IN PERSON AT AUBURN PUBLIC LIBRARY AND ZOOM

Senior College in the Communiry is our partnership with the Auburn Public Library to offer a series of Tuesday afternoon speakers and presentations.

All of these presentations are free and open to the public at the Auburn Public Library -- no registration required. However, if you want the option of attending any of these programs via Zoom, you must be registered here. (The Zoom link will be sent out each week to all who are registered.)

Our scheduled programs for Spring 2026 include the following:

• April 7 - Christine Guerette, Lake Stewards of Maine, "Keeping Maine Lakes Clean and Free of Invasives”  
• April 14 - Micah Miller, Biodiversity Research Institute, "What are the biggest threats to Arctic Birds and Loons?"
• April 21 - Norlands Living History Center, "The Busy Cradle - Tales of the Washburn Family in Maine"
• April 28 - Arlo Hennessey, Lewiston Auburn Community Market, "Lewiston Auburn Community Market: Local Food, Community and Belonging on Park Ave"
• May 5 - John Alsobrooks, Little Dragon Integrative Medicine, "What Is Traditional Chinese Medicine? A Beginner’s Guide to an Ancient Medical System”
• May 12 - Keith Carson, Maine Conservation Voters, “What motivates a well-known local ‘weatherman' to become a climate acitivist?"

IN PERSON AT AUBURN PUBLIC LIBRARY

French for Travel: Emphasis on travel and emergency vocabulary and spoken French for the serious learner. Students will have chances to practice making itineraries, giving/asking directions, and learning concrete skills for traveling in France.

All levels are welcome. Students should bring laptops or tablets that can connect with the internet. 

Tiffany studied French at Wellesley College and has traveled and lived abroad in France, Switzerland, Canada and Haiti for over 3 years. She has over 5 years of experience as a PK-12 teacher in states across the country. Her favorite thing to do is spend time with her dog and learn new culinary, arts and crafts skills.

IN PERSON AT AUBURN-LEWISTON AIRPORT

You’ve heard the expression, “Keep looking up!” Well, in this class we take it literally! Equipped only with your eyes and a sense of curiosity, there are dozens of beautiful and interesting natural sights that can be found just by looking at the sky. In this course, we’ll survey a large sample of these sights and learn how to identify and name them, and facts about how they form.

The Course is divided into three weekly, two-hour classes. We’ll start with "Cloud Watching," in which we’ll examine the huge variety of shapes, sizes, and forms that clouds can have, learn a basic identification system, and a few basic (and surprising!) principles behind their formation. Next, we’ll explore "Atmospheric Optics." The play of light on water drops, dust or ice crystals in the atmosphere produces a host of visual spectacles - rainbows, halos, glories, coronas and many more. Some can be seen almost every day or so, some are very rare. Find out where to see them and how they are formed. Last, "The Night Sky" introduces you to a small selection of the best and brightest astronomical sights you can enjoy using only your naked eyes: the Moon, Meteors, The Bright Planets, and Stars and Constellations. These objects can be seen even in suburbs with moderate light pollution. No telescope or other optical aid needed!

The goal of this course is to generate inspiration, awareness, and insight about the many natural phenomena that can be discovered and enjoyed, simply by keeping an eye on the sky throughout the course of a year.  

Alan is a nature and science enthusiast who's been fascinated by sights in the sky his whole life. He's a Maine Master Naturalist (Class of 2013, hosted by Bates College in Lewiston), a certified National Weather Service SKYWARN Storm Spotter, and an official CoCoRaHS Observer. He's a lifelong Mainer and lives in Lisbon with his wife, Linda .

IN PERSON AT AUBURN PUBLIC LIBRARY

In this course, an experienced lighting designer will explain the elements of lighting design for a lay audience. He will use photos of actual plays he has lit to illustrate how lighting can create many different effects. You will never watch a play again without noticing the lighting!  

Brackley Frayer is an emeritus professor of theatre at Univeristy of Nevada at Las Vegas. He has an MFA in Lighting Design from Yale Drama School, extensive experience in theatrical lighting design, and has worked at regional professional theatres throughout the US and abroad. In May, he is lighting the Public Theatre play "Granny Gatewood Takes a Walk". His brother Bill is glad to host him for the two weeks he will be working at the Public Theatre