ADULT PROGRAMS
Open Lab
Mondays, May 1, 8, 15, and 22, Drop-in 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm
Program Room, Abbot Public Library at Eveleth School
Do you have a question about your computer, smartphone, or tech gadget? Do you want time to practice where someone can help if you get stuck? Every Monday, join a staff member for one-on-one help with your device. For attendees who are unable to transport their device, there will be Windows laptops available. Drop by the library’s Program Room anytime between 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm. Registration is not required.
What’s Wrong with My Houseplant?
Thursday, May 4, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Online via Zoom
Registration Required. Please register in advance for this meeting here: tinyurl.com/APL-Houseplants
As with our outdoor gardens, many things can go wrong when you grow plants indoors. Learn the factors that make for happy houseplants, including light, water, and soil…and how to provide them. Common houseplant pests and diseases are also on the agenda, as well as how to treat them. This program will be led by Bonnie Power, a Massachusetts Master Gardener since 2016 and a serious outdoor/indoor gardener most of her life.
Curious and research-oriented by nature, Bonnie Power has many horticultural interests and areas of expertise. She holds both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Zoology, which informs her perspective on the management of garden insects; she is also an administrator for a “sick houseplant” group on Facebook. She spent the past year as manager of the MMGA Soil pH Testing team and, while she has passed this on to a new manager, she continues as a member of the team.
Power also volunteers as a guide at Garden in the Woods, a Native Plant Trust botanical garden in Framingham. She learned to grow vegetables as a child from her father, and flowers and houseplants from her mother. At home in Marlborough, Power grows a variety of vegetables and ornamentals, with a bias for natives.
This program is sponsored by the Friends of Abbot Public Library in partnership with Tewksbury Public Library.
Consumer Protection Series: Skimming Devices and Credit Card Theft
Monday, May 8, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Program Room, Abbot Public Library at Eveleth School and Online via Zoom
Registration Required to attend in person or via Zoom – please register here: tinyurl.com/APL-Identity-Theft-Library
On Monday, May 8 at 6:00 pm, Abbot Public Library will host Robin Putnam from the office of Consumer Affairs & Business Regulation in Boston, who will present a monthly series on educating safe practices for consumers. Putnam will discuss the topic of Skimming Devices and how to identify and protect yourself against these devices which can create credit card fraud. Registration is required to attend in person or via Zoom. Please register here: tinyurl.com/APL-Identity-Theft-Library.
Beginner’s Crochet for Adults
Tuesdays, May 9, 16, and 23, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm
Program Room, Abbot Public Library at Eveleth School
Registration Required – please register at: tinyurl.com/APL-Crochet-May
Join us in this 3-class Adult Beginner’s Crochet program where you will learn how to: start a piece, do several basic crochet stitches, read crochet patterns, choose yarn and hook sizes, and finish your work. We will also explore ways to continue your craft with online, in-person, and book-based resources. Basic materials will be provided, but you are welcome to bring your own hooks and yarn. Students will be invited to join the Community Craft & Chat on the final Tuesday of May to work on a project in a friendly group of chatty crafters.
Adult Crafternoon: Macrame Plant Holders
Wednesday, May 10, 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Program Room, Abbot Public Library at Eveleth School
Registration Required – please register at: tinyurl.com/APL-Macrame-2023
On Wednesday, May 10 from 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm, Abbot Public Library will host an Adult Crafter noon event to demonstrate how to hand-make a macrame plant holder for decorating your home. Materials are provided by the library. This event is free and limited to ten people. To register, please visit tinyurl.com/APL-Macrame-2023.
This program is sponsored by the Friends of Abbot Public Library.
Murder in Marblehead: Who Killed Beryl Atherton?
Book Talk with Authors Harry Christensen and Richard Santeusanio
Wednesday, May 10, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Program Room, Abbot Public Library at Eveleth School
Registration Required – please register at tinyurl.com/Murder-in-Marblehead-Book-Talk
For over forty years, on the anniversary of the night of the most brutal unsolved murder in Marblehead’s history, local resident and attorney Harry Christensen has returned to the scene of the crime, hoping the psychotic killer might also. He parks across from the small, clapboard house where mild-mannered, unmarried, and well-liked elementary school teacher Beryl Atherton was brutally murdered on a stormy night in November, 25, 1950, causing the townspeople of Marblehead to plummet into a state of fear and shock in the days following the murder. Who would be next, everyone asked, and why Beryl? Christensen has pored over the evidence for 40 years, seeking the killer. In 2022, he and friend Richard Santeusanio gathered Christensen’s notes, and—along with details from published sources, interviews with those who might have information, and state and local police files—published Murder in Marblehead: Who Killed Beryl Atherton in October 2022. They’ve proposed three possible killers. Was it one of them or someone else? Join us for their riveting account. Copies of their book will be available for purchase courtesy of the Friends of Abbot Public Library.
