In Person

Baskets to Buggies will include visits to two unique museums on Route 27 from New Portland (Nowetah's Indian Store) and Kingfield's Stanley Museum.

Nowetah's is a hidden gem where visitors can explore a collection of meticulously curated and displayed Native American artifacts, with one room devoted to Maine baskets. There is no entry fee.

The Stanley Museum ($5 entry fee) houses artifacts and information about the renowned Stanley family, including inventors and artists. 

Lunch is possible in Kingfield. If this class is cancelled due to weather, we will reschedule for the Spring term.

Date: November 18, 2025, at 10:00 am.

Nowetah's Indian Shop: 2 Colegrove Rd, New Portland, ME 04961

Stanley Museum: 40 School St, Kingfield, ME 04947

The museum staff are very knowledgeable.

In-Person

Are you passionate about the outdoors and preserving access to the places you love? Join us for a special presentation by the High Peaks Alliance designed for people who care about access to nature, wild places, and community.

Join us to: 

• Get the inside scoop on trail and conservation updates, including the latest on Mosher Hill Falls, Sandy River Bridge, and our Rec Rangers initiative
• Pick up free trail maps and guides for your next adventure
• Hear inspiring personal stories about people just like you who’ve made a difference
• Learn ways you can volunteer and amplify your impact
• Connect with fellow GoldLEAF members who share your values, and become part of an active community dedicated to preserving public access for future generations

This is also your invitation to make your voice heard on issues that matter in Maine’s High Peaks. Come and ask your questions and find your next adventure!

Date: December 2, 2025

Location: Education Ctr, Room 112

10:00 am - 11:30 am

Brent West is the Executive Director of the High Peaks Alliance. He brings a genuine love for Maine’s great outdoors and a commitment to keeping its natural beauty accessible for everyone. He works closely with local communities, volunteers, and landowners to protect public access and the unique wild places that make the High Peaks region special. He’s known for bringing people together — whether it’s building new trails, supporting conservation projects, or finding creative ways for residents and visitors to connect with nature.

Amanda Laliberte leads community engagement and outreach at the High Peaks Alliance, where she helps connect people to Maine’s wild places through storytelling, events, and partnerships. She manages membership and communications, coordinates with local partners, and leads initiatives like planned giving and outreach programs. 

In Person 

Evangeline: The novel provides the historical information that is missing from Longfellow’s Evangeline. The purpose is to discuss the historical information through the biographical material available on each of the major figures in the event that is known today as The Expulsion of the Acadians.

December 3, 2025

2:00 pm - 3:30 pm

Location: Education Center, room 006, lower level.

Born in New Waterford, Nova Scotia, Richard Mullin is a lifelong educator and writer. A graduate of St. Francis Xavier University, he began his teaching career at a Blackfoot Indigenous high school in Western Canada, later returning to Nova Scotia to teach English at Bridgewater High and serve as Principal at Mahone Bay High. He spent 25 years teaching English at Rumford High School in Maine and also taught English Literature at Husson University.

Now retired and living in Dixfield, Maine, he dedicated eight years of his retirement to researching and writing his first book. He has been happily married to his wife Lorraine for over sixty years, and together they have three college-educated daughters.

In-Person

This is a 72-minute film that features documentary footage of Gandhi's famous Salt March, the 1960 Nashville Students' desegregation of lunch counters, and the Danish resistance to the Nazis.  We will have a few minutes during and after the film for discussion.

Date: December 16, 2025

10 am-12 pm

Location: North Dining, A

This film was used in Rawlings's UMF course on Peace Studies.  Rawlings taught at UMF for 27 years.  He is a co-founder of Veterans For Peace.

In-Person

The Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education at the University of Southern Maine provides opportunities for all to engage with five centuries of cartographic materials. With half a million items dating back to 1475, our place-based collection invites you to stay curious!

In the OML's Cohen classroom, you will receive a brief history of the collection and an introduction to the different digital resources available after your visit. In our Reading Room, you’ll have a chance to look at our permanent globe display and a selection of “Gems from the Collection.”  There will also be time to visit our gallery space, which has rotating exhibitions throughout the year. OML staff members will be on hand to answer questions about the various items on display.

January 7, 2026

Snow date: January 14, 2026

Location: USM Osher Map Library, 314 Forest Avenue, Portland, Maine, 04101

Kelsey Riordan arranges tours and events at Osher. Other library staff may lead the tour.

In-Person and Hybrid

This course will discuss critical and rare earth minerals, their distribution globally, and their importance to society and a low-carbon future. Also discussed will be the occurrence of these deposits in Maine and controversies over potential mining.

January 21, 2026

2:30 - 4:00 pm

Location: The Landing, Olsen Learning Center, Lower Level

John Slack is a retired geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, where he worked for 42 years. He holds a Ph.D. in economic geology from Stanford University (1976) and is on the editorial boards of three scientific journals. Over the past decade, John's research has focused on critical and rare earth minerals, especially in Maine.

Online

Oh NO! Our list of accomplished women is growing rather than shrinking, and our study groups were making such progress! To make matters worse, some very important women, such as Harriet Tubman, are being erased from U.S. history. Continue with us to bring these women to light and learn the stories of their discoveries, scientific work, and trailblazing.

Come blaze a trail with us.

January 22 and 29, 2026

10:00 am

Mary Frank has been an active participant in our prior study group on this subject, which was known as Hidden Figures Revealed.  She will send to all participants a list of possible women from which to choose.  Mary will work with Eileen Kreutz, and the two will co-present this offering.

In-Person

This will be a tour of both the Farmington Public Library and the Mantor Library at UMF. The directors of each library will lead the tours. The Farmington Public Library tour will start at 10:30. After a lunch break, the Mantor tour will start at 1:00. More detailed information will be sent to participants shortly before the tour date.

The Farmington Public Library (Cutler Memorial), established in 1890, provides all Farmington area residents with ready access to a broad collection of materials in a variety of media that record knowledge, ideas, and culture.  

Mantor Library, located at the heart of the University of Maine at Farmington campus, serves students, faculty, staff, and the wider community by offering access to a wide range of academic and recreational materials in both print and digital formats. 

January 27, 2026, with a snow date of February 3

10:30 am at the Farmington Library, 117 Academy St, Farmington, ME

1:00 pm at Mantor Library, 116 South St, Farmington, ME 

Jessica Casey came to Farmington to attend UMF, where she studied English and Psychology. Jess began working at the Farmington Public Library in 2018, took on the role of director in 2020, and received her MLIS shortly after. Her favorite author is Stephen King.

Bryce Cundick has been at UMF since 2007 and has been the director at Mantor since 2017. He has served as the President of the Maine Library Association and is the current Chair of the Maine Library Commission. In his spare time, he writes books under the pen name Bryce Moore and is an avid player of Magic: The Gathering.