Monday

Events at Mechanics' Hall, Dec., 2016

 Wed. Nov. 30th, NOONTIME TALK
“Members of the Suffrage Movement in Portland”
    Please join us for a talk by MCMA member,Mary Foley of Friends of Evergreen,will talk about Portland area women who were engaged in the decades-long effort to obtain women the right to vote. John Neal wrote supportive editorials about them but Edward Elwell’s editorials opposed their cause. Maine women wrote, spoke and petitioned from the movement’s earliest days in the 1860s and added marching and protests in the early 20th century, all of which resulted in passage of the 19th amendment. Ladies like…. Gladys Doten Chapman, Doris Stevens, and Augusta Hunt and others who are buried at Evergreen Cemetery.
PORTLAND'S WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT
Between 1855 and 1920 when the 19th amendment was ratified, many women wrote, spoke and protested to gain the right to vote
 Wed. Nov. 30th, 7:00PM-the Makers at the Hall -Clint Chase, Boatbuilder.  He created Chase Small Craft to produce and market kits for small and beautiful do-it-yourself boats. He will talk about designing, building and teaching on the coast of Maine.
Friday, December 2nd, First Friday
MCMA Library will be hosting 4 authors and their new books during the artwalk from 5-8.  The authors are Bruce Robert Coffin whose new book is Among the Shadows. This features Detective Sergeant John Byron, and ex-Portland Police Dept. officer. The New York Times ( and readers at MCMA) call it "A first-rate novel. Suspenseful and highly entertaining.";
Christopher Morin is the author of 2 Civil War historical novels, "A Tale of Life & War and The Rebel's Wrath"
Edward Rielly is a professor at St. Joseph's College and a prolific and versatile writer of 30 books They include books about baseball and football, Native American History, a memoir, children's books and poetry. A recent volume of haiku is an award winner.  He will also bring books by his son. Brendon, who is a mystery writer of note , "An unbeaten man" named Best Crime Fiction of 2016 at the Maine Literary  Awards.  Grandson Morgan has written"Neighborhood  Heroes" a collection of interviews of Veterans in their hometown of Westbrook.

Located at 519 Congress St. second Floor Library
Library hrs. Tues., Wed., Thurs. 10:00 am- 3:00 pm

Elevator Accessible. FMI 773-8396 or mcma1857@gmail.com


Tues.,Dec. 6, 2016 “Me Before You” by JoJo Moyes
First Tuesday Book Club, Mechanics’ Hall Library, 12:00 noon
“Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has barely been farther afield than her tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex-Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair-bound after an accident. Will has always lived a huge life—big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel—and he is not interested in exploring a new one.
Will is acerbic, moody, bossy—but Lou refuses to treat him with kid gloves, and soon his happiness means more to her than she expected. When she learns that Will has shocking plans of his own, Lou sets out to show him that life is still worth living.
Me Before You brings to life two people who couldn’t have less in common—a heartbreakingly romantic novel that asks, What do you do when making the person you love happy also means breaking your own heart?     Jo Jo Moyes..http://www.jojomoyes.com/books/me-before-you/

Join us at Mechanics’ Hall at 12:00noon,
second floor library, elevator accessible. 
Bring your lunch, drinks and sweets will be provided.  

All are welcome to attend.





Sat.December 17th-1:00PM.
“A Child’s Christmas in Wales” by Dylan Thomas, reading by Abraham A. Schechter , Portland Public Library & Portland Room, librarian and archivist.
 To be held in the Mechanic’s Hall Library at 1:00 pm.
Free and all are welcome to have some tea and desserts to celebrate a Welsh Christmas -lechyd da!(cheers)

Wed., Dec. 21st-ME.Skeins
 12-2pm in the library. drop in to craft or color anytime.
        Join us for some good conversation and snacks while you work on your latest project.
      Bring supplies you no long need for our Swap Box. 
Bring a lunch, drinks and sweets will be provided
                 Fmi or to rsvp call 773-8396 or email -mcma1857@gmail.com  at the library.

Friday

MCMA November Events

 Nov. 1, 2016, “The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu”
by Joshua Hammer
First Tuesday Book Club, Mechanics’ Hall Library, 12:00 noon

“To save precious centuries-old Arabic texts from Al Qaeda, a band of librarians in Timbuktu pulls off a brazen heist worthy of Ocean’s Eleven.

