The underwater seaweed (rockweed) forests of Maine support commercial fisheries and wildlife (otters, shorebirds, puffins, eider ducks, etc.). How much do you know about rockweed forests? Rockweed, Ascophyllum nodosum, is a foundational coastal species and an ecosystem engineer. Yet it is also targeted by an industry removing millions of tons of rockweed for agricultural products such as fertilizers and cow feed additives. This sets up a conflict between landowners, who own the rockweed, and the rockweed removal industry.  In this classroom session with our instructor Dr. Robin Hadlock Seeley, we will get to know much more about rockweed as she discusses its value in the structure and functioning of the marine food web, including species such as scallops, lobster, cod, alewives, otters and sandpipers. Attendees will also get a good introduction to Maine law affecting rockweed and its commercial harvesting, as well as an outline of the commercial harvest controversy that surrounds it.  

For those who find this session fascinating and wish to learn more, Robin is offering us a second session – an early morning field trip to Pembroke’s Reversing Falls Town Park - to see firsthand the undisturbed rockweed forest there, with “trees” over 4 feet long, at low tide. You may also see some of the different species covered in the lecture session, as well as seals playing just off the shore. This walk involves a very short walk from a nearby parking lot 100 feet from the shore. The surface is a gentle slope to the water, and we will take our time, but rockweed is slippery, and the intertidal area is not considered accessible to those with mobility concerns. This special event will occur this Thursday, Sept. 11th, and the event is limited to just 15 participants. You must sign up for this separately.         

Instructor: Dr. Robin Hadlock Seeley Ph.D., is the Executive Director of the Maine Rockweed Coalition and a Certified Senior Ecologist (certified by the Ecological Society of America). She is a retired Senior Research Associate, Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University, and an 8th generation Mainer and Bowdoin College graduate. She lives in Pembroke, Maine.

Class Information: This is a hybrid class - held in-person in UM@M’s room SCI 102 and via Zoom with the instructor in person at UM@M.

All facilities at the University of Maine at Machias (UM@M) are fully handicap compliant.  The facilities used by Sunrise Senior College (SSC) at the college have ramps, elevators and handicap accessible bathrooms.  Our offsite functions and activities have various limitations and restrictions and may not be fully handicap accessible.  SSC will endeavor to identify limitations at these to you in advance.

                                                   IMPORTANT:  See Below

“Sunrise Senior College does not endorse any appeal or representation made by a presenter, non-profit organization or business during an SSC presentation.  SSC members attending the presentations may wish to pursue additional involvement with the organization or presenter based on the material that was presented and in doing so, they are acting on their own and not as part of SSC.”

This class is available to all current Maine Senior College (MSCN) Members. The general public not wishing to join Sunrise Senior College at this time may attend this class for a $15.00 fee.

Important: If at this time you are not a current member of Sunrise Senior College (SSC) but are planning to join as a member today, make sure you answer that “Your SSC membership is current” when checking out so that we can properly bill you for this class.

Sunrise Senior College (SSC) is a membership-based organization. Our SSC members receive special benefits as current members when they register for this course. Any member of another MSCN college is also able to enjoy this course, but may incur some additional charges. If you are a member of the general public, you can take this course but will have to pay additional fees associated with being a non-member. For any attendee that is not a current member of Sunrise Senior College, any materials required for the course are your responsibility. When checking out, please carefully read and answer the questions asked associated with this specific course so that you are charged appropriately for this class. Failure to do this may result in your being cancelled from the course. We hope you enjoy this offering.

Location: Reversing Falls Park, Mahar Point (DIRECTIONS link)

In today’s session, we will meet with Dr. Robin Hadlock Seeley at Pembroke’s Reversing Falls Town Park, where we will walk on the shore at low tide and walk through the low tide rockweed “forest”, learning about the species that live within its branches and canopy, its growth and growth forms, and ways the forest is affected by different harvest methods in Maine. This session will further explain why and how the Rockweed is so important to the ecological well-being of Maine’s marine commercial fisheries and wildlife. It starts in the western parking area near the historic Mahar cemetery.  You will see some of the different species covered in the lecture session, as well as seals playing in the Falls just off the shore. This session involves a very short walk from a nearby parking lot 100 feet from the shore. The walking surface is a gentle slope to the water, and we will take our time, but rockweed is slippery, and the intertidal area is not considered accessible to those with mobility concerns. After the session ends, participants will have the option to have a morning snack or breakfast on picnic tables and explore for themselves the adjacent shoreline trails (moderate hiking difficulty: trails are not level or smooth) of the Downeast Coastal Conservancy’s Reversing Falls Preserve, where Dr. Seeley serves as a volunteer steward. This field trip is limited to 15 people. Water appropriate, sturdy foot wear and all participants must sign a liability wavier that day. 

