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10 FEBRUARY 2017 CHEBEAGUE ISLAND COUNCIL CALENDAR
Chebeague Island Library
846-4351 phone • 846-4358 fax
cheblib@hotmail.com
Did you know?
• We’ve got a shredder if you need to shred private documents.
Sun & Mon Closed
Tuesday 4 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Wednesday 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Thursday 4 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Friday 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Saturday 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Winter Hours
NEW BOOKS
The Midnight Coolby Lydia Peelle
Genghis Khan and the Quest for God
by Jack Weatherford
One Man’s Island by Bob Libby
February is the shortest month; the core of winter challenges
Chebeaguers to adapt. Many seasonal visitors choose to consider
island life from warmer places, maybe sending Instagrams from exotic
beaches and golf courses. We know BJ is making art in Mexico and
that some friends might join Maine Public Broadcasting’s tour of Cuba.
We who feed the birds are amazed by the arctic species like Maritime
robins that consider our island a winter destination.
While many abandon our island in this stark month, a small contingent
stays and soldiers on. Let’s celebrate the hardy souls who work
through the coldest month to make our island community thrive. Town
committees meet, and plans are drawn up.The ladies at the Hall create a
warm gathering each Wednesday that lures islanders from their homes.
Deb keeps the library humming with constant new books, workshops,
and presentations for all ages. If you haven’t been in recently when Deb
is reading to our youngest islanders, you should plan a visit.
Going across the bay is the special bond of island the Islander’s tour
of duty nears its end, some of us remember when Chesuncook was the
winter ferry. Ramps and the Cousins Wharf hill seem especially steep and
treacherous when ice and snow coat the surfaces. After a storm islanders
must clear out an island vehicle; drive to the wharf and park; clear out
a second vehicle on Cousins or the mainland; drive to jobs, schools, or
appointments; and then perhaps face another clean out and a rough drive
home. Thanks go to CTC for working steadily to ease islanders’commute
by providing carts, shoveling wharves and ramps, offering shelter on
warm buses, and helping us old timers hauling groceries.
Sometimes we islanders might take for granted the hardy souls on
whom we depend for so many services. Let’s give a shout out to CMP
workers who brave the winter weather in a small boat to quickly restore
power on the island after an outage, the teachers who commute to
serve our children, and even the crew that plows and sands our roads,
which relies on a commuter from Long Island. Kathleen also commutes
from Long, and Clint the artist travels from Casco to crawl on frozen
ground repairing our old vehicles. The staff from MaineHealth comes
regularly to provide medical care. Even the Yarmouth vet makes the
trek so little kittens with colds don’t have to travel to town.
While we huddle close to the hearth at home, entrepreneurs are out on
the winter water starting ventures with kelp and shellfish, harvesting
lobsters in the sou’west, and trying to restore scallop and shrimp
stocks in the Gulf of Maine. I will always treasure the experience of
dragging for scallops on Sea Smoke with Winky Jr. on the coldest day I
can ever remember being out in a boat.
In the midst of the coldest month many will come to the island to
participate in the Rec Center’s winter carnival. If there’s crusty snow,
the sledding will be great down to Littlefield Road from Petticoat Farm
or one can coast all the way from Chebeague Inn’s porch across the
fourth and fifth fairways to the beach. One can snowshoe or ski down
winter abandoned roads, and there’s Sanford’s Pond, the most scenic
skating pond in the entire world. Happy February y’all!
Note: Unfortunately, our online catalogue isn’t functioning.
New acquisitions can be seen on our webpage. Please either
call or email if you are looking for a book. Please like our new
Facebook page!
Science Fiction and Fantasy Comes to the Library
What would it be like if senior citizens could become space
soldiers, if the NapoleonicWars had been set in space, or if Harry
Potter had been written for adults? Science fiction and fantasy
has come a long way since the days of unicorns, magic swords,
and aliens from Mars. Here at the library, we’re bringing you the
best new books that have transformed the genre in the last ten
years. We have new stories that inspired songs in “Hamilton,”
involve daring capers that put “Ocean’s Eleven” to shame, and
mash up “Friends” and “Star Trek” to hilariously heartwarming
result. So, if you haven’t taken an adventure to a new planet
or an entirely new universe recently, your comfortable reading
routine is starting to feel like a rut, or you just want something
different to help pass the winter months, come down to the
library and we’ll find a way for you to get your next literary fix.