In the 1980s, a young adventurer and collector for a government library, Abdel Kader Haidara, journeyed across the Sahara Desert and along the Niger River, tracking down and salvaging tens of thousands of ancient Islamic and secular manuscripts that had fallen into obscurity. The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu tells the incredible story of how Haidara, a mild-mannered archivist and historian from the legendary city of Timbuktu, later became one of the world’s greatest and”……
Wednesday, November 2 from 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Mechanics' Hall • 519 Congress St. • Portland
PubHub #55 - Kay Aikin of Introspective Systems on The Art of the Pivot
• About PubHub: PubHub is the first Wednesday of each month at our new home at Mechanics' Hall. Please join us - it's free for everyone to attend (just register first!) Help us spread the word and share this invitation with your network! 






Friday,Nov.4th-First Friday(5:00-8:00 pm) and Library exhibit for the month of November-mages of Tanzania by MCMA members-Pam & Peter Plumb









 Monday,Nov.7th-Travel Lecture: Crossing Ethiopia
Meet the author and photographer John Snyder in a special travel lecture where he will discuss his trek across Ethiopia on foot and by mule. In 1972, Snyder retraced the route taken by Emperor Tewodros and his army in 1864 to confront a British army at Magdala. Snyder recorded his trip with stunning black-and-white photographs taken with a large-format camera. These photographs, hidden for 40 years, have now been published in a book entitled "Crossing Ethiopia." This event is free and open to the public.
Program begins at 7PM at the Maine Girls' Academy, 631 Stevens Ave., Portland.  Light refreshments will be provided and all are welcome to attend.

Tuesday, Nov.15th-ME.Skeins
12-2pm in the library. drop in to craft or color anytime.
        Join us for some good conversation and snacks while you work on your latest project.
      Bring supplies you no long need for our Swap Box. 
                 Fmi or to rsvp call 773-8396 or email -mcma1857@gmail.com  at the library.


Monday,Nov. 21 - Ireland,focusing on Northern Ireland and the northern portion of the Republic of Ireland. presented by MCMA members- Lesley MacVane and Roger Berle.         Program begins at 7PM at the Maine Girls' Academy, 631 Stevens Ave., Portland.  Light refreshments  will be provided and all are welcome to attend.
Nov.22-24th—Tues.Wed. & Thurs. -Mechanics’ Hall library will be closed

Wed. Nov. 30th,12:00 Noon , MCMA member Mary Foley
Lunch Time talk by Mary Foley,Friends of Evergreen- “Members of the Suffrage Movement in Portland” that are buried in Evergreen Cemetery
Bring a lunch, with light refreshments & dessert provided.

Wednesday, Nov.30th, Makers at the Hall, 7:00pm
Clint Chase-Boatbuilder
Clint Chase created Chase Small Craft to produce and market kits for small and beautiful “do-it -yourself” boats. He will talk about designing,building and teaching with Small Boats on the Coast of Maine.


Sunday

Mechanics' Hall October Events



MONDAY,Oct. 3 - Live presentation on Zanzibar by Alice Spencer
all lectures will be at The Maine Girls’ Academy(formerly McAuley H.S.) Auditorium, Stevens Ave., Portland. All programs begin at 7:00 PM

Tuesday,Oct. 4, 2016 “Under the Wide & Starry Sky” by Nancy Horan
     First Tuesday Book Club, Mechanics’ Hall Library, 12:00 noon
New York Times bestselling author of Loving Frank, comes her much-anticipated second novel, which tells the improbable love story of Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson and his tempestuous American wife, Fanny. At the age of thirty-five, Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne has left her philandering husband in San Francisco to set sail for Belgium—with her three children and nanny in tow—to study art………from. http://nancyhoran.com/under-the-wide-starry-sky/
Join us at Mechanics’ Hall at 12:00PM,second floor library, elevator accessible. 
Bring your lunch, drinks and sweets will be provided.  
All are welcome to attend.



Wednesday, October 5, PubHub #54 - Pitch Night from 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Mechanics' Hall • 519 Congress St. • Portland. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pubhub-54-pitch-night-tickets-28008434983


Thursday, Oct.6th.
 Quarterly Members' Meeting will be on Oct.6 at 6PM in the Library in Mechanics' Hall.We have a fairly short agenda and light refreshments will be served.

Friday, Oct. 7th, First Friday, in the Mechanics’ Hall library
       Held over for a second month“Union Station Remembered” (1888-1961)with photos and art of the grand old station that was lost to urban renewal on August 31,1961, 55 years ago, exhibit by MCMA librarian Pat Larrabee








Monday, Oct.17th, A live presentation on Tanzania by Pam Plumb
all lectures will be at The Maine Girls’ Academy(formerly McAuley H.S.) Auditorium, Stevens Ave., Portland. All programs begin at 7:00 PM
Wed., Oct.19th
Wed., Oct. 19th,Maine Skeins have changed their time and day to the 3rd Wednesday of the month, from 12-2pm in the library. drop in to craft or color anytime.
        Join us for some good conversation and snacks while you work on your latest project.
 Bring supplies you no long need for our Swap Box. 
                 Fmi or to rsvp call 773-8396 or email -mcma1857@gmail.com  at the library.