It is not necessary for you to have taken Dr. Seeley’s Sept. 9th lecture class on Rockweed to participate in this walk; however, places are limited and those who signed up for the lecture class will have first priority for the field trip.  For those students who are taking the Sept. 9 class, please answer “Yes” at checkout when you are asked if you are taking the class and this field trip will be reduced by $5.00.

Trailhead Directions: Take Route 1 to West Pembroke. Turn south onto the extension of Route 214 next to the Pembroke Post Office. Turn right at the next stop sign and then an immediate left up a very small hill onto the Leighton Point Road (also called Leighton Neck Road). Continue 3.3 miles; then turn right onto Clarkside or Cemetery Road for 1.2 miles. At the end of Clarkside Road (you will see the Bay!), turn left onto Reversing Falls Road (not marked by a street sign). Go 1.5 miles to the Town of Pembroke Reversing Falls Park, and when you arrive, bear right and go down the hill towards the water and a parking area. Or use this link to create your own directions: DIRECTIONS VIA GOOGLE MAP. https://www.google.com/maps/dir//44.8820789,-67.1322421/@44.8820715,-67.1406114,659m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDQyOC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

Instructor: Dr. Robin Hadlock Seeley Ph.D., is the Executive Director of the Maine Rockweed Coalition and a Certified Senior Ecologist (certified by the Ecological Society of America). She is a retired Senior Research Associate, Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University, and an 8th generation Mainer and Bowdoin College graduate. She lives in Pembroke, Maine.

Class Information: This is an in-person only class - held at Pembroke’s Reversing Falls Town Park with the instructor in person.

All facilities at the University of Maine at Machias (UM@M) are fully handicap compliant.  The facilities used by Sunrise Senior College (SSC) at the college have ramps, elevators and handicap accessible bathrooms.  Our offsite functions and activities have various limitations and restrictions and may not be fully handicap accessible.  SSC will endeavor to identify limitations at these to you in advance.

                                                   IMPORTANT:  See Below

“Sunrise Senior College does not endorse any appeal or representation made by a presenter, non-profit organization or business during an SSC presentation.  SSC members attending the presentations may wish to pursue additional involvement with the organization or presenter based on the material that was presented and in doing so, they are acting on their own and not as part of SSC.”

This class is available to all current Maine Senior College (MSCN) Members. The general public not wishing to join Sunrise Senior College at this time may attend this class for a $15.00 fee.

Important: If at this time you are not a current member of Sunrise Senior College (SSC) but are planning to join as a member today, make sure you answer that “Your SSC membership is current” when checking out so that we can properly bill you for this class.

Sunrise Senior College (SSC) is a membership-based organization. Our SSC members receive special benefits as current members when they register for this course. Any member of another MSCN college is also able to enjoy this course, but may incur some additional charges. If you are a member of the general public, you can take this course but will have to pay additional fees associated with being a non-member. For any attendee that is not a current member of Sunrise Senior College, any materials required for the course are your responsibility. When checking out, please carefully read and answer the questions asked associated with this specific course so that you are charged appropriately for this class. Failure to do this may result in your being cancelled from the course. We hope you enjoy this offering.

Please join Maritime Historian and folk singer Stephen Sanfilippo on his continued seafaring adventure of song and the maritime history of Maine. In this 3-session offering, Stephen will continue presenting Maine history and songs covering such topics as:

– Pirates & Stereotypes

– The Romance of the Sea: Sweethearts & Lovers: Patriarchs: Mothers

– A Supernatural Conclusion – Is the Sea Still A Magic Place?

