Events

MacOS Basics~August 3, 10 &17 @ 6:30pm

June 23, 2022 By Lisa Murray

This is a series of 3 Wedesday sessions: August 3 @ 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm, August 10 @ 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm and August 17 @ 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

The Library offers in-person digital literacy and computer training classes through the National Digital Equity Center. These are live, onsite trainings with NDEC trainers via Zoom at the library. Bring your own device, or reserve a library Mac computer. Registration is required through the NDEC site. All classes will be held at Bass Harbor Memorial Library, 89 Bernard Rd Bernard, Maine. For help registering, or for more information, call the library at 207-244-3798.

This course will cover the basics of how to use Apple’s operating system which work on Apple’s popular line of laptops and desktops. This class starts with the basic functions of the MacOS operating system and how to navigate through folders, files, and menus. Organizing, moving, and saving files will be covered too. Please bring a macOS device or reserve one at the library.

Reserve Your Spot HERE

Ruth Moore Days Schedule 2022

June 14, 2022 By Lisa Murray

Join us during the week of July 18-22 to celebrate Tremont’s own bestselling author Ruth Moore. All events will take place outside under our tent at 89 Bernard Rd, in Bernard. Call 207-244-3798 for more information.

Art Show

Browse artwork created by local artists inspired by her themes and books and enjoy a private collection of original book cover and promotional artwork. Public reception on Monday, July 18 6-7 pm

Tremont Historical Society Discussion

Learn about Ella Kosten’s research on the economic and social themes Ruth Moore addressed in her writing and how present-day islanders are addressing these same issues nearly 80 years later. Ella is an intern working with the Tremont Historical Society. Tuesday, July 19 6-7pm

Community Read and Discussion

Join our Read Moore community read of “Dinosaur Bite” and join the discussion at our book club on Wednesday, July 20 6-7pm. Copies of the book can be borrowed from Bass Harbor Memorial Library and other MDI libraries.

Annual Birthday Celebration

Celebrate Ruth’s birthday with recitations of her work by Dennis Damon, music, cake, and refreshments. Share your favorite excerpts and learn about Ruth’s influence and legacy with friends, family, and other fans. Thursday, July 21 6-8pm

Art Reception~June 30@5pm

June 13, 2022 By Lisa Murray

Join us for an opening reception for Maria Charette and Janet Elvidge’s “Back to the Beach” show on display at the library throughout the month of July. Refreshments will be served and the artists will be on-hand to discuss their artwork. Thursday, June 30, 2022 5-6pm

Maria Charette is a Bernard resident and has a background in fine arts painting and printmaking. She is currently an ed-tech at Mount Desert Island High School and has a background in museums, working with collections and exhibitions. She paints local scenes in oils.

Janet Elvidge grew up on MDI where her love of nature and art started early in a house of artists. Janet found art to be a way to express and fully absorb the light, textures, and patterns of nature and continues to explore all that nature evokes using a variety of mediums including oil, gouache, and cold wax. She has a Master of Library Science degree and has been involved with libraries for over 30 years. She is the school librarian at the Indian Island School for the Penobscot Nation on Indian Island, Maine.

Westside Summer Garden Club

April 7, 2022 By Lisa Murray

The Bass Harbor Memorial Library and the Bar Harbor Garden Club are offering a summer gardening program for ages 8-14, to foster a life-long interest in gardening and horticulture by providing a hands-on gardening experience to youth. The program runs from June to August and focuses on education and instruction in the areas of garden planning, cultivation, stewardship, harvesting, and conservation.

To register go to: https://forms.gle/TfhxKPKyAa6DmfuZ7

Participants will be paired with a mentor from the Bar Harbor Garden club and participate in 3 Saturday morning gardening programs where they will learn about the gardening process from planning to harvest, then get their hands dirty preparing soil, designing a garden, planting seedlings, and tending and harvesting their crops. Club members will have access to a plot at the Kelley Farm where they will garden during the program and on their own time.

Program dates are on Saturdays from 10-noon: June 25, July 16, and August 20, 2022 with a harvest party in early September. (date TBD)

The Westside Summer Garden Club is made possible with a generous donation from the Bar Harbor Garden Club.