Monday

Sept.MCMA Events in Mechanics' Hall


 August 31,Wed. 7:00 pm..Makers at The Hall
Guilds, Unions & Associations
  Join our diverse panel of makers and scholars for a wide ranging conversation on the challenges of effective mutual support, in celebration of Labor Day and the first 21st century MCMA Makers Parade
Sept. 2nd, First Friday, in the Mechanics’ Hall library
“Union Station Remembered” (1888-1961)with photos and art of the grand old station that was lost to urban renewal on August 31,1961, 55 years ago, exhibit by MCMA librarian Pat Larrabee
Sept.2nd, First Friday Artwalk, Banner Parade down Congress St.
Along with a group of talented USM students I have made banners for  groups that include bakers and farmers, blacksmiths, coopers, luthiers,  caregivers and healers, communicators, teachers (AFT), musicians, technicians and hackers and a couple of  banners with 19th century labor slogans-
Each cloth  banner will be high in the air, supported by two people carrying two 12’ wooden poles - we will be parading south from the Hall to Monument Square  and  then possibly  to City Hall during First Friday Art Walk
Please feel free to ask friends to join in- no need to be formally identified with the group whose banner you are carrying or rallying behind- this is an open celebration, inspired by Portland’s history
If you would like to carry a banner for this short parade- please contact (MCMA member)Ellen- reply to this email or txt me at 505-610-6725.





Sept.6th, First Tuesday Book Club-12:00 Noon,A Memory of Violets: A Novel of London's Flower Sellers
“The author of the USA Today and New York Times bestselling novel The Girl Who Came Home has once again created an unforgettable historical novel. Step into the world of Victorian London, where the wealth and poverty exist side by side. This is the story of two long-lost sisters, whose lives take different paths, and the young woman who will be transformed by their experiences”….Amazon







PubHub #53 - Betsy Biemann and Kate Curran of CEI
Wednesday, Sept. 7 from 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Mechanics' Hall • 519 Congress St. • Portland
• About PubHub: PubHub is the first Wednesday of each month at our new home at Mechanics' Hall. Please join us - it's free for everyone to attend (just register first!) Help us spread the word and share this invitation with your network! 
• About the Speaker:
Betsy is a familiar face in Maine’s entrepreneurial community – from serving as President of Maine Technology Institute from 2005 to 2012, to being a Maine Angel, to work at Harvard on growing Maine’s farming and food industries, she is a force for good for Maine. She will speak at the September PubHub about her new gig as CEO of Coastal Enterprises (CEI), a mission-driven lender and one of the nation’s premiere rural community development organizations. Betsy will be joined by Kate Curran of CEI’s Women’s Business Center. Kate will share news about CEI’s new Entrepreneur in Residence program for Maine women business owners. We’re thrilled to have Betsy and Kate speaking at the September PubHub. 

We hope you can join us! Please do us a favor and register to attend - that way we make sure we have enough beer and food. Thank you eternally. 

Sept.15th, Thursday  12:00 noon, Mechanics’ Hall Library, Mary Foley(MCMA member) who leads tours of Past MCMA members buried in Evergreen Cemetery she will talk of  members of MCMA who were prominent men of Portland and how they contributed to the education of tradesman and the industries of Portland.

Sept.21st, Third Wed.
Maine Skeins have changed their time and day to 3rd Wednesdays from 12-2pm in the library. drop in to craft or color anytime.
        Join us for some good conversation and snacks while you work on your latest project.
 Bring supplies you no long need for our Swap Box. 

                 Fmi or to rsvp call 773-8396 or email -mcma1857@gmail.com  at the library.

Thursday

Mechanics' Hall August Events

 FIRST TUESDAY BOOK CLUB
August 2nd, At the Water’s Edge by Sara Gruen
     “Maddie is left on her own in WWII Scotland while her husband strives to hunt down the Loch Ness monster.
In this new novel from the author of the #1 New York Times best seller Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen again demonstrates her talent for creating spellbinding period pieces. In At the Water’s Edge, she tells the gripping and poignant story of a privileged young woman’s moral and sexual awakening as she experiences the devastations of World War II in the Scottish Highlands.
Madeline Hyde, a young socialite from Philadelphia, reluctantly follows her husband and their best friend to the tiny village of Drumnadrochit in search of the Loch Ness monster—at the same time that a very real monster, Hitler, wages war against the Allied Forces.......” http://saragruen.com/author-books/books/at-the-waters-edge/ ,,Sara Gruen 

