Novel Little Free Library

Little Free Libraries are in 88 countries and number more than 79,000. These  small libraries and can be found along many roads, in parks and at myriad other locations. The concept is for people of all ages to “take a book, share a book.” Courtesy dictates that if you take a book or two, return a book or two to either the location from which you borrowed or to another Little Free Library.

Carla McAllister, assistant librarian at New Gloucester Public Library for nearly 10 years, has had a hankering for an LFL for a few years now. Tim Rice, her husband, made her dream come true by building a LFL that resembles the 1893 barn on the premises of their homestead. Dragonfly Farm Little Free Library is lit so that patrons can stop by after dark to check out what books are offered.

The couple believes this is the first LFL in the Gray-New Gloucester area to be found on the World Map posted at littlefreelibrary.org. People may search by town, zip code, steward name or registration number to find LFLs near where you live or where you might be visiting.

Dragonfly Farm Little Free Library is located at 585 Shaker Road, one-half mile south of Shaker Village. You are invited to take away a book of interest and log comments about the overall concept or their LFL in particular. McAllister and Rice hope that their LFL will be respected, visited often, and fun for all.

School supply drive

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The Board of Missions of New Gloucester’s First Congregational Church is collecting school supplies for New Beginnings through Sunday, Sept. 23. New New Beginnings provides services to homeless teens in New Gloucester, Gray, Lewiston, Auburn and other surrounding communities.

The following items are needed: backpacks; notebooks; composition, one-subject spiral, and five-subject notebooks; thumb drives; calculators; quality pens; two-pocket folders; white school glue; and expo markers.

The collection site is the First Congregational Church, 19 Gloucester Hill Road. If you are interested in making a monetary donation instead, board members are happy to do the shopping. Make your check payable to FCCNG and write “New Beginnings” in the memo line. For more details, contact Sharon Vandermay at 504-7979 or sharonvandermay@gmail.com.

‘Border Blunders’

Historian Steven Rogers will give a talk titled “Border Blunders: New England and the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842” at 7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 20, at the New Gloucester Meetinghouse, 389 Intervale Road. The program, sponsored by New Gloucester Historical Society, is  free and refreshments will be available.

Get Out! Nature Walk

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Get Out! Nature Walks, co-sponsored by the Royal River Conservation Trust and Chebeague and Cumberland Land Trust, take place once a month on Wednesday afternoons. The excursions are volunteer-led trips with trained master naturalists and other skilled volunteer leaders. Members of the public are invited to join the group for a well-planned, free, outing held rain or shine.

Volunteer naturalist Karen Massey will lead a curriculum on mushrooms and wildflowers at the 1,700-acre Sabbathday Lake and Shaker Village conservation easement on Wednesday, Sept. 26 from 1:30 to 3 p.m. The group meet-up site is the picnic tables across from the yellow garage at Shaker Village.

Be mindful of the weather, and dress accordingly. Bring appropriate gear, snacks and a thermos or water bottle. As is the case with all such programs, outings are great for older kids, but inappropriate for folks under age 6 since curriculum is  targeted at adults and engaged youth. Additionally, because the purpose is nature observation, no dogs, please. For more information, contact Kyle Warren at 632-6112 or Kyle@rrct.org.

Carla McAllister and Tim Rice opened their Dragonfly Farm Little Free Library in early September. Rice built it to resemble the 1893 barn on the premises of their homestead at 585 Shaker Road.


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