Poetry Salon with Claire Keyes Featuring the Work of Bob Dylan
Thursday, May 11, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Program Room, Abbot Public Library at Eveleth School and Online via Zoom
To attend via Zoom, please register in advance for this meeting here: tinyurl.com/May-2023-Poetry-Salon
No registration required for in-person attendance
On Thursday, May 11, the Poetry Salon convenes at Abbot Public Library to discuss the lyrics of singer/songwriter Bob Dylan and his winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016. He was awarded the prize “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” When Robert Zimmerman began his career, he took his name from the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Clearly he felt a connection to the poet, perhaps setting a goal for himself. Even so, he was inspired when young by potent American vernacular music, songs by performers like Woody Guthrie, Hank Williams, and Robert Johnson. When his voice became fully his own, in his work of the mid-to-late 1960s that led
up to what is probably his greatest song, “Like a Rolling Stone;” no one had ever heard pop songs with so many oracular, tumbling words in them. When Dylan received the Nobel Prize, he said in his acceptance essay, “I got to wondering how exactly my songs related to literature.” This Salon will explore that relationship.
Please join Claire Keyes, Professor Emerita at Salem State University, as we discuss Bob Dylan’s song lyrics on May 11. The Salon will run from 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm at Abbot Public Library, or you may attend via Zoom. To attend via Zoom, please register in advance for this meeting here: tinyurl.com/May-2023-Poetry-Salon. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Poetry packets will be available at the library or online at abbotlibrary.org.
This program is sponsored by the Friends of Abbot Public Library.
Intro to Marblehead Town Government
Monday, May 15, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
In Partnership with the Marblehead League of Women Voters
Program Room, Abbot Public Library at Eveleth School and Online via Zoom
Registration Required to attend in person or via Zoom – please register here: tinyurl.com/Mhead-Town-Govt-May-2023
In partnership with the Marblehead League of Women Voters, Abbot Public Library will present a series of lectures on Marblehead Town Government, providing the opportunity for town residents to learn about how individual departments work within the municipality. This program will be offered in person and on Zoom. Please register at tinyurl.com/Mhead-Town-Govt-May-2023.
The first speaker is Amy McHugh, the Superintendent for the Water and Sewer Commission, which oversees the Water Distribution and Wastewater Collection Systems in Marblehead. Some of McHugh’s major projects include: The Pleasant Street Drainage Project (a complete upgrade of the Storm Water, Sewer, and Water Systems in the Business District); replacement of the two sewer transmission lines which run from Marblehead to the treatment plant in Salem under Salem Harbor; rehabilitation of the Sargent Road Sewer Pump Station and replacement of the Clifton Sewer Pump Station; and multiple water main upgrades, most recently the Humphrey Street Project. She is also the town representative for both the South Essex Sewerage District Board and Mass Water Resource Authority Advisory Board. In addition to her duties as Superintendent, McHugh was recently appointed Director of Public Works. Public Works consist of the Highway, Storm Water, Tree and Fleet Mechanical Departments. The Department of Public Works’ mission is to maintain and improve the Town’s public ways, stormwater infrastructure, public shade trees, town vehicular fleet, and to coordinate public way snow and storm operations in a safe, cost-effective and environmentally sustainable manner.
McHugh is a graduate of Dartmouth College, Thayer School of Engineering with a BS degree in Civil Engineering, and of Wheaton College, where McHugh earned a BA degree in Mathematics. The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization with respect to candidates and parties, working to protect and expand voting rights and defend democracy through education and advocacy.
Adult Book Club via Zoom
Tuesday, May 16, 10:00 am – 11:00 am
Online via Zoom
Registration Required – please register at tinyurl.com/May-2023-Zoom-Book-Club
On the third Tuesday of every month from 10:00 am – 11:00 am, book club members can log on to Zoom to discuss the latest and most highly recommended titles led by a library staff member. May’s pick is Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows: A Novel by Balli Kaur Jaswal. Copies are available in the Reference Room. To join, please register in advance for this meeting here: tinyurl.com/May-2023-Zoom-Book-Club. For more information, please contact Assistant Director Morgan Yeo at yeo@noblenet.org.
A Discussion on “The Great Gatsby: An American Musical” with the Creators of Marblehead Little Theatre’s Production
Wednesday, May 17, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Program Room, Abbot Public Library at Eveleth School
Registration Required – please register at tinyurl.com/Gatsby-at-Abbot
In conjunction with Marblehead Little Theatre’s world premiere of “The Great Gatsby: An American Musical,” which will launch the summer season on June 23, Abbot Public Library will host a lively discussion with two of the show’s creators: Fred Anthony Marco and Doug Hill – both Marblehead residents.
As F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby has long been considered one of America’s great novels, the artistic process of turning it into a new original musical will be the focal point of the evening’s discussion, with a nod to past representations in films of the book.
Registration is required. To register, please visit tinyurl.com/Gatsby-at-Abbot.
Fred Anthony Marco, the lyricist and book writer, met Frank Schiro (who wrote the show’s music) at the Tony Award-Winning BMI Musical Theater Writing Workshop. Marco is a National Alliance for Music Theater (NAMT) finalist and was shortlisted for the American Harmony Prize for his NYC production of “The Family Fiorelli.”
Doug Hill, one of the show’s three producers, is a retired United States Air Force officer who has resided in Marblehead since 1985. In 1999 while he was President of Marblehead Little Theatre, the Board of Selectmen agreed to sell the Firehouse on School Street to our local community theater group and the restoration and the fundraising efforts began in earnest. Over the years, Hill has appeared on stage, produced shows, and remained a strong MLT supporter.