The Maine Classic Car Museum will present the “Rod Williams Retrospective: A Maine Son in Detroit,” on Saturday, May 14 from 2 to 4  p.m. for the opening reception of the never-before-seen concept car illustrations of Maine native, Rod Williams, a stylist for Ford and Chrysler in the 1950s.

Maine Classic Car Museum will present the “Rod Williams Retrospective: A Maine Son in Detroit,” on Saturday, May 14 from 2 to 4  p.m. For more information, call 207-494-1940 or visit www.mainecarmuseum.com. Courtesy photo

Visitors will have a chance to meet Williams and see his drawings of iconic cars like the Ford Thunderbird, Fairlane and Chrysler 300. Champagne and refreshments will be available along with an opportunity to view the museum’s new 2022 exhibits. Tickets are $20 per person and available on Eventbrite or at the museum, 2564 Portland Road (Route 1) in Arundel. Museum members receive discounted price of $10 per ticket.

For more information, call 207-494-1940 or visit www.mainecarmuseum.com.

Attached photos: Maine Classic Car Museum Rod Williams Retrospective 2022.jpg
Maine Classic Car Museum Rod Williams Ford Concept Illustration Parklane.jpg

Softball league seeks ballplayers

The Kennebunk 50-plus Co-Ed Softball League is about to enter its sixth season. The league is designed for players minimum age 50 and in a co-ed format, with emphasis on having fun, playing safe and enjoying each other’s company. In 2021, players ranged from their mid-50s up to and including those just over 80 years old. Players included those with prior softball experience, along with those with just a little or many years in the past.

All games and practices are held at Lloyd Nedeau softball field, in West Kennebunk, near Clear Crossing Road.

With the 2022 season just around the corner, the league encourages new and returning players to register, especially those looking to enjoy a team activity and exercise in the outdoors.

Umpired games will be held each Monday, starting June 6 at 5:15 p.m., in order to accommodate most anyone’s work schedule. We also offer all players weekly Friday morning practice sessions, starting at 9 a.m., June 3 for warm-ups, batting practice.

Those interested can register at the Kennebunk Parks & Rec Department website, www.kennebunkrec.com. For more information, call Dan Peacock, at 207-899-8708.

The league is open to all residents and currently includes several players from neighboring towns.

British folk music at schoolhouse

Kennebunk’s May Day Festival returned on May 7 featuring many of its traditional activities, including the parade. Cynthia Fitzmorris photo

The Mid-Week Music monthly concert series continues Wednesday, May 18 at 7 p.m. with an evening of British folk music. For this show, Dana Pearson (guitar, octave mandolin, banjo) and Mark Gunter (piano, guitar) will be joined by fiddler Paul Wells, co-host of the WMPG radio program North by Northeast (“Music from Our Little Corner of the Continent”). It will be held at the Kennebunkport Historical Society’s Town House School at 135 North St., and will be encored Sunday, May 22 at 1 p.m.

Tunes will range from the venerable classics “She Moved Through the Fair,” “Loch Lomond,” and “The Parting Glass,” to more
modern numbers like Richard Thompson’s “Beeswing,” Paul Brady’s “Heather on the Moor,” and Traffic’s “John Barleycorn Must Die.”

Tickets are $15 for Kennebunkport Historical Society members and $18 for non-members. The evening show is BYOB (21 and older only); single malt would be highly appropriate. For more information and tickets, visit kporths.com/buy-tickets, email info@kporths.com or call 967-2751.

Kennebunk Savings sponsors TEDxPortsmouth

Cynthia Fitzmorris photo

Kennebunk Savings will sponsor 2022’s TEDxPortsmouth event, “Hidden in Plain Sight.” The full-day, sold-out event features inspirational speakers, musical performances, local food, networking and big ideas.

Twelve members of the bank’s leadership development programs will attend the event.

“TEDxPortsmouth represents forward-thinking leadership, and just looking at the slate of speakers this year, reflects that clearly,” said Bradford C. Paige, president and CEO of Kennebunk Savings in a May 6 news release. “These are innovators, trailblazers, communicators and survivors. Hearing anything they have to say is worthwhile.”

Speakers include geography champion (and high school senior) Sean Cheng, Black Lives Matter Seacoast vice president Dr. Stephanie Bramlett, and Portsmouth Music and Arts Center co-founder Russ Grazier, Jr., who may or may not bring a saxophone.

