We will be gathering on the eve of the Autumn Equinox to celebrate this beautiful Earth feast with fire, songs, poems and blessings. As the hemisphere of the planet slowly continues to tilt away from the sun, the season of Autumn comes on stage. Day equals night and light balances darkness; a season of completion and contentment begins. The mood of Autumn is the ebb and flow of life. Autumn stands as an epiphany to the truth that all things are passing and even in the passing there is beauty.

Birds across Maine are changing in surprising ways. Zachary Holderby, Vice President of Downeast Audubon Society, will share how our changing environment is influencing the birds that call Maine home.

Preschool kids and their caregivers are invited to join Youth Services Librarian Claire at the Blue Hill Public Library for preschool storytime on Tuesday mornings at 10:30 a.m.  We will read a few picture books, sing songs, and make a craft.  This is a great way to meet and connect with other families in the area, read stories, and spend time together. For more information, contact Claire at claire.malina@bhpl.net or call the library at 374-5515.

Teens and tweens are invited to come play Magic the Gathering and/or Pokémon, every Tuesday afternoon from 3:00-4:30 p.m. at the Blue Hill Public Library. This will be a casual and fun opportunity for players of all experience levels to get together and test out various decks, trade cards, and share their collections. Participants are welcome to bring their collections and decks, though there will also be decks of cards on hand for anyone to use. This program is free and sponsored by the library. If you have questions, contact Teen Services Librarian Kendall Chapman at kendall.chapman@bhpl.net or by calling 374-5515.

Local Anthropologist Bill Haviland reads from his latest book "Indian History on Deer Isle" 

In the late 1700s, when the first Anglo settlers stepped ashore on Deer Isle, Maine, they were far from the first to do so. For thousands of years people had lived, loved and labored on this and other islands as well as on the mainland. Early French explorers, traders and missionaries, who knew far more about indigenous people than their English counterparts, referred to the region’s inhabitants as Etchemins, a people who occupied the entire coast from the Kennebec River down east as far as the Saint John River. Their descendants today are known as Maliseets, Passamaquoddies and Penobscots. So what do we know about these folks?

The Walk-In Café meets every Wednesday from 9:30–11:30 a.m., either indoors at Fisher Hall in the Blue Hill Congregational Church or outdoors in the parking lot behind the church, weather permitting. The café is always free and open to all ages. It is about a bit of food and conversation. It is a place where the community comes together.

The Walk-In Café is sponsored by Healthy Peninsula in partnership with the First Congregational Church of Blue Hill.   For more information, please contact Healthy Peninsula at 207-374-3257 or email info@healthypeninsula.org

The library and the Blue Hill YMCA will bring storytime to the Y! Preschool kids and their caregivers are invited to join Ms. Jen at the YMCA on Wednesday, August 19 at 10:30 a.m. Participants will sing songs, read stories, join group movement activities followed by a fun obstacle course and then open gym where kids and families can play and connect. The program starts upstairs in Classroom Two. This program is free and you do not need a YMCA membership to attend.  For more information, contact Early Childhood Librarian Jen at jen.rosenthal@bhpl.net or 374-5515. This program was made possible by gifts from generous donors.

In an effort to maintain our French language skills, Library Director Rich Boulet and volunteer Natalie Moses will host French Roast, a weekly in-person French language conversation group that meets every Thursday at the Blue Hill Public Library.  Refreshments will be served, and this program is free and open to all. For more information, please contact Rich at rboulet@bhpl.net or 374-5515.

The Blue Hill Chess Enthusiasts meet each Thursday evening for pick-up games of chess at the Blue Hill Public Library. All experience levels are welcome to drop in for friendly games any time between 5:00 and 8:00 p.m. Interested players can also join the Blue Hill Peninsula Chess Nuts group on lichess.org to play online games any time. This free program is sponsored by the library. If you have any questions, contact Assistant Director Kayleigh at kayleigh.thomas@bhpl.net or 374-5515.

Knitters are invited to come sit by the fireplace at the Blue Hill Public Library to work on and share projects with fellow knitters. The Knitting Group meets every Thursday evening at 6:00 p.m. Anyone is welcome to attend this free event. Coffee and tea will be available to purchase. If you have any questions, contact Assistant Director Kayleigh at kayleigh.thomas@bhpl.net or 374-5515.

Everyone is invited to the Blue Hill Public Library for a talk with author Alice Hotopp and artist Coco Faber on their new book Atlas of Kinship: Stories of Connection Between Seabirds, People, and Place on Thursday, September 24 at 7:00 p.m. Alice and Coco will give a short talk, share a few readings, and end with a Q&A. Copies of the book will be available for purchase from Blue Hill Books, who will be on site. This program is free and open to all, and for more information, please contact the library at 374-5515 or email Assistant Director Kayleigh at kayleigh.thomas@bhpl.net.