Each of the three classes will cover different material and songs from “BYGONE BALLADS of MAINE, volume 1: Songs of Ships & Sailors.” Stephen loves participation and singing in in his classes but it is not mandatory. If you’re not inclined to sing, just come to listen to the wonderful songs and learn more about Maine’s sea lore and history. Attendance at Stephen’s first class in July is not required in order to attend this class.

Stephen is requiring the following book for this class:

     Title: BYGONE BALLADS of MAINE, volume 1: Songs of Ships & Sailors

     Author: Julia Lane & Fred Gosbee, compilers & editors

     ISBN: 978-1-935243-79-3 (paperback)

This book is available on Amazon or from the author at Castlebay.net.

If you sign up for this class by August 16th, 2025, this book will be provided for any current Sunrise Senior College member (membership year 2025-26) that did not attend his classes in August of 2023 or the July 2025 session where this same book was used.

Presenter: Stephen Sanfilippo, a United States Navy veteran, has a Ph.D. in History. He has been researching and performing historic songs of the maritime trades since 1973. Stephen is a retired assistant professor, Maine Maritime Academy, teaching “Maritime History through Historic Songs of the Sea.” He has led the monthly Chantey Sing at Pembroke (Maine) Library since 2006, and has performed from Prince Edward Island to Saint Vincent in the Caribbean.

Class Information: This is an in person only class - held in-person in UM@M’s room TORR 226 with the presenter being in person at UM@M.

All facilities at the University of Maine at Machias (UM@M) are fully handicap compliant. The facilities used by Sunrise Senior College (SSC) at the college have ramps, elevators and handicap accessible bathrooms. Our offsite functions and activities have various limitations and restrictions and may not be fully handicap accessible. SSC will endeavor to identify limitations at these to you in advance.

                                                   IMPORTANT: See Below

“Sunrise Senior College does not endorse any appeal or representation made by a presenter, non-profit organization or business during an SSC presentation. SSC members attending the presentations may wish to pursue additional involvement with the organization or presenter based on the material that was presented and in doing so, they are acting on their own and not as part of SSC.”

This class is available to all current Maine Senior College (MSCN) Members. The general public not wishing to join Sunrise Senior College at this time may attend this class for a $20.00 fee.

Important: If at this time you are not a current member of Sunrise Senior College (SSC) but are planning to join as a member today, make sure you answer that “Your SSC membership is current” when checking out so that we can properly bill you for this class.

Sunrise Senior College (SSC) is a membership-based organization. Our SSC members receive special benefits as current members when they register for this course. Any member of another MSCN college is also able to enjoy this course, but may incur some additional charges. If you are a member of the general public, you can take this course but will have to pay additional fees associated with being a non-member. For any attendee that is not a current member of Sunrise Senior College, any materials required for the course are your responsibility. When checking out, please carefully read and answer the questions asked associated with this specific course so that you are charged appropriately for this class. Failure to do this may result in your being cancelled from the course. We hope you enjoy this offering.

With all the concerns and red flags coming out of Washington DC, SSC is pleased to offer this single-session presentation on the current status of climate action and clean energy for Maine.

The Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) is the state’s leading environmental advocacy organization. It works across multiple issue areas to improve the cleanliness of Maine’s air and water, ensure the efficacy of recycling and sustainability programs, and facilitate climate action in Maine. Our presenter Josh Caldwell is NRCM’s Climate and Clean Energy Policy Advocate and Outreach Manager and he works on NRCM’s Climate and Clean Energy team.

In this presentation Josh will provide us an overview of Maine’s climate and clean energy goals alongside the opportunities that are available for you in which to engage in climate action. He will tell us how NRCM works with other organizations, businesses, and individuals across Maine to implement effective climate solutions. We will also learn that much of NRCM’s work takes place with legislators at the State House, but the real key to making positive change is to connect decision-makers with the people they represent.

Presenter: Josh Caldwell grew up in West Gardiner and attended Bates College where he majored in Environmental Studies. Josh is NRCM’s Climate and Clean Energy Policy Advocate and Outreach Manager.

Class Information: This is a hybrid class - held in-person in UM@M’s room SCI 102 and via Zoom with the instructor being on Zoom.

