Join us for Story Time

Wednesdays at 10:30

Current plans call for rehabilitation of a five-mile section of the Mountain Division Rail Corridor in Windham from milepost 6 to milepost 11 in the spring of 2011. The tracks were removed from this section of the Mountain Division Rail Corridor prior to the state of Maine purchasing this section in 2006. The state of Maine previously purchased a larger section of the corridor that stretches from milepost 11 in Windham to Fryeburg in 1998 in order to preserve the rail corridor for future use.

This construction is the first step in rehabilitating the rail corridor from Westbrook to Fryeburg for future rail use. Construction on this section of the Mountain Division Rail Corridor is funded through the state’s “Jobs Bond” ballot question that was approved by voters this past June. The Mountain Division Rail Corridor is 51.1 miles long and stretches from Portland to Fryeburg.

Farnovision

Special thanks to Heart and Hand Gardening and Gunnar’s General Store for sponsoring the Mistah SMAC Pageant

Should three young children try to rescue a helpless bird that’s too young to fly or feed itself? This is the true story of a successful attempt by loving and dedicated girls. New laws have been enacted since then that make it illegal in many areas for people to rehabilitate wild creatures themselves. Most attempts do not end as fortunately and often the animal was not truly abandoned in the first place. The parent was often nearby, watching and waiting for humans to leave the scene, and would then successfully retrieve and care for the animal. Now there are rehab shelters for injured/abandoned animals in many locations. This book helps children think about the responsibilities and issues involved while fostering a love and respect for wild creatures and especially of the Cedar Waxwing bird..

on amazon.com

Eva Ward is a former teacher who lives in Brownfield, Maine. The book is illustrated by her daughter, Deborah Ward York, who was one of Calvin’s rescuers.

Longtime resident of Brownfield, Joyce Peseroff is the author of four books of poems and editor of three additional collections. She has received grants from the Massachusetts Artist Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. She teaches at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

Reviews:

“Musical, contemplative, often wry, Joyce Peseroff’s rueful quietude can be fractured by a bravura wit that adventures with the layers of history, propelling the reader from the pastoral to the tragic world by denotations of language (see her adolescent self in a bikini: ‘Skin blistered pink, / you might as well have picnicked in the desert / under 3 or 4 nuclear tests’).”
— Gail Mazur

“… an unpredictable, colloquial poetry that adapts the casual, protective sense of a generation’s manners to the demands of art.”
— Robert Pinsky

“Joyce Peseroff makes a playful yet literally ominous poem called ‘Farmer’s Almanac’ out of a list of words and phrases from that venerable volume. Words are something she cherishes, and poem after poem has its tasty surprises: aleatory; cinquefoil, crimped, monicker, Selectric, waggle, woofing, zonked. Words themselves, of course, are not the whole story, and in this eagerly anticipated volume, much of it piercingly elegiac, Peseroff’s poems do what we wish all poetry would: make even sadness a source of pleasure, because her words always come alive, even (maybe even especially) in the process of lamenting what’s been – or is about to be – lost.”
— Lloyd Schwartz

Carnegie Mellon University Press
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

