MECHANICS' HALL -JUNE EVENTS

 Mechanics’ Hall Library, First Tuesday Book Club

Tuesday, June 2, 12 NOON Founding Mothers  by Cokie Roberts – Non-Fiction

“From #1 New York Times bestselling author Cokie Roberts comes New York Times bestseller Founding Mothers, an intimate and illuminating look at the fervently patriotic and passionate women whose tireless pursuits on behalf of their families–and their country–proved just as crucial to the forging of a new nation as the rebellion that established it.

While much has been written about the men who signed the Declaration of Independence, battled the British, and framed the Constitution, the wives, mothers, sisters and daughters they left behind have been little noticed by history. #1 New York Times bestselling author Cokie Roberts brings us women who fought the Revolution as valiantly as the men, often defending their very doorsteps. Drawing upon personal correspondence, private journals, and even favoured recipes, Roberts reveals the often surprising stories of these fascinating women, bringing to life the everyday trials and extraordinary triumphs of individuals like Abigail Adams, Mercy Otis Warren, Deborah Read Franklin, Eliza Pinckney, Catherine Littlefield Green, Esther DeBerdt Reed and Martha Washington–proving that without our exemplary women, the new country might have never survived.”....Amazon.com

                       All are welcome. Pre-reading of the book not required

Bring a lunch; dessert and drinks(Tea or Lemonade) provided, 

All are welcome. Pre-reading of the book not required

FMI call Pat at 773-8396 or e-mail  mcma1857@gmail.com

Friday, June 5th, First Friday Artwalk in the Mechanics’ Hall Library

“Visual History of MCMA’s 200 Years”, The Drawing School -131 year history revisited-Architectural drawings of Will.S. Aldrich(ca.1888), who was a student and draughtsman for MCMA past President and renown architect John Calvin Stevens, along with blueprints and instruction samples from the school.also Slideshow of the 1841 Trade Banners, samples from the past Expositions of the 1800’s

5:00 to 8:00 pm

519 Congress St. Downtown Portland Me.

Second floor, elevator accessible ,

FMI call 773-8396 or e-mail at  mcma1857@gmail.com

 Noontime program

Thursday June 11

The Maine Charitable Mechanic Association’s Noontime Lecture Series continues with author Carl Senna on Jun. 11 at Mechanics Hall, 519 Congress St., Portland.   Mr. Senna will be speaking about his book “Never Charged, Never Convicted: my life in the Boston drug trade” by Marvin Clarke with Carl Senna.  This book reveals Marvin Clark’s fascinating life as a Boston drug dealer from 1960 to 1990 and a participant in some of seminal events of the latter 20^th century.  

ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Marvin Clark lived most his life in Boston, where he wrote for local newspapers. He died in 2011.  Carl Senna is the author of several books, as well as a former editorial writer and columnist for the Providence Journal. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, Boston Globe, the Globe and Mail and other newspapers worldwide.  He lives in Maine and New Brunswick, Canada.

Bring your lunch. Drinks & desserts provided, all are welcome

FMI call 773-8396 or e-mail mcma1857@gmail.com also postings on Facebook

Maine Skeins-Tuesday,June 16th

Crafters group meets the 3rd Tuesday each month

June 16th in the MCMA library, 5-7 pm, 519 Congress St, 2nd floor, elevator accessible

Drop in-bring your craft in progress, tea & refreshments available.

FMI- call 773-8396

May Events at Mechanics' Hall

 May,1, First Friday Artwalk, Steve Hrehovcik 

pronounced Hero-check

The Art  and Writing of Steve Hrehovcik
www.KennebunkArtStudio.com

Custom Pen & Ink, Equestrian & Pets, Scenic Views, Caricatures and more

“When you surround yourself with art that touches your heart,you enrich your life in ways that are beyond measure”..S.Hirehovcik

First Tuesday Book Club, May 5th

     The Maine Charitable Mechanic Association’s First Tuesday Book Club will be on May 5, 2015 at 12:00PM in Mechanics Hall, 519 Congress St., Portland.  This month’s selection is the classic “Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway.  Published in 1952, this simple and compelling story could not be classified.  It was shorter than a novel and longer than a short story, but at the end you had known a hero, the old man; another hero, the giant fish; the vast presence of the Gulf Stream; and you had lived a great tragedy, but a tragedy which emerges without grief into beauty.  

