Library PROGRAMS & EVENTS

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If you missed it, the goats will be returning on Saturday July 3 from 10 am-2pm as a time for friends/family to play with the goats. 

GOATSCAPING AT THE WATERFORD LIBRARY

Starting June 4th 2021, Al’s Goats of Springvale, Maine were in residence for 1 week in the backyard of the Waterford Library. Our goal was an environmentally safe method of eradicating poison ivy and other invasive species. Goats are a safe, nontoxic solution. Aside from the obvious goal of making our backyard safer for visitors, this is also our way to educate, share, and celebrate Keoka Lake Association’s 50th Anniversary of lake protection and stewardship.

Prior to the herd's arrival, a survey was conducted to determine exactly which plant species were growing on the property. Photos and cuttings are shared with his biologist.  Aside from poison ivy, we have ferns, blackberries, locust, wild cherries, buttercups, vetch, ground elder / bishop's weed, goat weed, nan’s bush, the usual saplings, and a number of other plants. 

How does it work? According to Al Charon, Poison Ivy has no natural predators, so any plants eaten by the goats are naturally stressed, and this causes them to get crispy, and die. Goat urine also effectively burns out the oils in the ivy. There are a few species toxic to goats, predominantly in the milkweed family, so the site is pre-evaluated for the safety of the goats. A special solar electric fence is placed around the entire area to be consumed, and each day the goats are placed inside. Their goat herder is generally with them during the day, and the goats sleep in a nearby trailer overnight. Small areas take a few days.  Goats  eat approximately one acre of vegetation in a month.

Please DO NOT FEED THEM ANYTHING. Goats nibble on EVERYTHING including FINGERS, earbuds, phones, shirts, pants, shoelaces, your hair/beard.  Some nearby plants are toxic and lethal to goats. Please DO NOT FEED THEM ANYTHING.  Please do NOT allow children or pets near the electric fence. Children must be accompanied by a parent/guardian at all times when near the goats or the fence. Animals, such as barking dogs will startle the goats. They will naturally run for shelter, and shelter is their trailer. The goats will plow through the fence and hurt themselves trying to get to safety. Goats LOVE to play and NAP. They are Most active in the morning and late afternoon. Playbreaks and naps help their digestion, and both help keep them on task.  

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2021 ANNUAL FRASER GARDEN PROGRAM

JUNE 26 11am-noon2021 

with DEB PERKINS of First Light Habitats
Waterford Library is presenting a program June 26 from 11 am- noon about how to make our landscapes more friendly to the environment. Deb Perkins of First Light Habitats will be leading a walk-and-talk entitled "Landscaping for Biodiversity and Water Quality." Deb calls herself "The Personal Ecologist" and with 25 years ecological experience in the Northeast she can help us all to better understand the natural world and make recommendations for creating a personal habitat which serves both the land and the land owner's wishes.
We will be visiting a local waterfront property for the hour-long program and professional consultation. Deb will guide our group on a walk along the shoreline, and and cover the following topics in an interactive style:native plantings and landscaping practices that promote biodiversity and protect water quality how to build bird and pollinator habitat at home eco-friendly and low maintenance lawn alternativesReservations required. Please Rsvp waterfordmelibrary@gmail.comDue to CDC guidelines, social distancing remains in effect.  Deb Perkins is available for consultation.
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MR. DREW and HIS ANIMALS TOO 

The Waterford Library hosted 7 LIVE Online Shows each Monday April 19 - May 31 from 6:30-7:30 pm 

with Mr. Drew and his Animals. 

Children of all ages are invited to join these LIVE virtual presentations are 30-45 minute long, and feature six exotic reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates from around the world. Presentations are age appropriate and very animated to hold children's attention.

The shows are LIVE, so there each show is unique.

Here is the schedule :

Monday, April 19th @ 6:30 intro, insects and arachnids

Monday, April 26th @ 6:30 amphibians

Monday, May 3rd  @ 6:30 turtles and tortoises

Monday, May 10th @ 6:30 lizards

Monday, May 17th @ 6:30 snakes

Monday, May 24th @ 6:30 Maine reptiles and amphibians

Monday, May 31st @ 6:30 review of programs, Q & A's.

Mr. Drew’s Story

As a boy, Mr. Drew spent much of his free time in the local woods or by the waters edge. Over 40 years ago, he started keeping aquarium fish, and this opened a new world for him ...SCIENCE! From that first aquarium, he learned geology, geography, biology, botany, chemistry, entomology, ichthyology etc. He is involved with the Boy Scouts (earning his Eagle Scout at 16) and worked in the pet industry for over 30 years as owner and operator of a pet store and aquarium maintenance service.

Mr. Drew is a rehabilitator and outreach program for injured, neglected and unwanted exotic animals. He finds them good homes or uses them in his educational shows. He has written for magazines and did a CNN segment. As an “Educational Technician, merit badge counselor, and guide for Thorncrag Bird Sanctuary and Mt. Apatite Geological Park. Drew delights all ages with his unique style, energy, knowledge and love for learning.

