Bruce Guernsey: Gracious and Entertaining at Down Home Maine

By Lorrie Hoeh

Bruce Guernsey at Mill Hill Inn

  Entering the charming and comfortable parlor of the Mill Hill Inn is always a pleasure, but with an added fillip of excitement on October 17 at the prospect of WMSC’s first Down Home Maine presentation of the semester. Wednesday night’s guest was poet Bruce Guernsey, who spends part of each year in his home on Paradise Road in Bethel with his wife, Victoria.

After a brief interlude of wine, munchies, and visiting with old and new acquaintances, we were called to order by Saranne Taylor, who introduced Bruce. His first reading from his book, From Rain: Poems, 1970-2010, was “The Apple.” He explained that the visual appearance of poetry differs from that of prose, because in poetry the “lines try to do something different from sentences.” The shape of an apple showed on the page.

Saranne Taylor introducing Bruce Guernsey

We were treated to Bruce’s readings of several of his favorites, including “The Well,” “The Dump Pickers,” “June 21st,” “Transplant,” “Toad,” “The Skull” and others. “The Skull” evokes such vivid mental pictures that it was printed in the Journal of Medicine, from which Bruce received $50! One of his poems, "The Letter X," he worked on for ten years, and it was no surprise that it ended with the letter "X." Copies of From Rain were available for purchase and autographing. We were all most appreciative of Bruce’s gracious and entertaining presentation.

Bruce Guernsey was born in New Hampshire, is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Eastern Illinois University, where he taught for twenty-five years. He has also taught at William and Mary, Johns Hopkins, and Virginia Wesleyan, where he was Poet-in-Residence for four years. His poems have appeared in Poetry, The Atlantic, The American Scholar, and many of the quarterlies. He is a former editor of The Spoon River Poetry Review. Guernsey has received fellowships from the NEA, the MacDowell Colony, and the Illinois Arts Council; moreover, he has been a Fulbright Senior Lecturer in American Poetry in Portugal and Greece and has twice sailed around the world as a faculty member with Semester at Sea.

Harriet Gilpatrick and Mary Haberman

 photos by Lorrie Hoeh

For more information about Western Mountains Senior College visit our website at http://sad44.maineadulted.org/western_mountains_senior_college

Good Turnout for Good Sleep

Carlie Casey and Lynne Kulik examine pamphlets brought by Dr. DellaValla.  photo J. Whitman

Twenty-nine people braved the rain on October 4 to attend To Your Health's first presentation of the year, “Good Sleep: Working to Keep You Healthy.” The presenter, Dr. Joseph DellaValla was informative and engaging as he explained why sleep is important and how we can learn to sleep better. He spoke of how melatonin is necessary for sleep, and how alcohol before bedtime, or light from a cell phone screen can block melatonin. He showed footage of a person experiencing an episode of sleep apnea (which several of us found downright scary!) and went on to show slides of several newer devices that help prevent it. Other things we learned: it's possible to recondition yourself to overcome insomnia; a light box used in the morning increases melatonin production and helps you sleep better at night; and a fifteen minute nap is better than a cup of coffee for eliminating drowsy driving.

The next To Your Health offering, “Good Balance: Staying on Your Feet in Bethel,” takes place on Thursday, November 1, from 4:30 – 6:00 pm at the West Parish Congregational Church. Doors open at 4:00, and the first 20 people will receive a complimentary balance assessment.

Future programs in this series include “Good Strong Heart - Women and Heart Disease” on February 7, 2013; “Good Meals – in 30 Minutes or Less” on March 21, 2013; and “Good Mind – Good Mood" in April, date to be announced.

For more information about Western Mountains Senior College visit our website at http://sad44.maineadulted.org/western_mountains_senior_college