On Saturday, Sept. 26, Leslie Cummins and Tim Seabrook, along with volunteers Torrey Luker and Cori Carter, will guide visitors through the reconstructed historic orchard at the Fisher House at 44 Mines Rd. in Blue Hill, and discuss Fisher’s original design and planting, as well as the process of re-establishing the orchard based on the documented apple varieties from Fisher’s original orchard map. Tours are free from 1-4 PM, though donations to support the Fisher House are welcome. FMI 374-2459.

Preschool kids and their caregivers are invited to join Ms. Jen for Music and Movement Storytime at 10:30 a.m. We will sing songs, play instruments, dance, and read stories. The rhythms, rhymes, and patterns in music and the use of musical instruments provide fun ways to practice skills that have a direct connection with early literacy. This program will share a selection of the many children’s books and stories that have connections with music, sound, and movement. For more information, contact Early Childhood Librarian Jen at jen.rosenthal@bhpl.net or 374-5515.

Preschool kids and their caregivers are invited to join Youth Services Librarian Claire at the Blue Hill Public Library for preschool storytime on Tuesday mornings at 10:30 a.m.  We will read a few picture books, sing songs, and make a craft.  This is a great way to meet and connect with other families in the area, read stories, and spend time together. For more information, contact Claire at claire.malina@bhpl.net or call the library at 374-5515.

Teens and tweens are invited to come play Magic the Gathering and/or Pokémon, every Tuesday afternoon from 3:00-4:30 p.m. at the Blue Hill Public Library. This will be a casual and fun opportunity for players of all experience levels to get together and test out various decks, trade cards, and share their collections. Participants are welcome to bring their collections and decks, though there will also be decks of cards on hand for anyone to use. This program is free and sponsored by the library. If you have questions, contact Teen Services Librarian Kendall Chapman at kendall.chapman@bhpl.net or by calling 374-5515.

Join a group of song crafters. Bring a song, Bring a work in progress or an idea, share and collaborate with other song writers!
$2-5 donation.

The Walk-In Café meets every Wednesday from 9:30–11:30 a.m., either indoors at Fisher Hall in the Blue Hill Congregational Church or outdoors in the parking lot behind the church, weather permitting. The café is always free and open to all ages. It is about a bit of food and conversation. It is a place where the community comes together.

The Walk-In Café is sponsored by Healthy Peninsula in partnership with the First Congregational Church of Blue Hill.   For more information, please contact Healthy Peninsula at 207-374-3257 or email info@healthypeninsula.org

Kids 0-5 and their caregivers are invited to playgroup in the Blue Hill town park with Youth Services Librarian Claire Malina on Wednesdays from 10:30 a.m.- noon for a variety of activities and play. This is a great way to meet and connect with other families in the area and to play together outdoors!  We will meet at the park in most weather:however, if it is raining, playgroup will take place in the Howard Room of the Blue Hill Public Library. For more information, contact Claire at claire.malina@bhpl.net.

Join Blue Hill Heritage Trust and Island Heritage Trust for our first Friends From the Field webinar of the season!

To astronomers, dark skies — the absence of light pollution — represent a precious and increasingly rare aspect of the environment, one that mainstream environmentalists sometimes overlook. Our speaker, Michael Goldstein, is vice-president of the Mid-Hudson Astronomical Association, and leads its project to identify dark observing sites. He recently visited Deer Isle and experienced its exceptionally dark skies first-hand. Goldstein’s talk will compare local conditions to other areas of the United States and Maine, and will illustrate the incredible power — and rapidly improving ease of use — of today’s observing technologies.

Registration is required. Sign-up here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_rWDF0Uu2SzOg9QkJV0Abaw

Free, PMM’s Main Street Gallery

Sing along or listen as PMM staff and volunteers lead an afternoon of sea chanteys and sailors’ songs. If you have a chantey to share, you are welcome to lead one. There will also information about how these songs were used as work songs. Attend once or come regularly. All ages are welcome, and no experience is needed.
www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org

This program will be an exploration of the exposed summit of Blue Hill Mountain focusing on its geological history, the successional process on its exposed bedrock that created its graceful outcrop communities, and how one can walk among these fragile communities and have no impact on them at all.

Participants will meet a BHHT staff member at 9:00am (meeting location will be provided upon registration). We will hike to the summit along a trail that includes several steps, ledges, rocks, and roots. Trail length is approximately 1 mile and is rated easy-difficult. Tom will be waiting for the group at the summit, and once his talk is over BHHT staff will lead the group down the mountain.

**Space is limited to 12 participants and registration is required. Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Vhk-AHN75TepwzQOk7ZmDplSRuTXjKvn9X_7T4vK3Vo/edit

Laurie Baker from Bates College comes to Maine Maritime Academy to give a seminar: “Reading the Wind: Recovering 19th Century Weather from Diaries in the Gulf of Maine”

Alice Hotopp from Downeast Salmon Federation comes to Maine Maritime Academy to give a seminar: “River Restoration and Science Communication in Downeast Maine”