      Bring a lunch, tea and sweets will be provided.  All are welcome to attend and pre-reading of the book is not necessary.  FMI call Pat, 773-8396 or mcma1857@gmail.com.

May 6, Wed.Noon lecture, author Jan M Eakins, 

“Maine in the Gold Rush”

 “Jan is a cultural historian whose focus is vernacular architecture, urban/suburban/rural/industrial environments, mainers in the American West, and mass media. She was curator of Fairbanks House(c.1641,Dedham, Ma.), led VIP tours and trained guides at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, and initiated the Frank Lloyd Wright World Heritage List nomination and raised funds to conduct it.”from bio of Jan M.Eakins, Portland ME.

May 14, Thurs, Noon Book Talk, Steve Pinkham-” Old Tales of the Maine Woods”

http://oldtalesofthemainewoods.com

“From his phenomenal collection of over 25,000 articles and stories of the Maine Woods, Steve Pinkham has selected more of the most exciting old hunting and fishing tales, as well as stories of animal encounters, lumbering, canoe trips and tall tales for this sequel to Old Tales of the Maine Woods.  Ranging from 1845 to 1905, this book also covers the Maine Woods from Magalloway to Moosehead and Mopang to Madawaska.  Most people know that Thoreau went to Maine several times, wrote eloquently about his travels and coined the phrase “Maine Woods.”  Now for the reader will get to read more stories by many more known and unknown men and women who also travelled to northern Maine and wrote about their experiences of penned fictional stories set in the backwoods.  Included are brief biographies and portraits of the known writers.  For the unknown authors, Pinkham has included appropriate pictures.  In his first volume, Pinkham included histories of each region; for this volume he has included many early bits of fascinating information for each chapter.”

From Steve Pinkam’s web site

April -Mechanics' Hall Library and MCMA events

Friday,April, 3, 2015, First Friday Artwalk Exhibit in the Mechanics' Hall Library-Feline Photo & Art Exhibit, it will be featuring the winning photos from the "Click for Cats " contest and other Art on display for the month of April.

Mechanics’ Hall Library, First Tuesday Book Club

Tuesday, April 7 I am Malala, by Malala Yousafzai- Biography

A MEMOIR BY THE YOUNGEST RECIPIENT OF THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE 

"I come from a country that was created at midnight. When I almost died it was just after midday."

“When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education.

On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive.

Instead, Malala's miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she became a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest nominee ever for the Nobel Peace Prize.

I AM MALALA is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls' education, of a father who, himself a school owner, championed and encouraged his daughter to write and attend school, and of brave parents who have a fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons.

I AM MALALA will make you believe in the power of one person's voice to inspire change in the world”...Amazon.com

Meetings are held in the Mechanics’ Hall Library at Noon.

Bring a lunch; dessert and drinks(Tea or Lemonade) provided, 12 Noon

All are welcome. Pre-reading of the book not required

FMI call Pat at 773-8396 or e-mail  mcma1857@gmail.com

Monday, April 13 at McAuley H.,S. auditorium on Stevens Ave., Portland, for our continuing Travel Lecture series, beginning at 7:30PM.  

This month's lecture will be "Rising China" by Dale Johnson which was postponed from February.  China is a country steeped in history and tradition.  We'll see Beijing, The Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and the Great Wall.  Don't sit back too far in your chair as we'll be taking a ride on the High Speed Bullet train to Shanghai.  In contract to the antiquity of China, you'll see some of its burgeoning economic expansion, expansive shopping districts, and traffic congestion, as well as the city's new modern flair.  

Parking is on-site, refreshments will be served and all are welcome to attend, so bring a friend!