“We are so grateful to our sponsors, who have helped us take TEDxPortsmouth from a small gathering in a church basement to one of the largest, most respected TEDx events in the world,” said Kaarin Milne, TEDxPortsmouth’s co-producer, in an email.

Final week of Jane Morgan exhibit

Cynthia Fitzmorris photo

For the first time ever, over 30 performance gowns exclusively selected from the private collection of Jane Morgan, an internationally-known stage and screen star in entertainment’s Golden Age, debuted at the Brick Store Museum in February. The exhibition, “Jane Morgan: In My Style,” will run through May 21 before it leaves to be featured at New York Fashion Week in the fall.

The collection spans the singer’s stage, screen, and TV career from the 1950s-1980s. Morgan, known for her song “Fascination,” has a Star on The Hollywood Walk Of Fame; twice sang the winning song at the Oscars; received numerous awards and accolades across her international singing career, and is well-known for the special gowns she wore for every appearance, including performing for Queen Elizabeth and Princess Diana; Heads of State such as French President, Charles de Gaulle; Presidents John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush.

Cynthia Fitzmorris photo

The vintage designer gowns were prepared for the exhibition with the help of guest curator Bonnie Bien, owner of LA PRESSE PR, who as a teenager, traveled with and personally assisted Morgan for four years. Morgan and Bien worked together to select the one-of-a-kind creations for the “In My Style” exhibition, Bien’s experience of working with fashion designers prepared her for the exhibition of these famed designers such as: Kathryn Kuhn, Donald Brooks, Stephen Yearick, Ben Reig, Ruben Panis, Oleg Cassini, Monte Streitfield, Gunter Project 2, Don Loper of California, and Marion Wagner, who created the unique, one-of-a-kind performance gowns.

The museum is open six days per week (closed only Mondays). For more information, visit www.brickstoremuseum.org.

Former intelligence officers schedule May 21 meeting

The next meeting of AFIO (Association of Former Intelligence Officers) will be held at the Brick Store Museum’s Program Center at 4 Dane St. in Kennebunk on Saturday, May 21 at 2 p.m.

The speaker, Dr. Seth Jones, is a defense expert with a background in strategic and international studies with special emphasis on national security. America’s major rivals – Russia and China – are using irregular warfare against the United States to undermine American power while adapting American techniques and having made huge gains without traditional warfare.

Jones will also focus on how the U.S. must alter its outlook in this competition before it is too late. Jones, a Bowdoin graduate, has taught about national security and has written numerous articles and published books related to irregular warfare, counterterrorism, and covert action. He is the director of the Transitional Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. A question-and-answer period will follow the presentation.

Poetry reading offered at museum

WePoets & Verse founder Madeleine Tunison, with Patricia Davenport and Quincy Moy, announced that several Portland poets will read at an upcoming Bohemian Sunday Poetry Reading scheduled for June 5. The event will be held 1 to 3 p.m. at the Brick Store Museum in Kennebunk.

Patrons will hear Shana Genre, Meghan Sterling and Katherine Hagopian-Berry read selected poems. They will be joined by local poets from the Kennebunks. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.wepoets.weebly.com.

Seashore Trolley Museum seeks volunteer trolley operators

Richard Coots, of Wells, a member of the 2019 Seashore Trolley Museum operator course, is now a regular trolley operator at the museum. Interested candidates can reserve a spot in the 2022 operator course by calling 967-2800, ext. 101 or emailing training@trolleymuseum.org.  Courtesy photo

Seashore Trolley Museum is seeking new recruits from the community who want to learn a new skill and help the museum provide experiences for guests this season by becoming volunteer trolley operators on a heritage railway.

The museum is holding its annual trolley operator training course on Thursdays May 26, June 2, June 9 and June 16 from 6 to 9 p.m. via Zoom. The course will cover the mechanical aspects of trolley car operation, railway rules and safety, history and visitor interaction. Following successful completion of the course, new operators will be paired one-on-one with seasoned operators. They will operate and conduct trolleys side-by-side until ready and fully qualified to operate solo for museum guests.

To be eligible to operate trolleys, volunteers must become members of the museum ($40/year), be 18 years old by the conclusion of the course, and must hold a valid motor vehicle operator’s license from any U.S. state. The course fills up fast. Those interested are encouraged to sign up early. For more details or to sign up, call 207-967-2800, ext. 101 or email training@trolleymuseum.org.