 30-80 years. They are very intelligent and social and, in the wild, thrive as part of a flock. It is our mission to recreate the flock for parrots that have had their human flock disrupted; seldom can humans accommodate a pet through all the family life changes in 80 years!

Our parrots have come to us from rescue organizations, owners moving to nursing homes or apartments, spouses objecting to the bird, birds with problem behaviors that disrupt the home and birds that other folks have rescued but couldn’t keep. All birds we take in will have permanent sanctuary. Here the parrots live in a flock, can fly and learn to behave like birds. Many birds that come to us have lived alone. Nearly all have found a mate or best friend. We delight in all this social activity and the odd couples that develop.

Please consider a donation to help support this flock. You can also visit in the afternoon throughout the year. Please just call first (207-683-6322) to make sure we are home and not embroiled in some messy project!”

The Thompson Free Library is pleased to partner with the Center Theatre and Foxcroft Academy on a project supported by a grant from the Maine Humanities Council’s initiative “Democracy, Journalism, and the Informed Citizen”: https://observer-me.com/2019/01/10/all-the-presidents-men-free-showing-feb-13-at-center-theatre/
As part of this project, the library is distributing copies of Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward’s book “All the President’s Men” and inviting community members to attend two events:
  • Thursday, February 7 at 5:30 pm: Bangor Daily News reporter Callie Ferguson will facilitate a discussion at the library on “All the President’s Men,” the news media, and investigative journalism.
  • Wednesday, February 13 at 5:30 pm: Participants will join Foxcroft Academy students for food and conversation at the Center Theatre, followed by a free showing of the classic movie “All the President’s Men” at 7:00 pm.
Please contact the library if you are interested in participating!

https://observer-me.com/2019/01/10/all-the-presidents-men-free-showing-feb-13-at-center-theatre/