Hope to see you there,

Donna Knoblock

FMI-Video Preview https://vimeo.com/112280070

“As youngsters we heard, "If you drill straight down through the Earth you would come out in China." That comprised just about the sum total of our knowledge of China. Perhaps the improvement in knowledge since then has been slight.

  We all know of our foreign aid program for China. Not a Congressional act, but enormous amounts of U.S. dollars to China, sent through the conduit of Walmart.”

For more info on the film, check out the site below

    http://www.traveladventurecinema.com/blog/China-Rising/

MARCH EVENTS AT THE MCMA

 TUESDAY, March 3 rd- Woman in Black by Susan Hill - Fiction MECHANICS’ HALL LIBRARY-First Tuesday Book Club

The Woman in Black
"An excellent ghost story... magnificently eerie... compulsive reading." —Evening Standard
“The classic ghost story by Susan Hill: a chilling tale about a menacing spectre haunting a small English town.
Arthur Kipps is an up-and-coming London solicitor
who is sent to Crythin Gifford—a faraway town in the
windswept salt marshes beyond Nine Lives
Causeway—to attend the funeral and settle the
affairs of a client, Mrs. Alice Drablow of Eel Marsh
House. Mrs. Drablow’s house stands at the end of
the causeway, wreathed in fog and mystery, but
Kipps is unaware of the tragic secrets that lie hidden
behind its sheltered windows. The routine business
trip he anticipated quickly takes a horrifying turn
when he finds himself haunted by a series of
mysterious sounds and images—a rocking chair in a deserted nursery, the eerie sound of a pony and trap, a child’s scream in the fog, and, most terrifying of all, a ghostly woman dressed all in black. Psychologically terrifying and deliciously eerie, The Woman in Black is a remarkable thriller of the first rate”........Amazon.com
See more at: http://www.susanhill.org.uk/woman-black#sthash.3RE5kjlR.dpuf
Meeting held in the Maine Charitable Mechanic Association Library at 12 Noon. Bring a lunch, dessert and beverages (tea or lemonade) will be provided.
All are welcome. Pre-reading of the book is not required.
FMI call Pat at 773-8396 or e-mail mcma1857@gmail.com 

March 6th First Friday and March Artist in the library, Anthony Marino, Abstract in Oil…

FMI.. anthonysmarino.com

Anthony Marino will open his exhibit-“Abstract in Oil” on the First Friday Artwork and will be the Artist in the Mechanics’ Hall Library during the month of March during library hours, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday, 10:00am to 3:00pm, second floor, 519 Congress St. elevator accessible 

Anthony S. Marino

OAK STREET LOFTS

“Anthony S. Marino's work is based on the abstract. Working primarily in oil, each piece is simply labeled as “Untitled.” By doing to, this allows the viewer to interpret each image as an individual experience without preconception of subject.”

ESTY-“About…..Anthony S. Marino is an artist/musician/author currently living in Portland, Maine. Founder of the musical project: lo-fi nil, as well as, Liam Said”.

Monday, March 9, 2015-John Moon, “City by the Sea”

On Monday, March 9 at 7:30PM we will present John Moon, local bestselling author, and his slide show presentation of his latest book “City by the Sea II:  A Photographic History of Portland, Maine”. 

The book tells the story through words and pictures of how Portland has transformed itself from a 19^th century seaport and railroad center to become a modern cosmopolitan place and world-class tourist destination.  Get ready for an evening of fun and excitement as John takes us on an amazing journey through space and time to re-visit the Portland of years ago and then compares what we find there to the modern city we all know and love.  Parking is on-site.  Refreshments and signed books will be available after the presentation.

FMI.John Moon-web site…http://www.johnrmoon.com/About%20The%20Book.html

call library, 773-8396 or email  mcma1857@gmail.com

CATHERINE McAULEY HIGH SCHOOL AUDITORIUM

     631 Stevens Avenue

           opposite Evergreen Cemetery

     Parking Lot off Walton St.

