One Beach One Book in Old Orchard Beach will have a kick-off program on March 3, in the community room of the library from 5 to 6:30 p.m.

“Return to 47” is a trip back in time to the great Maine fires of 1947, presented by Shane Enger from the Old Orchard Beach Fire Department. There will be a
pictorial account and narrated tour of the event of this cataclysmic week in October 1947, through the eyes of the Fire Service. This will be a 35-minute examination into the fire that forever changed the state of Maine, its communities, and the Maine Fire Services.

This will start the community read of “Wildfire Loose: The Week Maine Burned,” by Maine author Joyce Butler. This is a fantastic book that highlights the devastation wrought by Maine’s 1947 wildfire as well as the determination of Maine’s firefighters, property owners and inhabitants. This catastrophe burned out nine Maine communities and involved almost one million acres; a substantial portion of the lower half of the state, making it both local and extensive.

Free copies of the book will be found at Beach Bagel, Duffy’s, Dunegrass, JJ’s, Landry’s, Libby Memorial Library, High School Library, Town Hall, Ocean Park Post Office and the Saco & Biddeford Savings Inst. When you finish reading, pass the book along to a neighbor or friend, or return it.

More information about this community read can be found at ooblibrary.com and OOB What’s Up, for programs, special events and book discussions celebrating One Beach, One Book, our first Old Orchard Beach Community Reading experience.