All facilities at the University of Maine at Machias (UM@M) are fully handicap compliant.  The facilities used by Sunrise Senior College (SSC) at the college have ramps, elevators and handicap accessible bathrooms.  Our offsite functions and activities have various limitations and restrictions and may not be fully handicap accessible.  SSC will endeavor to identify limitations at these to you in advance.

                                                  IMPORTANT:  See Below

“Sunrise Senior College does not endorse any appeal or representation made by a presenter, non-profit organization or business during an SSC presentation.  SSC members attending the presentations may wish to pursue additional involvement with the organization or presenter based on the material that was presented and in doing so, they are acting on their own and not as part of SSC.”

This class is available to all current Maine Senior College (MSCN) Members. The general public not wishing to join Sunrise Senior College at this time may attend this class for a $15.00 fee.

Important: if at this time you are not a current member of Sunrise Senior College (SSC) but are planning to join as a member today, make sure you answer that “Your SSC membership is current” when checking out so that we can properly bill you for this class.

Sunrise Senior College (SSC) is a membership-based organization. Our SSC members receive special benefits as current members when they register for this course. Any member of another MSCN college is also able to enjoy this course, but may incur some additional charges. If you are a member of the general public, you can take this course but will have to pay additional fees associated with being a non-member. For any attendee that is not a current member of Sunrise Senior College, any materials required for the course are your responsibility. When checking out, please carefully read and answer the questions asked associated with this specific course so that you are charged appropriately for this class. Failure to do this may result in your being cancelled from the course. We hope you enjoy this offering.

The literary fans wait is over for our loyal Sunrise Senior College members who look forward to looking at the classics. Our resident scholar, Dr. Gerard NeCastro, is with us once again as he presents his unique insights into Shakespeare’s King Lear.  This masterpiece is widely considered his most complex and thought-provoking play. It is a tale of a man, retiring from his duties and hoping for a comfortable life in his senior years, who soon finds that these hopes are destroyed. Over this six-session class we will watch him deal with cruelty, disloyalty, madness, and injustice.

Shakespeare’s handling of all of this is not only masterful but also controversial, as his historical—or unhistorical--portrayal of this early British king so disturbed the generations to come that several playwrights rewrote the play. This may be Shakespeare’s most challenging play, but it is probably his most rewarding as well.

Instructor: Gerard NeCastro, Ph.D. - for the past thirty years Gerard has been a scholar of Medieval and Renaissance drama and has been fortunate enough to teach many courses in Shakespeare, including several of them for Sunrise Senior College.  He served on the board for the Medieval and Renaissance Drama Society for over twenty years, presented a host of papers, and edited two volumes of drama. He has even directed a couple plays and acted in a few small roles.

Class Information:  This is a hybrid class - held in-person in UM@M’s room SCI 102 and via Zoom. Dr. NeCastro will be presenting sessions both in-person and on Zoom over the 6-week period. Classes are scheduled for Mondays, October 6th, 20th, 27th, November 3rd, 10th & 17th from 2:00 to 4:00 PM (no class October 13th). 

Required Book*

          Title:       King Lear

          Author:  William Shakespeare, Edited by Paul Werstine and Barbara A. Mowat

          ISBN:      978-0743482769

*Active Sunrise Senior College members (2025-26 membership year) - SSC will provide you with a copy of book if you register by September 2nd, 2025.

For non-Sunrise Senior college members this book is available on Amazon. 

All facilities at the University of Maine at Machias (UM@M) are fully handicap compliant.  The facilities used by Sunrise Senior College (SSC) at the college have ramps, elevators and handicap accessible bathrooms.  Our offsite functions and activities have various limitations and restrictions and may not be fully handicap accessible.  SSC will endeavor to identify limitations at these to you in advance.

                                                  IMPORTANT:  See Below

“Sunrise Senior College does not endorse any appeal or representation made by a presenter, non-profit organization or business during an SSC presentation.  SSC members attending the presentations may wish to pursue additional involvement with the organization or presenter based on the material that was presented and in doing so, they are acting on their own and not as part of SSC.”

This class is available to all current Maine Senior College (MSCN) Members. The general public not wishing to join Sunrise Senior College at this time may attend this class for a $20.00 fee.

