Kennebunk Free Library announced its next Speers Gallery exhibit, Photosbynoelle, by Noelle Argenti. The exhibit runs Oct. 1-29, and features photographs of coastal areas and buildings in southern Maine.

According to a Sept. 13 news release, “Noelle is a resident of Watertown, Massachusetts, and four-season visitor to coastal Maine. She enjoys taking photos of beautiful spots in Ogunquit and York in particular. She has also taken photos of her travels around the country and her hometown, but it is coastal Maine that has captured her heart with its unique and varied landscapes and visuals.”

Argenti’s photographs have been featured in Down East Magazine and won awards in York Art Association shows. She is also an avid potter, and sells her photographs and pottery at the York Art Association gift shop in York, The Shops at Cape Neddick, at various craft shows in Maine and Massachusetts, and through her two Etsy shops.

The public is invited to view the exhibit in the library’s Speers Gallery from Oct. 1-29 at 112 Main St., Kennebunk, during regular library hours when the gallery is not in use for library programs. For library hours and gallery access, visit www.kennebunklibrary.org.

Graves Library to hold author event

The Kennebunkport Graves Memorial Library is holding their annual Author Event at the Kennebunk River Club on Thursday, September 29, from 5 to 7 p.m.

This year’s fundraising event will feature award-winning author and journalist, David Maraniss. The evening will begin with a wine reception, followed by a lively conversation between David Maraniss and Peter Slen, senior executive producer at C-SPAN. An acclaimed biographer of numerous political and sports figures, Maraniss will be signing copies of his latest book, “A Path Lit by Lighting,” a riveting account of the troubled life of America’s greatest all-around athlete, Jim Thorpe.

A limited number of tickets are available for $60 each at the Library (18 Maine St.) or through the website www.graveslibrary.org

Museum announces annual meeting and award

The Brick Store Museum’s annual members’ meeting will take place on Friday, Sept. 30 from 4 to 6 p.m. The presentation of the museum’s annual report to museum members will review the museum’s work accomplished in the past year. It will be the first in-person annual meeting since 2019. The keynote for the evening will be the presentation of the William Barry Medal to the family of the late Stephen P. Spofford, former town historian and president of the board at the museum.

Starting at 4 p.m., members will be invited to take behind-the-scenes tours of collections storage with staff and trustees; especially highlighting the Kimball House and the historic costume collections stored inside. At 4:30 p.m., the annual meeting will kick off, and afterward appetizers will be served by For the Love of Food and Drink, with continued collections tours and a sneak-preview of the upcoming exhibition, The Great State of Maine Illustration, that opens in early October.

Edith Cleaves Barry (1881-1969), founder of the Brick Store Museum, established the William Barry Medal in 1950 as a tribute to her uncle, William Edward Barry (1846-1932), the Kennebunk architect, historian, and naturalist. An artist, Edith Barry personally designed the medallion, which is a small replica of the William Edward Barry plaque she had earlier designed and sculpted.

According to the museum, it was her intent that the medallion be the highest honor that the Brick Store Museum can confer and that it may be awarded once a year at the annual meeting, “if a sufficiently worthy recipient be found.” It is “the emblem by which the museum is the public agent to recognize one who has conspicuously contributed to the welfare of this community or its institutions.” The original medal was cast by Medallic Art Company (then of New York City) and first bestowed in 1950. This year, it will be presented posthumously to Stephen P. Spofford.

Members are invited to RSVP by emailing their response to edirector@brickstoremuseum.org, or call 207-985-4802.

Library accepting exhibit applications

Kennebunk Free Library is accepting applications for artists to exhibit during the 2023 calendar year in the Speers Gallery. The gallery hosts exhibits in a variety of mediums including photography, textile arts and mixed media assemblages in addition to renditions in oil, pastel, enamel oil, encaustic, pen and ink, and watercolor.

The application process is open to either individual or group shows. Applications must be received by Oct. 15, 2022, to be considered for exhibition in 2023.

The submitted applications will compete in a juried review conducted by an Art Committee consisting of members from the library and art communities. Upon completion of the review in November, applicants will be contacted regarding the committee’s decisions. Application forms and additional information are available at the library or by visiting www.kennebunklibrary.org/galleryspeers.asp.

Maine Women in the Arts show announced

Maine Women in the Arts has an annual show to showcase members’ best new work. Artwork is judged in a variety of categories by a professional artist and ribbons are awarded. It is opportunity for the public to view pieces of art, all of which are available for purchase.

Paintings, photographs, and sculpture are among the mediums presented by the group of local artists. The 2022 awards show will be Sept. 30 through Oct. 2. In addition to the awards show submissions, each artist will have other work including a number of all original, small works that will be for sale.

The show runs from Sept. 30 through Oct. 2 at the Masonic Lodge, 10 North St., Kennebunkport. A reception with live music will be Friday, Sept. 30 from 5 to 7 p.m.  The hours are Friday, Sept. 30, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 1, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 2, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Maine Women in the Arts promotes and gives exposure to local artists and their work in all media. For more information, visit www.mainewomenarts.com.