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ANNUAL 2021  KEOKA ICE OUT

50/50 FUND-RAISER 

Congratulations to John Pendergast 

for winning guess of April 9, 2021

Congratulations to Maryanne Elliot 

for winning guess of April 7th 2020

2021 ANNUAL TOWN MEETING

at the WATERFORD TOWN HALL

SATURDAY MARCH 6th at 9am

Seating will be spaced to allow  6' physical distancing and will be limited to 50 people in the fire station. Overflow will watch from the meeting room with a runner to convey questions or vote counts.

 www.waterfordme.org  to view Annual Town Report

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  PREVIOUS ALL ABOUT BOOKS 

LIVE ZOOM EVENTS  

The All About Books series offers Maine authors a platform to talk about their evolving journey. Challenges of the past year have made these conversations especially poignant.

TUES. MAY 4 at 6:30pm

KEOKA LAKE ASSOCIATION presents 

KEOKA LAKE - A History of Life on Our Lake Celebrating 50 Years

To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Keoka Lake Association, KLA members have been busily crowdsourcing a comprehensive collection of stories, photos, and historic insights about the people who live around Keoka and call Waterford home. Many generations have both lived and summered here. Over the past year and a half, what started as a small booklet has turned into a 350+ page labor of love. Various individuals will share their contributions to this exciting new addition to the history of life in Waterford. 

a recording will be available upon request.

APRIL 6, 2021

Kate Hotchkiss -new series: On Harbor's Edge.  
In addition to writing the On Harbor's Edge series, Kate Hotchkiss is a freelance writer, classic model, and photographer with contributions to online and print magazines, newspapers, books, and commercial advertisements. Kate is semi-retired from business, government and United Nations positions that included living in China for 12 years and travel throughout Asia.
Kate has two sons who now live in Boston and Athens, and has three stepsons living in Maine and Missouri. She is empty nesting on a Maine island with husband Ellard and their youngest son's German Shepherd.

 MARCH 2, 2021

  Maine Favorites Authors Bruce Robert Coffin and Judith Green discuss 'What makes a Good Mystery?'  

Judith Green is a story-teller and mystery writer who has written 26 high-interest / low-level novels and stories for adult new readers. For many years she was Adult Education Director for eleven rural towns in western Maine. Her mysteries have been in 15 issues of the New England Crime “Level Best” anthologies. “A Good, Safe Place,” published in 2010 in Thin Ice, was nominated for an Edgar®. Her modern epistolary story, “Dear Manuel,” chronicles her ongoing character, Margery Easton. "Breaking In” was published in this year's Level Best anthology and, set in a small town that would look awfully familiar to folks around here. She is currently seeking a publisher for her first book, "Don't Bet the Farm," and has started working on another. Green lives in a home she and her husband built, next to an ancestral family home in North Waterford, Maine.

Award-winning writer and retired police officer, Bruce Robert Coffin is the author of the bestselling Detective Byron mysteries. As a detective sergeant, he supervised all homicide and violent crime investigations for Maine's largest city. Following the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, Bruce spent 4 years investigating counter-terrorism cases for the FBI, earning the Director's Award, the highest award a non-agent can receive. Coffin made his fiction debut in 2015 with the short story, “Foolproof.” It was included in Best American Mystery Stories 2016. Bruce has now penned numerous short stories and novels, including “Beyond the Truth”, Silver Falchion Award Winner for Best Procedural, Agatha Award Nominee for Best Contemporary Novel, and Maine Literary Award Nominee for Best Crime Fiction. His fourth and latest book is “Within Plain Sight.” He is a member of International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. He is a regular contributor to Murder Books blogs and resides in Maine with his wife.

FEBRUARY 2,  2021

Maine author  Deb Gould - 

"Eastern 1 and Eastern 2"

Deborah Gould grew up in Portland and Brunswick, Maine. After college in New Hampshire, she moved to Boston and worked for a major publishing firm, but soon came to her senses—left the city and moved back to Maine. Her fiction tends to rise from her fascination with social history and the ordinary experiences and truths we share with those who have lived before us. Her work appeared in an anthology of women writers, Words on Wednesday Night. A new edition of Household (2011) is due out shortly from Maine Authors Publishing. The first book in her acclaimed Eastern series (The Early Years) was published in 2015; and  (Later On) in 2018.

In 2013 she was a Maine Literary Award short fiction finalist, then won that award in 2014. Her novel The Eastern: The Early Years was a 2016 Maine Literary Award finalist. Gould is a resident of Brunswick; and summers on Flying Pond in Mount Vernon.

 JANUARY 12, 2021 

Sweden Maine author Rowland Creitz

 "To Touch the Earth Again"
Only weeks out of medical school, Dr. Philip Springer sees disaster coming…but the wrong kind. He is forced to substitute for the only doctor in Possum Run, TN, a tiny isolated coal town in the rugged Appalachian mountains. To the doctor’s surprise, Possum Run defies many mining stereotypes. It is peaceful and harmonious and—despite the Depression—offers full employment. But trouble is brewing in paradise. A politically-connected miner is endangering the mine, and the huge slag dam high above the town is leaking badly. Even under the guidance of his faithful nurse, Philip learns to be a doctor and part of the town. Then one day, he and Possum Run face a danger far beyond anyone’s wildest imagination.
Born in New Jersey, Rowland Creitz was a primary school teacher in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine and an educational consultant before becoming a full-time writer. He lives in Stow, Maine and this is his first novel.