2022 Art and Nature Camp: Patterns and Rhythms

March 17, 2022 By Lisa Murray

July 25-29, 2022 Ages 7 to 11

Explore the patterns and rhythms found throughout the island landscape. Nature offers a kaleidoscope of patterns, some obvious and others only noticeable upon close inspection. Patterns repeat, surprise and awe when seen from a different viewpoint. Art and Nature Camp will investigate the natural rhythm of nature’s patterns and design. Directors Kathie Pratt and Dawn Nuding invite children ages 7-11 to turn discovery into artistic inspiration! Get close and discover the hidden patterns of a shell, or take a long view and revel in the unifying pattern made by a beach full of multicolored periwinkles. Let the rhythm of the waves or the rustle of the trees, inspire you to create artwork through techniques such as weaving, printing, and collage, tapping into your inner artist and gaining self-understanding and expression along the way.

Camp fee is by sliding scale $25 to $100. Camp runs from Monday July 25 to Friday July 29, 9:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. at the Bass Harbor Memorial Library in Bernard. A final presentation of campers’ work will be displayed at a library reception on the evening of July 29.

You may register online, print out a registration form to mail in, or contact the Bass Harbor Memorial Library at 207-244-3798, librarian@bassharborlibrary.com, or Kathie Pratt, Camp Director, 207–244-0558 kathie.pratt@bassharborlibrary.com to have a form mailed to you.

Upcoming Programs: 2022

September 8, 2021 By Lisa Murray

Mark your calendars for upcoming events at the Bass Harbor Memorial Library. Find us on Facebook for more details on t h e s e future events and happenings:

June: Introduction to Google Drive & Docs; MacOS Basics; Westside Summer Garden Club

July: Cloud-based Back-up Solutions; Art & Nature Camp; Ruth Moore Days

August: Annual Book Fair & Raffle; Understanding CloudLibrary

Women’s History Month 2021 Gallery

March 2, 2021 By Lisa Murray

Lindsay Hopkins-Weld

Cold Spring
12″x12″ oil on birch panel
$900

“I find solace in nature and due to Covid, I have been spending more time walking and looking. I have a BFA from the Museum School in Boston, MA. I am a seasonal resident on MDI and live in Scarborough, ME. ” www.lhweld.com

Linda Rowell-Kelley

Kelley Community Garden
16×16 oil on panel
$260

“Island quarantine meant using the resources available and MDI provided beautiful, luscious places to plein air paint. The community garden was ever changing and offered a bounty of shape and color. A local island artist, working in oil, watercolor and mixed medium. My home base and studio is in Hulls Cove and I am fortunate to be able to safely explore the island for inspiration.” Linda Rowell-Kelley Art on Facebook

Elizabeth Keenan

Loose Leaf Lips
14″X 18″ (framed) Watercolor
NFS

“I’ve been painting A LOT during the pandemic. It is helping me to pass the time. I live in Bass Harbor and have been teaching Drawing, Painting, and Ceramics at MDI high School for over 20 years.”

Vicky Smith

Peggy’s Cows
12″ x 14″ Oil Painting
$175

Outdoor activities are the best way to stay safe . Our Plein Air Group has been a gift. Painting and socializing!

I have come to painting in the second half of my life. Grateful for the inspiration and support of the painting women in PAPA, Plein Air Painting Artists.

Beverly Bono

Winter on Babson Creek
9” x 11” (framed) watercolor
$50

Plein air painting (in the open air) with friends ( masked and socially distant) has made this year bearable. Cold weather made it prohibitive to paint outside in oils so I started painting with watercolors on site, but in my warm car. This painting is one of my 1st “in car” paintings.
Although I’ve been painting all my life, about 10 years ago I began painting “en plein air”. Living in Bar Harbor, near Acadia National Park provides boundless stimulation for my oil paintings. I’m on a wonderfully endless journey trying to capture the beautiful scenery of this island!

Jean Forbes

Sorrento Dinghies
10.25″ x 12.25″ matted and framed watercolor
$200

“The recent life changing circumstances have given me more focus to fine tune my craft. Sorrento Dinghies is the 2nd in a series of three paintings done to obtain desired harmony in the 3rd (larger) watercolor painting.”