WRITTEN BY JOHN MOONEY
for Sodade Magazine

Just think, in prehistoric times some guy named Og was in cave drawing on a wall the goings on in his everyday life. You know, hunting mastodons, running away from saber toothed tigers, recording the mankind’s first ’hot foot’ practical joke and such. ’Og’s blog’ we could call it and ever since, humans have always had this penchant for interpreting life as he (or she) sees it. Whether beating on drums, sending smoke signals, carrier pigeons, printing presses, telegraph wires or radios we always felt the need to get the word out.
For me, my writing graduated from lined tablet paper to an Underwood manual typewriter weighing more than a Ford engine block and adorned with metal keys requiring fingers of steel just to plunk them down. And now fast forward to the 21rst century and the blogosphere. This electronic medium allows anyone with a computer and internet access along with a desire to write to reach an unfathomable amount of people in today’s global community. For those of you that have read some of my stories in Sodade Magazine I must tell you,
it has been a treat for me to learn about a music so totally different from the rock and roll, jazz and blues I was raised on. Add to that the chance to hang with some of Cape Verde’s most interesting artists and the word “rewarding” falls well short of what these opportunities have meant to me. So now I find myself blogging for Sodadeonline and with no delusions that billions and billions will migrate to this web site. Nah. It’s quality not quantity that counts and whether you are Capeverdean or have an interest in CV culture, that’s why you’re here. Welcome.
And unlike writing stories for Sodade Magazine, I actually feel free to use the first person, singular (for me, using it in a magazine article takes way from the story’s subject) and share with you the occasional thought, opinion or vignette. If you feel particularly attached to Cape Verde and furrow your brow at some of my musings, please remember I am coming at you with a ‘perspectivo Americano’ and an American who lives way off the beaten path. Whether it’s spending time in Cape Verde or living in the mountains of Maine, I have always enjoyed the road less traveled. And a lap top travels lighter than an Underwood so here we go.

Check out John’s Article on Hopi radio written for Sodade magazine:
Listen Live to Brother John on WMPG Radio Every tuesday morning on the “Gooveyard Shift” (6:30AM-8:30AM)

circinate ring-shaped; rolled inwards; spiralling
cochlear anything spiral-shaped; twisted spirally
deiform appearing like or shaped like a god
floriform shaped like a flower
oculiform shaped like an eye
penniform feather-shaped
phylliform shaped like a leaf
stellate star-shaped; starry
stelliform shaped like a star
strombuliform shaped like a spinning top; spirally twisted

A blind date with a book? According to this report on NorthJersey.com, the New Milford Public Library is offering local readers a Valentine’s Day “blind date” with a book from their collection. From now through Valentine’s Day on Sunday, Feb. 14th, you can go to the library and “pick out a wrapped book….Each one has been wrapped for its special ‘blind date’ with the reader.”
“Books have been pulled from all parts of the collection — picture books and chapter books for younger readers; novels for teens; fiction, mysteries, non-fiction, and even a couple of audio books,” says the report, so there’s no telling what you’ll go home with.
“This is a great way to try reading something you might not normally pick for yourself,” says Library Director Terrie McColl. And if it turns out you hate each other, no problem. “Just stop reading and return it to the library,” she said. “You haven’t spent anything — and the book’s feelings won’t be hurt.”

Before letting me tell you about the history of Burnt Meadow Mountain, let me first thanks Mr. Charles Harmon, of Brownfield and the librarian at the Brownfield Library.  In November of 1998 my friend Chris Vaccaro and I went to find this area, but found it mostly overgrown behind some houses.  We stopped by at the town library and met with the librarian.  She suggested we meet up with the Harmon family who lived right up the road.
At their house Mr. Harmon, who was on Burnt Meadow Mountain Recreation Association Board, met with me to discuss the ski area.  He allowed me to Xerox some articles about this ski area.   This was most helpful, without these articles this history would be very hard to write!  Amazingly enough, one of the articles showed the original plan of the mountain which I have included at the bottom of this page. Him and his wife Mary were very gracious in allowing us to interview them.
In 1947 a large forest fire destroyed much of the Brownfield area, and lots of acreage around Maine itself.  I believe that this was called “The Summer That Maine Burned.”  In fact, 85% of the town was completely destroyed.
read more……..

http://www.nelsap.org/me/burntmeadow.html

Named after Asclepius, the greek god of healing, who emerged from a marriage of light (Apollo) and darkness (Koronis – one of the names for Asclepius’ mother), of heaven with earth.