         7:30-Doors open @6:45

  Wheelchair accessible

All are welcome and admission is free

    FMI-call 773-8396 or mcma1857@gmail.com

February Events at the MCMA

First Tuesday book Club, February 3, 2015- The Girl Who loved Tom Gordon, By Stephen King
Noon in the Mechanics'Hall Library, bring a lunch, dessert and beverages(Tea or lemonade) will be provided. All are welcome, pre-reading of the book not required. FMI call pat at 773-8396

“A Glimpse of Light”

 New Oil paintings by Edward Vaughan

    Edward Vaughan will be the February Artist in the Mechanics' Hall Library, opening his Exhibit " A Glimpse of Light" on the First Friday Artwork on Feb. 6th, 5-6:00 pm. Open for viewing during library hours for the month of Feb.

      A self-taught painter, Mr. Vaughan has been working in oils since 2001

    He made his living as a Carpenter/Woodworker, working on homes and buildings in and around Boston and the North Shore of Massachusetts.

  Mr Vaughan moved to Portland from Boston in 2013 and began painting again in the fall 2014

    He has combined his love of Architecture and Structures with his love of painting  to produce this new work and looks forward to  capturing the light and buildings of Portland, his adopted city

Travel Film, ----Dale Johnson Film

Unfortunately, tonight's travel lecture, Rising China, has been canceled due to no school at our host, Catherine McAuley HS. We'll let you know the rain date once it is rescheduled.

Travel lecture will be on Mon. Feb. 9 at 7:30PM at McAuley Auditorium. 
        This month's program is "Rising China" by Dale Johnson.  China is a country steeped in history and tradition.  However, in contrast to the antiquity, you'll see some of its burgeoning economic expansion.  
       Parking is on-site and refreshments will be provided.

There are 3000 buildings in Shanghai that are

higher than 30 stories,

Mechanics' Hall Library & MCMA Events in Jan.2015

• 

Joanne Fitzpatrick's Exhibit of nature’s pressed flowers opened on the First Friday Artwalk, Jan.2nd 2015, and is available for viewing for the month of Jan. during Library hrs., Tues, Wed. & Thurs., 10:00 am to 3:00 pm

For more information about the artist check out her website

1. http://authentic-pressed-flowers.blogspot.co
2. FMI  call the library at 207-773-8396 or e-mail at mcma1857@gmail.com

Tuesday,Jan.6th, in the Mechanics' Hall library- 

 First Tuesday Book Club will be discussing acclaimed author Maya Angelou’s autobiography 

“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” on Jan. 6, 2015, 12PM at Mechanics’ Hall, 519 Congress St., Portland.   

This book is the first in her series of 7 autobiographies of different stages of her life.  With her passing in 2014, America has lost an author, poet, actress and civil rights activist who worked with Dr. Martin Luther King and who, in 1993, recited one of her poems at Bill Clinton’s inauguration.   Bring a lunch, tea and sweets will be provided.  Pre-reading of the book is not necessary and all are welcome.  

After the book discussion we will be selecting books for the next 5 or 6 months so bring your ideas!

Travel Lecture-JAN.12TH, 2015

We are excited to present a slide program on the Antarctic as part of our travel lecture series on Monday, Jan. 12,2015 at McAuley H.S. Auditorium on Stevens Ave. at 7:30 PM.

In February, 2014, Peter Plumb and seven friends chartered a 75’ sailboat, and, with a captain and cook, sailed it from the Beagle Channel, in southern Chile, via Cape Horn to the Antarctica Peninsula.  The trip south took about five days.  Once there they cruised the West coast of the peninsula, getting almost as far south as the Antarctic Circle.  The sail home, again via Cape Horn, took six days.  The voyage included astonishing vistas of the frozen continent and its fringing islands, visits to isolated research stations, parades of icebergs and plenty of wildlife including thousands and thousands of penguins.  From cold Antarctic sunshine to a violent blizzard, this trip had something of everything.

Peter Plumb will be in hand to narrate and answer questions.   Refreshments will be served and all are welcome.

