Summer is about freedom: the freedom to sleep a little later, change up your schedule and do more of the things you love to do! Summer is about discovery: make new friends, learn new skills, explore new terrain! Just because school is out doesn’t mean the learning stops. The Bass Harbor Memorial Library has put together a fun and flexible summer reading program for children of all ages. Studies show that reading regularly, even for a short amount of time, prevents the dreaded “summer slide.” Come Fall, teachers spend weeks closing the reading gap, helping kids to catch up to where they were before vacation started. Participating in a summer reading program not only reinforces a child’s reading skills, but it is also a fun way to experience something new, try out some new skills and learn something about the world or your own community. Like many traditional summer reading programs, BHML encourages kids to read 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week, but we have also incorporated other activities and skills a child or family can participate in to earn credit toward a weekly prize. These activities focus on using the library, discovering something new, enjoying our island home and engaging in physical activity. Each participant will receive a log book to record weekly reading/activity, as well as space to record book titles, draw, write or decorate as they please. The log will contain a list of suggested summer activities which will also earn them Summer Reading “credit.” Each day, they can read 20 minutes or more and/or choose to complete one of the suggested activities. Once 5 days have been logged (and initialed by an adult) the child will share the log sheet with a librarian and choose a prize. Sharing can take place in the library, through our curbside window, via email or Zoom. Children can come in once a week starting July 1 and ending August 31. There are 6 prizes to choose from ranging from mini golf and cookies to passes to the pool and museums. Summer Reading materials can also be picked up at the Bass Harbor Memorial Library 89 Bernard Rd, Bernard. Call 207-244-3798 or email librarian@bassharborlibrary for more information. Have fun! Read Books! Discover new skills! Explore your island home!
Our annual book sale fundraiser is back! Join us August 14 & 15 from 9am-4pm under the tent at 89 Bernard Rd, Tremont.
Tables and tables of paperback and hardcover books: Kids, YA, adult fiction and nonfiction. Puzzles, games, DVDs and more. Paperback, hardcover, new releases, old favorites, rare, cookbooks, Maine, gardening, unique finds and special interest. Pay by donation.
Individually priced rare and coffee table books.
New this year is our art sale fundraiser going on through the month of August. Over a dozen local artists will have work for sale on our walls. Bring home a unique piece of Maine!
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 Ladies from Philadelphia,” Harper’s Bazaar August 1945, “It Don’t Change Much,” The New Yorker October 1945, and “Farmer Takes a Newspaper,” The Saturday Review of Literature July 1948
The Bass Harbor Memorial Library has a large collection of Ruth Moore novels, poetry and essays 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.
“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.”
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.
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.
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. Voices off the Ocean, is due in late 2021, and is a new collection of excerpts and poems intended as a digestible intro 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.
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. From July 20-22, join us under the Library tent in Bernard to celebrate Tremont’s iconic bestselling author. Local artists will have works celebrating Ruth Moore and the working waterfront on our walls, starting on July 13th. This year’s Read Moore title will be “The Weir.” We encourage those just discovering Ruth Moore to borrow or purchase a copy from the Library, and die-hard fans to reacquaint themselves with this classic and her first published book.
From July 13- 30th artwork inspired by “The Weir” and Ruth Moore’s body of work will be on display inside the library. With the theme of “Working Waterfront” over a dozen local artists will have original works on display and for sale. Historic photographs will explore work on the water in Bass Harbor and Tremont. Artists include Ruth Moore and Eleanor Mayo, Sydney Roberts, Jean Forbes, Emily Trask-Eaton, Roberta Sprague, Janet Elvidge, Judy Taylor, Allison Dubois, Sophia Brugman and more.