Maine’s Brownfield Bog feels like home to Bridie McGreavy.
The sun shone in the late afternoon sky and orange light filtered through long blue stem grasses. White clouds illuminated by a deep blue sky drifted high above and the air made my nostrils tingle with every intake of breath. On this day, I was walking in the Brownfield Bog with my mom and her dog Ned. The Brownfield Bog is a vast wetland system in Maine’s Saco River watershed, one that I have been exploring since early childhood. A single road cuts through the western edge of this wildlife management area, ending at a place locally known as Goose Pasture, although I don’t remember ever seeing geese here. An old red oak tree at the end of the road into Goose Pasture is a favorite destination on our regular walks, where we sit and watch the wetlands that surround the peninsula. We entered Goose Pasture as we usually do, breaking from the dark forest of poplar and striped maple into open fields surrounded by water.
Approaching the gnarled oak at the end of the road, I caught sight of movement on the sand and spied a shiny black and purple wasp with a long thin stinger. A brown spider with black beady eyes stood unmoving nearby in the sand, its front legs raised. The wasp approached the spider and darted its long stinger into the spider’s abdomen. Again. And again. The two were locked in a jousting match, the spider clearly on the defense against the wasp’s deadly lance. The wasp pierced the spider until its movements were barely perceptible and then the spider froze, paralyzed. The wasp grasped the spider between its forelegs and hauled it away through the grasses. My impulse was to follow, but I did not, leaving the two to finish the encounter unwatched.
Stories from the bog
At that moment, I wondered if there was more to the wasp and spider story than a simple predator-prey interaction. With every trip into the Brownfield Bog, I experience something that makes me pause and wonder. This experience was no different from the countless others. Like when I was nine years old and saw a turtle laying its eggs for the first time, perfect white spheres dropping into a half-dollar size hole in the dirt road. Two years ago, when I came face-to-face with a very surprised moose, which looked me straight in the eyes for 10 seconds, snorted, turned, and ambled off through the woods. The time I entered Goose Pasture and the old red oak had lost a limb, creating a dread in my heart that my tree will soon become someone else’s firewood. The time I watched two marsh hawks glide and dip over the leatherleaf bog patches, their white rumps flashing as they searched for mice and small birds. Over the years here, I have witnessed nature in its varied forms, repeating patterns and new refrains. The wasp and spider experience did not strike me as anything but another interesting encounter, and I did not give it much thought after leaving the bog. Until the following year on nearly the same date.
The day was again classic weather that fools you into thinking the afternoon will last forever. In the exact same spot, near the old red oak, I came upon the wasp and the spider locked in battle once again. My heart and head pulsed with excitement and confusion. How could this scene be repeating itself? How could I be so lucky to see this incredible interaction again? What does this mean? The term dejá vu does not even come close to describing my reaction.
This was not just an amazing natural event that I was lucky to witness two years in a row. This was the moment that I came to understand the power of “place.” At that moment, I felt the heartbeat of the Earth in perfect rhythm, a natural reverberation that is as old as life itself. A subtle pulse that you only become attuned to with repetition, experiencing the ebb and tide of the seasons in one place, until you know what to expect, but at the same time are constantly surprised by the newness.
A sense of place
What is “place?” Like the old red oak in the bog, place has roots that sink into the Earth, grounding us to the here and now. A sense of place grows with time, branching in new directions but maintaining the core, the trunk that supports its growth. You can branch out and grow to love other places, like Johnson Mountain, Holt Pond, the backyard of the house in which I now live. But the bog is home, the place I always come back to in my mind and body. The leaves of a tree provide a final metaphor for place. I find that like the tree, the sun fuels my connection to place. On a brilliant day, the bog is the place I long for.
I later learned the science behind what I observed on those two occasions. The wasp, commonly referred to as a mud dauber, is a species belonging to the family Ichneumonidae. Mud daubers hunt spiders and other arthropods, paralyzing them with their long, poison-tipped stingers. The wasp then drags the body to the nest it creates for its young. When the young hatch, they feed on the paralyzed, yet still fresh, spider.
This scientific explanation is fascinating. However for me, the real meaning in this encounter is in the awareness that I could have missed seeing it, twice. But I didn’t. I was there, present in my senses. And I was there because I love it, my home.
Bridie McGreavy is watershed education manager at the Lakes Environmental Association in Bridgton, Maine http://www.mainelakes.org. A version of this article appeared in the “Earth Notes” column in The Bridgton News.

