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Recent
Events   
The Chesterville Center Union Meeting House has announced the resumption of the popular Chesterville Poetry Night on Friday, October 21, at 7:00 p.m. Having missed two years due to the pandemic, poets and poetry fans will again gather for what will be the fourth time to share their own poems or favorites written by Chesterville poets or others.
2022The event is free and open to the public, with no requirement that an attendee participate in poetry reading. However, participation in poetry reading is open to not only current Chesterville residents, but also “former residents, future residents, relatives of residents past or present, residents of nearby towns who wish they lived in Chesterville, people reading poems about Chesterville or by Chesterville poets, or any other Chesterville connection, no matter how tenuous or remote," explained a Meeting House spokesperson. "Also, if a poet is shy, we will find someone who will read your poem for you." Youth poets are particularly encouraged to contribute, and will be featured in a bed-time friendly order in the poetry line-up. Past Chesterville Poetry Nights have attracted a wide range of ages and styles, and featured original poetry, narrative poem performance, reading poetry written by deceased Chesterville poets, and poems interspersed with musical stanzas, among others. Original works shared have been collected into a volume for each poetry night. "It's always been an inspirational experience, exposing all kinds of creativity, talent, and enthusiasm in the people of the Chesterville area," reflected Fran Fuller, himself a contributing poet. "There are many secret poetry fans and artists out there, and we look forward to meeting more of them on October 21!" Oct 2, 2022
A slide show entitled "Wilderness Canoeing When You're Almost Too Old To" will be presented at the Chesterville Center Union Meeting House at 2 p.m. on Sunday, October 2 by Paul and Cynthia Stancioff.
Now in their 60's, the couple have undertaken canoeing/fishing trips in the contiguous wilderness preserves of northern Minnesota and western Ontario numerous times over the past four decades, most recently in July of 2022. Acknowledging the questionable need to travel so far when they live in a state full of lakes, they nonetheless maintain that the drive to Quetico Provincial Park and Minnesota's Boundary Waters Wilderness Canoe Area is worth the trouble because of the quality and scale of the wilderness experience. While the Stancioffs' trips have always involved fishing, canoeing, and portaging (carrying all gear from lake to lake), they avoided portaging on their most recent trip due to physical limitations. Nevertheless they say the trip was as worthwhile as ever in terms of their objectives, which include getting away from stress, detaching from society, catching fish, and relaxing fully immersed in Nature. Their presentation will include tips for provisioning a 10-12 day trip in a low-tech, low-cost, high-enjoyment manner, even if you are feeling a bit past your Best-If-Used-By date. The event is free and open to all.
July 14 2022
Friday May 20, 2022
An Evening with Bernd Heinrich 7:00 p.m.
On May 20, 2022 at 7:00 p.m., internationally renowned author, field biologist, illustrator, and long distance runner Bernd Heinrich appeared at the Chesterville Center Meeting House. After a childhood in the forest of post-war northern Europe, then Weld and Fairfield, Maine, and an academic career spanning the continent, Heinrich has retired to his true home, a forest in Weld. He reflected on the significance of Franklin County in his long life and entertained questions from the audience on many of his works. Having set numerous distance running records and authored 2 dozen books on various nature topics as well as on running, the conversation could ranged broadly. "The more unusual the question, the better," he smiled, when asked about potential topics.
A fun time was had!! June 2022  |
The Meeting House is maintained and owned by a non-profit organization called Chesterville Center Union Meeting House, Inc. This corporation was formed in the 1960's for the purpose of raising funds "to restore and maintain the Chesterville Union meeting house as a place of worship...without favor or discrimination...it being the purpose of the corporation to encourage religious activities of all creeds as first instituted by the Union Meeting House Society upon its organization in 1851."
In 2005 the Meeting House organization was revitalized and the corporate purposes were amended to include arts, culture and community-building. In 2013, the corporation received an IRS non-profit 501(c)3 designation and applied for a grant from the Davis Family Foundation of Falmouth, Maine. In April 2014 the Davis Family Foundation awarded the Chesterville Center Union Meeting House, Inc. a grant in the amount of $10,000 for construction of an accessible restroom facility and wheelchair ramp.
This Fall (2014) the Board and other community volunteers have spent approximately 200 hours on design and construction of the restroom, ramp, and entryway. The goal is to have the restroom structure closed in by winter. Further grant funds will be sought to complete this project and to add a heating system to make the building available during cold weather. It is hoped that this beautiful antique and historic building will be even more useful to not only current residents, but for generations to come.
Chesterville ConnectionsThe vision of the Board is that the Meeting House will be seen by Chesterville residents as a community resource - a place to hold events, from concerts to exhibits, to readings, presentations, movies, exhibits, children's shows and events, and other things yet to be thought of. Chesterville remains a tight-knit community despite its sprawling geography, and it is hoped that this commodious building will inspire more interaction among residents and serve as a common center for connecting with neighbors near and far, for bringing people together from all corners of town, and to encourage the strong sense of "community" in Chesterville.