Jean E. Forbes is a Fine Artist with over 50 years painting experience. She retired from teaching art in South Kingstown RI public schools in 2012. Jean lives with her husband Mike in Manset where they make their year round home. www.jeanforbesart.com

Sydney Roberts

Church Chair Woman
46” x 15” x 18” multimedia
$250

“Although I submitted it last year, it was welcomed this year because it wasn’t “seen” by other than library staff.”

A NEH summer kid from Philadelphia from age 3 weeks, (year-round for 20 + years), graduate of Philadelphia College of Art (Now U Arts) ’66: painting/sculpture/graphics.

Kathie Pratt and Christine Parrish

Sweet Liberty
40″ x 25″ acrylic on foam core
NFS

“This sign is a collaboration by lifelong friends with a desire for social action. Christine created the concept and Kathie executed it. The goal was a sign that would be impactful, visible from near and far, and functional. Christine carried it at the Black Lives Matter March in Augusta last summer.”

Kathie Pratt happily lives and works in Tremont. Art is her favorite thing. Christine Parrish is a writer, journalist, and natural resource conservation specialist who lives in Lincolnville. Her connection to the island began as a teenager, when she and Kathie departed from their family homes to live a rustic lifestyle on the back side. Decades later, she stays connected by hiking the hills of Acadia.

Women’s History Month Art Show-March 2021

February 10, 2021 By Lisa Murray

From March 6 through April 30, 2021, the Library will celebrate Women’s History Month with an art show featuring works from artists with a connection to Mount Desert Island. 10 artists will explore the theme of “Life Upended: Unexpected Inspiration.”

The show will also be displayed online for all to peruse HERE

Artists include: Sydney Roberts, Vicky Smith, Elizabeth Keenan, Debra Spressart, Jean Forbes, Linda Rowell-Kelley, Lindsay Hopkins-Weld, Kathie Pratt and Beverly Bono.

Who Is Ruth Moore?

October 2, 2020 By Lisa Murray

Ruth Moore was born and raised on Gott’s Island in the early 1900’s. Ruth was a best selling author from the 1940’s and on (and even had a book made into a movie “Deep Waters.”) She was called “New England’s answer to Faulkner” and if you like reading honest stories about Maine people in an authentic voice, you won’t be able to resist her novels, ballads and poetry. The issues she wrote about still resonate today. Each year we aim to introduce the works of Ruth Moore to a wider audience, while providing insightful conversation and programming to enrich our understanding of her life and work.

Every year, around July 21, the Bass Harbor Memorial Library celebrates Tremont’s iconic bestselling author. We host an art show featuring work inspired by Moore’s writing, and host explore Ruth’s impact, history and legacy through programs such as author talks, panel discussions and theatre. In the past we have toured her home on Gott’s Island and her home in Bass Harbor.

Who Is Ruth Moore?

A Tremont native, born in 1903 and raised on Great Gott Island, Ruth Moore was an important Maine author of the twentieth century. She is best known for her honest portrayals of Maine people and evocative descriptions of the state. Moore was a significant literary figure on the national stage during her career. Her second novel Spoonhandle spent fourteen weeks on the New York Times bestseller list in the company of George Orwell, W. Somerset Maugham and Robert Penn Warren. In her time, Moore was hailed by critics as “New England’s only answer to Faulkner”.

Author, poet and essayist of over 25 novels, collections, short fiction and essays, including The Weir (1943), Spoonhandle (1946), Candlemas Bay (1950), Speak to the Winds (1956), Cold As a Dog and the Wind Northeast (1958), The Tired Apple Tree (1990), When Foley Craddock Tore Off My Grandfather’s Thumb: The Collected Stories of Ruth Moore and Eleanor Mayo (2004)

The Bass Harbor Memorial Library has a large collection of Ruth Moore novels, poetry and essays for you to check out, and many new and used copies of select titles to purchase. Call 244-3798, or stop by the Library at 89 Bernard Rd in Bernard for more information.

Click the links below to start your exploration.

Resources

“Ruth Moore Remembered” by Harry Gatwick in Working Waterfront
A more personal, in-depth introduction to Moore as relayed by her friends and family.

“Homesick For That Place: Ruth Moore Writes About Maine” by Jennifer Craig
This excellent article explores Moore’s unique voice, why she was and still is, an important literary figure, and her impact on not only Maine authors, but the larger cannon of place and character driven novels.