© 2007 The Gulf of Maine Times

Brownfield Community Scholarship

The “Brownfield Community Scholarship” became an official non-profit group in 2007. The BCScholarship is organized exclusively for educational purposes to provide funds for the purchase of books, tools, or supplies necessary to pursue the student’s field of study.
There have been nearly 100 awarded since the scholarship was originally started in 1987 .

Any current resident of Brownfield who is at least a high school senior planning to attend, or anyone currently enrolled in, or taking courses at a college, university, or school of higher learning is eligible to apply. It is not limited just to high school seniors.

Applications are available at Fryeburg Academy, the Town Office website, Brownfield Library Website, or from the committee by calling Mary Tyner at 935-2587. The deadline is May 1st.

Officers are Mabel Eaton Hidden, president; Mary Tyner, secretary/treasurer, and members, Lanie Buskin, and Jodie Hesslein have joined to help keep this valuable service active.

To keep this important and valuable service active, we need community support. The amount and number of awards is based upon funds available and depends on your tax deductible donations to survive.

The BCScholarship would welcome a general donation or “in memory of”, “in honor of”, or other specific preference. The committee plans fundraisers and would welcome any assistance at that time from an individual or a group.

BCS PO Box 4 Brownfield, ME 04010

WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET a $cholarship book award?

Last spring the “Brownfield Community Scholarship” awarded book $cholarships to nine Brownfield residents totaling $2300.

Any current resident of Brownfield who is at least a high school senior planning to attend, or anyone currently enrolled in, or taking courses at a college, university, or school of higher learning is eligible to apply. It is not limited just to high school seniors.

Applications are available at Fryeburg Academy, the Town Office, or from the committee by calling Mary Tyner at 935-2587, or email mtyner@fairpoint.net. The deadline is May 1st.

We were fortunate to have had a special fundraising event this year in honor of Dolly Tibbetts. If your group would like to assit with a fundraising event please let us know. The Brownfield Community Scholarship fund was established as a non-profit and donations care accepted at any time and can be dedicated “in honor of” or “in memory of” any individual or loved one: BCS, PO Box 4, Brownfield, ME 04010.

BROWNFIELD COMMUNITY SCHOLARSHIP
P.O. BOX 4
Brownfield, ME 04010
APPLICATION FOR BOOK AWARD
Date: ________________

NAME ________________________________________ PHONE ( ) _________________
Last First
Parent Names: _________________________________________________________________
(If applicable)
Physical ADDRESS ______________________ ________________________________________
Street Town State / Zip
(PO Box) ________________
COLLEGE ATTENDING:_____________________________________Location:_______________________
Entering: Fresh Soph Jr Sr Major/Interest: ___________________________
Other Independent Course : ____________________ – If not enrolled full-time in college, please explain:
_____________________________________________________________________________
CURRENT SCHOOL ACTIVITIES AND INTERESTS: _______________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

INVOLVEMENT / VOLUNTEERISM WITH COMMUNITY, PERSONAL ACTIVITIES, ETC:
______________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REQUIREMENTS
1. Applicant shall be a current resident of Brownfield, Maine.
2. Scholarships will be considered for high school seniors planning to attend, or any student currently enrolled in, or taking courses at a college, university, or school of higher learning. There will be no restrictions as to race, sex, religion, national origin, or academic performance.
3. On the back of the application, please state the reason you deserve this scholarship.
4. If awarded, we will require you to send us a copy of your grades from a semester of the upcoming college year and receipts from the purchase of your books, tools, or other supplies necessary to pursue your field of study. You will be directly reimbursed for them up to the value of the award.
If you do not submit your documentation by May 1 of the ending scholarship year, your award will no longer be valid.
5. The application should be submitted to the “Scholarship Committee” at the above address
no later than May 1st.* You will receive notice by August 1st if awarded.

* The BCS may make exception to the application deadlines for students with alternate enrollment dates.