Bring a lunch; dessert and drinks(Tea or Lemonade) provided, 12 Noon at the Mechanics’ Hall Library-519 Congress St, second floor, elevator accessible
All are welcome.Pre-reading of the book not required 
FMI call Pat at 773-8396 or e-mail mcma1857@gmail.com Check us out on Facebook
Wed. August 3rd


PubHub #52 – Time Warner Cruise of Casco Bay

Wednesday, August 3 from 5:45 PM - 8:00 PM
Casco Bay Ferry Lines, Portland ME
                                                                                               

 


Friday,August, 5th- ”Winter in August” opens of  the First Friday Artwalk, 5-8:00 pm and on display in the library for the month of August

NEW  paintings by  Peaks Islander Artist-  M. Lavendier  Myers
Lavendier Myers studied with Lawrence Rakovan at Univeristy of Southern Maine and at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington D.C. with Brockie Stevenson, Leslie Exton, Hayes Friedman, and Blaine Davis.
A typically individualistic Maine islander artist, Myers primarily uses oil paint outdoors in summer at Cliff Island, Peaks Island, and the Diamond Islands in Casco Bay, Waldoboro, Friendship, Monhegan, Cushing and Port Clyde.
Winters, Myers uses acryllic paints at her studio at the SouthPort Marina, next to the Snowsquall restaurant in South Portland.
Lavendier Myers has held many SOLO exhibits. To name a few: Capricorn Gallery, Bethesda Maryland, Gallery Music, Portland Maine, Gem Gallery and Richard Boyd Gallery, Peaks Island Maine, and TideMark Gallery at Waldoboro Maine.
Purchase list by Individuals and Corporations available upon request.

Myers spent 11 enjoyable years Docenting at Portland Museum of Art, Portland Maine.




Tuesday, August 16th, Maine Skeins, 4:00-6:00pm Maine,
        Join us for some good conversation and snacks while you work on your latest project.
 Bring supplies you no long need for our Swap Box. 
                 Fmi or to rsvp call 773-8396 or email -mcma1857@gmail.com  at the library.


Thursday, August 18th, MCMA member and author-Ron Romano, book launch
Early Gravestones in Southern Maine: The Genius of Bartlett Adams 
Mechanics Hall Thursday, August 18
519 Congress Street 7 pm to 8 pm (or beyond) Portland, ME 04101 

This event, free and open to the public, includes introductory speakers, a brief slide show, reading(s) from the book, and audience Q & A (40 - 45 minutes). Throughout the event, attendees may purchase the autographed book (list price $21.99), and enjoy refreshments provided by Spirits Alive and MCMA

Wed.,August 31, 7:00 pm..Makers at The Hall
Guilds, Unions & Associations
    Join our diverse panel of makers and scholars for a wide ranging conversation on the challenges of effective mutual support, in celebration of Labor Day and the first 21st century MCMA Makers Parade


July Events at Mechanics' Hall


July 1st,  The June Artist Marie Galland- Dodin, “Mixed Media”  is being held over for the month of July. 
       Downtown First Friday Artwalk,5:00-8:00pm Friday, July 1st & the artist artwork on exhibit in the library for the month of July

July 5th,Tuesday, Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman
The daughter of a Coney Island curiosities museum’s proprietor pursues a love affair with a Russian immigrant photographer. 12:00 noon, bring your lunch, tea and desserts provided


July  6th, Wed. Its a Pub-Hub Field Trip!,, Baxter Brewing’s Co Bill Dubay is hosting, Lewiston Tasting Room, 70 Lincoln St., Lewiston Me.

July 7th, 6pm.-Join us in the Library for the July Quarterly Meeting, which will be both informative and entertaining.
Find out what the Board has been up to this last quarter and hear about the first annual MCMA Parade, scheduled for Sept. 2, 2016!
Lear more about the library, and imagine ways to make it even better and of course meet up with your fellow members.
Plus, there will be fabulous baked goods from Tandem Bakery, impossible to refuse
The meeting will start at 6PM, hope to see you there.
Donna, MCMA Secretary


July 19th, Tuesday, Maine Skeins, 4:00-6:00pm Maine,,Skeins, 4:00-6:00pm
        Join us for some good conversation and snacks while you work on your latest project.
Bring supplies you no long need for our Swap Box.Thanks  
                 Fmi or to rsvp call 773-8396 or email -mcma1857@gmail.com  at the library.


July 27th, Wed….”Makers’ Mix”, Calling all Artists, Artisans, Smiths, Wrights, Tailors, Cooks, masters & Amateurs, Inventors & Dubbers….an evening of conversation and camaraderie. come meet your fellow makers! 7-9pm, Thanks to the generous support of the Warren Memorial Foundation