Friday January 16, 2015 - 3 pm Quarterly Members Meeting Historic Date 

On this day in 1815 was the first gathering to form the M.C.M. Association. Come join us on this historic occasion for a members’ meeting and celebration. Food, music, and entertainment will be on offer for members and their guests.

December Events at Mechanics' hall

Mechanics’ Hall Library December Events

Tues.Dec.2nd

First Tuesday Book Club

1776 by David McCullough

"David McCullough tells the story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence - when the whole American cause was riding on their success, without which all hope for independence would have been dashed and the noble ideals of the Declaration would have amounted to little more than words on paper." "Based on extensive research in both American and British archives, 1776 is the story of Americans in the ranks, men of every shape, size, and color, farmers, schoolteachers, shoemakers, no-accounts, and mere boys turned soldiers. And it is the story of the King's men, the British commander, William Howe, and his highly disciplined redcoats who looked on their rebel foes with contempt and fought with a valor too little known." "Here also is the Revolution as experienced by American Loyalists, Hessian mercenaries, politicians, preachers, traitors, spies, men and women of all kinds caught in the paths of war." "At the center of the drama, with Washington, are two young American patriots, who, at first, knew no more of war than what they had read in books - Nathanael Greene, a Quaker who was made a general at thirty-three, and Henry Knox, a twenty-five-year-old bookseller” ............http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/1776-david-mccullough/1100185210?ean=9780743226721

Meeting held in the Maine Charitable Mechanic Association        Library at 12:00 noon

  519 Congress St, second floor, elevator accessible

 Bring a lunch; dessert and drinks(tea or lemonade) provided

 All are welcome.                Pre-reading of the book is not required.

  FMI call pat at 773-8396 or e-mail at   mcma1857@gmail.com

Kristine Biegel will be continuing her exhibit of “Whimsical Maine”

DECEMBER ARTIST  KRISTINE BIEGEL -“WHIMSICAL  MAINE” 

“Maine is definitely the way life should be and this group of paintings takes inspiration from the beautiful Maine landscape as well as the people and lifestyles that make us a unique 

and inspirational community.” 

The Creative Child and Adult Arts Program www.creativechildart.net 

December 5th, First Friday Artwalk in the library, 5:00-8:00 pm

Congress St. will be closed off between Monument Square and Congress Square.-6:00-8:00 pm

“Artist and Authors”

Kristine Biegel exhibiting her colorful and whimsical artwork and local authors;

Edward & Morgan Rielly and David Morse

Edward Rielly, a Westbrook resident, is a professor of English and director of the Writing and Publishing program at Saint Joseph’s College.  He has published about two dozen books, including biographies, studies of baseball and football in relation to American society, and volumes of his own poetry. His most recent book is a memoir of his childhood, Bread Pudding and Other Memories: A Boyhood on the Farm.  

  Morgan Rielly is a 2014 graduate of Westbrook High School, where he was salutatorian, served four years as class president, and was a student representative on the Westbrook City Council.  Now a student at Bowdoin College, he wrote Neighborhood Heroes: Life Lessons from Maine’s Greatest Generation based on interviews that he conducted with World War II veterans.

  They will bring copies of Bread Pudding and Other Memories: A Boyhood on the Farm, Sitting Bull: A Biography, and three collections of my poetry: A Fine, Safe Journey; To Sadie at 18 Months and Other Poems; and Old Whitman Loved Baseball and Other Baseball Poems.

  Morgan, of course, will have copies of his Neighborhood Heroes: Life Lessons from Maine’s Greatest Generation.

Author; David Morse

David Morse, a retired radiologist, is a published poet and short story writer. He has led writers groups in Northampton, Massachusetts, Boothbay Harbor and Wells, Maine. His experiences climbing with his wife and three children, hiking and exploring new places were the inspiration for writing “Julie’s Climb”.

Always an observer of life around him, he enjoys writing about the challenges that daily life presents. In Harry and Maude he has found the perfect couple who try to cope with their missteps along the way while finding humor in their resolution.

He lives in Wells with his wife, Joan.

http://dmorseauthor.com