Tuesday, July 20, 2021, at 6:30 PM
Jennifer Craig will lead a discussion of Ruth Moore’s novel, “The Weir.” Moore’s first novel, it is set on a Maine island and describes the dynamics of a working waterfront in Maine in the mid-20 th century. Moore’s beloved Maine landscape is the backdrop for the tensions of deceit, violence, and avarice in the small community. However, this darkness is balanced by generosity, humor, and loyalty. The discussion will begin with a brief summary of Moore’s life and then take up themes in “The Weir” that are characteristic of Moore’s novels. Copies may be borrowed or purchased from the Library. Readers are encouraged to attend even if they are not familiar with Moore and her work. This discussion will be an enjoyable way to become acquainted with this important Maine writer.Jennifer Craig is a writer who lives in Belfast. From her desk, she looks across the Penobscot Bay to Castine where she spent childhood summers sailing, swimming, and playing in the woods on Dyce Head. Ms. Craig wrote, taught, and raised her family in Orono and while In graduate school at the University of Maine, she discovered Ruth Moore’s novels. Her research on Ruth Moore was supported by a grant from the Women in the Curriculum program at the University of Maine in Orono and with the generous cooperation of the Moore and Mayo families. Her essay, Homesick for That Place: Ruth Moore Writes About Maine, is the result of that research, and copies of that essay are available on the website of the Bass Harbor Library.
Wednesday, July 21, 2021 @ 6:30pm
A public reception will be held on Wednesday July 21 from 6:30-8pm, to celebrate the artists taking part in the 2021 Ruth Moore Day’s exhibition. Tour the show inside the library and meet the artists and socialize outside under our tent. Included works are inspired by Ruth Moore’s “The Weir” and her larger body of work. With the theme of “Working Waterfront” over a dozen local artists will have original works on display and for sale. Historic photographs will explore work on the water in Bass Harbor and Tremont.
Thursday, July 22 @ 6:30pm
Dean Lunt will discuss the life and works of Ruth Moore and the upcoming anthology Voices Off the Ocean featuring excerpts from Moore’s novels, ballads, and poetry that showcase her brilliant writing and prove its staying power and influence on regional writing today. Lunt was born in the Maine island fishing village of Frenchboro, a member of the eighth generation of Lunts that called the remote island home. He attended the island’s one-room school and Mount Desert Island High School before earning a dual degree from Syracuse University. Following graduation, he worked as an award-winning newspaper reporter in three New England states for nearly twelve years, and later worked as a freelance writer, editor and project manager. Lunt founded Islandport Press in 2000 and has since edited or published more than 200 books, most tied in some way to the culture and heritage of Maine or New England. Lunt also founded Islandport Magazine in 2017 and has written two nonfiction books, Hauling by Hand and Here for Generations. His third and fourth books, Voices off the Ocean and Speaking Maine, are now scheduled for release in early 2021. A revised edition of Hauling by Hand is scheduled for release in the Spring of 2021.
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 Ladies from Philadelphia,” Harper’s Bazaar August 1945, “It Don’t Change Much,” The New Yorker October 1945, and “Farmer Takes a Newspaper,” The Saturday Review of Literature July 1948
The Bass Harbor Memorial Library has a large collection of Ruth Moore novels, poetry and essays 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.
“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.”
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.
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.
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. Voices off the Ocean, is due in late 2021, and is a new collection of excerpts and poems intended as a digestible intro 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.
Join Librarian Amanda Crafts Saturdays under the tent at the Bass Harbor Memorial Library for Summer Storytime. Beginning July 17, Ms. Amanda will offer a distanced, read-aloud storytime for preK kids and their families from 11am-noon with plenty of time for browsing and play inside the Library’s new children’s addition. Bring Your Own Blanket!
This summer, the Bass Harbor Memorial Library presents a statewide adult reading experience in partnership with the Maine Humanities Council and the Maine State Library. This year’s books are recommended by Gerry Boyle, author of the Jack McMorrow mystery series:
Mainely Powerby Matt Cost and Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remainsby Kerri Arsenault.Six copies of each book will be available at the library for checkout. Three events will be held throughout the summer to discuss the titles and allow participants to engage with the authors.
Events
Summer Program Kick-off on MPBN’s Maine Calling
Friday | June 4, 2021 | 11:00 am – 12 noon
Zoom author talk with Kerri Arsenault (Mill Town)
Thursday | July 15, 2021 | 6:00 – 7:00pm | Register at mainehumanities.org/read-me
Zoom author Talk with Matt Cost (Mainely Power)
Thursday | August 19, 2021 | 6:00 – 7:00pm | Register at mainehumanities.org/read-me
For more information, contact the Library at (207)244-3798, email librarian@bassharborlibrary.com, or visit our webpage: www.bassharborlibrary.com
“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.
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.
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.
“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.”
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.
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.
