Community Calendar

Charles Sumner was a household name in his era. Friends with Charles Dickens, de Tocqueville, and Emerson, the abolitionist and civil rights crusader was called “a colossus holding his burning heart in his hand” by Henry Longfellow. Sumner coined the phrase, “equality before the law” in an argument before the Supreme Court of Massachusetts in 1849. He was an advisor to Lincoln and an ally of Frederick Douglass. In his new biography, Charles Sumner: Conscience of a Nation, Zaakir Tameez brings back, in living color, the nearly forgotten statesman’s achievements, such as his role in helping ordain the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th Amendment, and the Civil Rights Act of 1875. Dorothy Wickenden, author of The Agitators: Three Friends Who Fought for Abolition and Women's Rights, will talk with Tameez about the ideas that remain relevant to a nation still divided over questions of race, equality, democracy, and constitutional law.

Overeaters Anonymous welcomes anyone with a desire to end their painful and uncontrollable relationship with food or food behaviors.
We offer a proven workable method to arrest this disease and gain a daily reprieve from the obsession and craving that overwhelms us again and again.
There is a solution. Welcome to Overeaters Anonymous…..welcome home.

This is a weekly meeting of Overeaters Anonymous. Is your eating out of control? Do you think you might have a problem with food? Overeaters Anonymous can help. There are no dues, fees, or weigh-ins.OA is not a diet club, but a fellowship of people recovering from eating compulsively. Come to a local meeting and find hope that there is a solution for you.

The largest living land animals, elephants live in matriarchal societies where multiple family groups live together. The oldest matriarch is always the leader and her wisdom, learned throughout her long life, serves to protect the health, well-being, and survival of the herd. As a keystone species, elephants have a significant, and oversized, impact on their environments, creating habitats and resources that benefit other species. At the same time, elephant and human interests can come into conflict.

Winnie Kiiru is a founding member of Women for the Environment Africa, an organization that inspires and supports female leaders to remedy the gender imbalance in leadership in African environmentalism and conservation. She is also a widely admired wildlife biologist, international leader in conservation, and advocate for people-centered conservation. President Sylvia Torti will speak with Kiiru about her research, matriarchal leadership, and her own "path breaking" role in protecting them from extinction. What can elephants teach us about communal living, conflict resolution, resilience and adaptability? How are elephant families and human communities and culture interconnected?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is being hailed as revolutionary, with world-changing applications in every sector from human health to e-commerce, finance, and transportation. But as the technology grows more sophisticated, the alarm bells about potential dangers—deep fakes, market volatility, weapons automatization, and uncontrollable self-aware AI—grow louder. To counter these threats are leaders in the field of human-centered AI—an approach that centers human needs and values, and help enterprises responsibly build, adopt, procure, and use AI at scale. That is the mission of CredoAI, a San Francisco-based company founded by Navrina Singh. She will speak with the CEO of The Atlantic, Nick Thompson, about creating a future in which humans can thrive.

Join us Sunday, August 3rd at 2pm for the 99th annual Pilgrimage Service of the Elder Grey Meeting House and explore a piece of the North Waterboro's history. Visit https://eldergrey.org to learn more about this historical landmark.
Every year on the first Sunday in August, neighbors, extended families, individuals with historic ties and/or a special interest in the North Waterboro community, or just plain local history buffs, gather for what has traditionally been called a Pilgrimage Service at the Elder Grey Meeting House. Except for the dress of those in attendance and the cars parked along both sides of the lovely old country road, this scene could have occurred one or two hundred years ago
In the early 1900s, after years of only sporadic use of the Elder Grey Meeting House for Christmas events and evangelical Sundays, a group of neighbors and descendants of those who attended services there in the last century were concerned about the possible deterioration of the meeting house and cemetery from neglect. They decided to hold a "Pilgrimage Service" on August 29, 1926, "to commemorate the restoration of the Old Meeting House to its original condition as our fathers worshiped in it."
Ever since that notable occasion, a Pilgrimage Service has been held each year, now always on the first Sunday afternoon in August.

Game night, every Sunday in Surry. We play new & old board games, card games, dice games, word games, tile games, team games... bring your favorites! Everyone welcome.

$2/person goes to the community center.

The Maine Volunteer Leadership Conference (MVLC) is Maine’s only statewide educational event focused on engaging citizens in volunteer service. The conference is organized by Volunteer Maine as part of its professional development for leaders of community volunteer programs.

Since 1986, organizers of Maine community volunteer efforts have gathered to learn, network, and share thought-provoking discussions with regional and national leaders in the volunteer sector.

Visit https://volunteermaine.gov/volunteer-leaders/conference for more information!

The School Support Circle is an opportunity for any school staff to find support, brainstorm new ideas, problem solve, & connect with OUT Maine and each other.

Feel free to join each month or just once.

Note: this is a collaborative space, not an OUT Maine training.

Register for free at www.outmaine.org

Join us for a full-day creative conference at the heart of Design Fest 2025, hosted by AIGA Maine at the beautiful Portland Museum of Art. This event brings together designers, makers, and thinkers for a series of dynamic talks, collaborative sessions, and meaningful connections.

We’ll explore this year’s theme—connections—through the lens of creative collaboration, identity, ethics, and storytelling.

Sessions & Speakers:

–Keynote: "Balancing Connections for Teamwork" with Illustrator & Art Director, Kirk Wallace (Bonehaus) and Creative Director & Brand Designer, Adam Danielson (Ducktail) on creative partnerships

–Adobe Presents: "Supporting Emerging Designers" a spotlight from our sponsor on empowering the next generation of creatives

–Talk: "Community Collabs" with Portland-based Muralist Ryan Adams & Multidisciplinary Artist Rachel Gloria Adams

–Talk: "Queer by Design" with Portland-based Creative Director and Founder, Rebecca Brooker (Queer Design Club, Planthouse Studio)

–Workshop: "Creative Connections Through Mapping" with Creative Catalyst & Facilitator of Possibility, Anne Ditmeyer

–Roundtable Discussion: "AI Ethics in Design" moderated by Professor of New Media, Andrew Elijah Edwards (SMCC)

Plus, opening remarks from the AIGA Maine Board, a delicious catered lunch, and a door prize drawing (including a free year-long Adobe CC subscription 🎉).