“Ruth Moore: Maine Coast Writer” by Donald Mortland, Colby Quarterly
Article written about Moore in 1979, at a time when she was still actively writing and publishing. “There are several ruinous rocks to be skirted in writing about the Maine coast. One is the danger of being sentimental. Another is the tendency to be folksy. A third is the danger of falling into ruts made by previous writers that lead into folksy stories about quaint people with hearts of gold who speak a peculiar dialect, mourn about the past, and spend their lives dealing with trivia over which the author makes them triumphant in some minuscule way. Ruth Moore avoids all of these.”

“A Literary Refuge: Ruth Moore and Eleanor Mayo” by Sven Davvison
Explores Ruth Moore and Eleanor Mayo’s history and life together in Maine and beyond, as partners and as authors in their own right.

Description of Ruth Moore and Eleanor Mayo’s home in Bass Harbor

Ruth Moore collection, 1917-1995 at UNE’s Maine Women Writer’s Collection
A brief biography with links to a catalog of UNE’s entire Ruth Moore collection

Tremont Historical Society
The Tremont Historical Society is dedicated to the preservation of the history of the towns of Tremont, Southwest Harbor, and the adjacent islands. The Society achieves this mission by gathering, cataloging, and making available to the public historical materials such as genealogies and information on the growth and development of the towns, as well as historical artifacts. The are hosting a full schedule of programming in Summer 2020.

Penobscot Marine Museum’s Panel Discussion of “Maine Women Authors Of The 1950’s”
Cathleen Miller, Curator of the Maine Women Writers Collection at UNE, Melissa Hays, Ruth Moore Days organizers, Muriel Davisson and devotee Jane O’Rouke discuss how the novels of Mary Ellen Chase, Elisabeth Ogilive, Ruth Moore, Miriam Colwell and Louise Dickinson Rich provide different portraits of the people and the state of Maine.

‘The Ballad of the Night Charley Tended Weir’ by Ruth Moore, read by former US Senator Dennis Damon

Review of the Stonington Opera House’s 2018 production of “I Have Seen Horizons: Ruth Moore’s Stories from Maine.”
The 2018 production of vignettes was based on seven of Ruth Moore’s short stories and poems and adapted for the stage by director Meg Taintor.

Watch Deep Waters on Youtube
“A troubled young orphan boy in Maine is taken in by a family and befriended by a lobsterman who shows him the ways of the world. Starring Dana Andrews, Jean Peters, Dean Stockwell, Cesar Romero, Ann Revere.” The 1948 film adaptation of Ruth Moore’s “Spoonhandle”, filmed on Vinalhaven took great liberties with her writing, but it had a big Hollywood budget and big Hollywood stars. The entire movie is available for free on Youtube split into 4 episodes.

Art Show

In 2020, we asked local artists to submit artwork inspired by Ruth Moore, the people and places she wrote about, or a particular piece of writing. Click HERE to view the slideshow.

Ruth’s Writing

Frenchboro native Dean Lunt started Islandport Press 20 years ago and has taken over the task of republishing and distributing Ruth Moore’s books from Blackberry Press. The press plans to release two novels a year for three or four years, starting with The Weir, Candlemas Bay and Spoonhandle, currently available now. In 2021, the press will release Voices off the Ocean, a new collection of excerpts and poems intended as an introduction to Ruth Moore’s work.

All selections are reprinted here with permission from Blackberry Books. Copies can be purchased at Gulf of Maine Books in Brunswick Maine or at Islandport Press. Select new and used copies may be purchased at the Library at 89 Bernard Rd. in Bernard. Call or stop by for titles in stock.

Sunday, July 19,2020: Prologue to Cold as a Dog and the Wind Northeast

Monday, July 20, 2020: The Barricades—1940, from Times Web

Tuesday, July 21, 2020: Come All Ye Murderers, All—1971, from Times Web

Wednesday, July 22, 2020: July, from The Tired Apple Tree

Thursday, July 23, 2020: Blue Ice and Green Water, from The Tired Apple Tree

Friday, July 24, 2020: Old Sam, from The Tired Apple Tree

Saturday, July 25, 2020: Reference List, from The Tired Apple Tree