Community Gourmet addresses food insecurity in southern Maine

The Community Gourmet is a local grassroots effort to help people with limited access to food create healthy meals using foods that are easily acquired. To do this, it has created meal kits that can be used alone, or with foods that are readily available at food pantries and farmers’ markets. The organization recently received 501(c)3 nonprofit status.

Community Gourmet is hosting a fundraising tea party on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022 from 1 to 3 p.m. at The Nonantum Resort, 95 Ocean Ave., in Kennebunkport. Tickets are $45 and are available through Eventbrite at www.eventbrite.com/e/the-community-gourmet-tea-party-tickets-402574961547.

Community Gourmet was formed in January 2022 under the leadership of Traci Anello, who has been a professional chef and baker for over 35 years. The organization is made up of local community members who saw a need and were inspired by meal kits that simplify food preparation but are expensive and beyond the means of many in our community.

The group began creating the kits with funds donated by a few interested people who believed in the effort and through sales of linzer cookies for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Christmas in July, and Labor Day.

The meal kits are delivered to various food pantries and are meant to augment the food items distributed by the pantries. As of this date, more than 325 kits have been distributed through the York County Shelter, Kennebunk Chamber of Commerce Little Pantry, Big Love One Community pantry in North Berwick, and local churches since we began distributing them in March 2022.

Community Gourmet received a Daily Point of Light Award that was presented on Sept. 13 at the Point of Light board meeting at Hidden Pond Resort (pointsoflight.org).

Poetry readings planned at museum

A session of Bohemian Sunday Poetry Readings is scheduled for 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 9, at the Brick Store Museum auditorium in Kennebunk.

The WePoets & Verse event will feature Richard Foerster of Eliot. Foerster’s ninth collection, “With Little Light and Sometimes None at All” is forthcoming in fall of 2023. Also scheduled to attend are Mimi White of Rye, New Hampshire, and Martin Steingesser, of Portland.

White is author of four books and was awarded the Philbrick Poetry Prize for her chapbook, “The Singed Horizon.”

Steingesser is author of three books of poems: “Yellow Horses,” “Brothers of Morning” and “The Thinking Heart: the Life & Loves of Etty Hillesum.”

There is no admission charge for the event. For more information, visit https://wepoets.weebly.com.

Oldies Dance returns in October

The 20th edition of the Oldies Dance benefit will be held from 7 p.m. to midnight Saturday, Oct. 15 at the Eagles Hall, 57 Birch St., in Biddeford and is the largest community fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald House of Portland. Tickets are $10 with proceeds donated to the Ronald McDonald House, which provides comfort for the families of pediatric patients and supports programs that directly improve the health and well-being of children and enables family centered care to ensure that family members are fully supported and actively involved in their child’s care.

Oldies Dance Group organizer Bruce Martin said that to date, the organization has raised $85,500 for Ronald McDonald House and recommends that anyone interested in attending the dance to act fast as tickets sell out quickly with seating limited.

“I’m constantly amazed at how quickly these tickets sell,” Martin said in a Sept. 5 news release. “It’s confirmation that people still love to dance, and they love to listen to classic rock n’ roll oldies music. We can only accommodate about 300 people at each of these dances, so I strongly encourage anyone who is interested in attending to call and get their tickets as soon as possible.”

According to Martin, the Oldies Dance Group sold 349 tickets to its May 7 dance in just 10 days and had to turn away 82 additional requests for tickets because of seating limitations.

“Without a doubt, the most popular song at every dance is ‘Unchained Melody’ by the Righteous Brothers,” Martin said. “Even guys who don’t normally dance get up and are out on the dance floor that one. The music is fantastic and takes you back to a simpler time where you know all the words to the songs by heart and the beat is contagious and makes you want to get up and express yourself through dancing. Those memorable Motown hits and anything we play by Elvis Presley ensure the dance floor will be packed.”

The bottom line though is that each Oldies Dance is highly affordable and raises money in a fun way to support the important work that the staff of the Ronald McDonald House in Portland is doing, he said.

To purchase tickets for the October dance or for more information, call Bruce Martin at 207-284-4692.

Kennebunk Portside Rotarians participate in International Coastal Cleanup Day

On Sept. 17, 26 Kennebunk Portside Rotarians, family members and friends participated in International Coastal Cleanup Day by fanning out across Goose Rocks Beach, Kennebunkport to pick up litter and debris left during the summer season. This annual event is sponsored by the Ocean Conservancy as part of worldwide effort to engage coastal communities to help protect the ocean and its marine wildlife from the challenges it faces. Rotarian Charlie Coleman, who annually chairs the event, reported that the group collected 73 pounds of trash that will now not find its way into the ocean.

Rotary International has recently added environmental protection to its areas of focus stating that as an organization it is “committed to supporting activities that strengthen the conservation and protection of natural resources, advance ecological sustainability, and foster harmony between communities and the environment.

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