Following an initial event at Curtis Memorial Library in January, Craig Freshley of Good Group Decisions will be continuing his Make Shift Coffee House series with events in March and April at the Patten Free Library in Bath.

“I’m working to schedule some more also,” said Freshley. “I’m working on Lewiston, York, Bangor, Belfast and Andover, Massachusetts. There’s people in all five of those place who are interested in hosting one.”

Feeling the country had become divided after the 2016 presidential election, Freshley facilitated the first Make Shift Coffee House meeting for people on opposite sides of the political spectrum to share their views openly to gain a better understanding of one another.

While Freshley specifically reached out to Lewiston to find hosts for a second meeting, people in the other localities actually reached out to him after learning about the first Make Shift Coffee House and discussed hosting one in their respective communities.

“We’re changing the format for the next two,” said Freshley. “We learned some lessons from the first one.”

Freshley said that he hoped to use the time more constructively in future coffee houses by encouraging more small group conversations during the first hour. He also said that future events will be more focused and have a more specific topic to be discussed.

The title for the next Make Shift Coffee House, to be held March 11 at Patten Free Library, is titled “How do I know what to believe?” Participants will share their perspectives on hot button issues like fake news, alternative facts and biases in the media in a group conversation facilitated by Freshley. The event after that, also hosted by Patten Free Library, is titled “Exploring Our Political Divide.”

Those interested in learning more about the Make Shift Coffee House series can visit makeshiftcoffeehouse.com, where Freshley has gathered resources on understanding people of with different political beliefs. Visitors can also learn about past Make Shift Coffee House events and see when and where the next one will be held.

“Come with an open mind. Come ready to listen more than ready to talk, and hope to go away with a better understanding of the other side,” said Freshley.

nstrout@timesrecord.com