Important: If at this time you are not a current member of Sunrise Senior College (SSC) but are planning to join as a member today, make sure you answer that “Your SSC membership is current” when checking out so that we can properly bill you for this class.

Sunrise Senior College (SSC) is a membership-based organization. Our SSC members receive special benefits as current members when they register for this course. Any member of another MSCN college is also able to enjoy this course, but may incur some additional charges. If you are a member of the general public, you can take this course but will have to pay additional fees associated with being a non-member. For any attendee that is not a current member of Sunrise Senior College, any materials required for the course are your responsibility. When checking out, please carefully read and answer the questions asked associated with this specific course so that you are charged appropriately for this class. Failure to do this may result in your being cancelled from the course. We hope you enjoy this offering.

Maine’s population is slowly growing in the 21st century at a rate of about two-tenths of one percent each year. This rate places Maine 42nd out of 50 states in its rate of population growth however, beneath what appears to be a sluggish growth rate, Maine is experiencing significant gross in-migration and gross out-migration. As much as ten percent of the population turns over every decade. Why is this happening?

Without net positive in-migration, Maine would be losing population every year because our deaths in Maine exceed our births. Maine experiences a ten percent population turnover per decade which is a significant number of people.  For one thing, it means that there are a lot of people “from away” (PFA’s) who are new Mainers however, the rate of turnover in the 21st century is less than half of what was experienced in 19th century Maine. In that century, large numbers of Maine-born young people left the state, some, especially men, for opportunities in agriculture and logging in rural America while others, especially women, left for the jobs in urban, industrializing America. During the same 19th century and into the early 20th century, large numbers of foreign-born migrants came to Maine, especially from the British Isles, northern Europe and Canada. 

In this series we will first examine the people who left Maine, when and why did they go, and then, we will look at the people who moved to Maine - again when did they do this and why. Using the records from Ancestry.com, the decennial US census, the publications of the Office of the Maine State Economist, and the Maine Historical Society along with records of the Maine State Archives, Jim will present us with a picture of life in Maine and why people lived here. In this four-session presentation we will also examine some of the letters, diaries, newspapers stories, and even some blog posts of Mainers past and present who have left the state, or alternately, have moved to the state.

Instructor: Jim Oberly has taught history courses for Sunrise Senior College, Midcoast Senior College, OLLI-Minnesota and for OLLI Manhattan Marymount. Jim holds an undergraduate degree from Columbia University and a doctorate in history from the University of Rochester and was on the faculty of the Department of History at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire for 36 years. His interest in human migration history stems from past visiting appointments at the University of Michigan’s Inter-University for Political and Social Research, and at the Minnesota Population Center, based at the University of Minnesota. He combines teaching for Sunrise Senior College with continued scholarly work.

Class Information: This is a hybrid class - held in-person in UM@M’s room SCI 102 and via Zoom with the instructor on Zoom from his home in St. Paul, Minnesota. Classes are scheduled for Tuesdays, November 4th, 18th, December 2nd & 9th from 10:00 to 11:00 AM (no classes November 11th or 25th).

All facilities at the University of Maine at Machias (UM@M) are fully handicap compliant.  The facilities used by Sunrise Senior College (SSC) at the college have ramps, elevators and handicap accessible bathrooms.  Our offsite functions and activities have various limitations and restrictions and may not be fully handicap accessible.  SSC will endeavor to identify limitations at these to you in advance.

                                                  IMPORTANT:  See Below

“Sunrise Senior College does not endorse any appeal or representation made by a presenter, non-profit organization or business during an SSC presentation.  SSC members attending the presentations may wish to pursue additional involvement with the organization or presenter based on the material that was presented and in doing so, they are acting on their own and not as part of SSC.”

This class is available to all current Maine Senior College (MSCN) Members. The general public not wishing to join Sunrise Senior College at this time may attend this class for a $20.00 fee.

Important: If at this time you are not a current member of Sunrise Senior College (SSC) but are planning to join as a member today, make sure you answer that “Your SSC membership is current” when checking out so that we can properly bill you for this class.

Sunrise Senior College (SSC) is a membership-based organization. Our SSC members receive special benefits as current members when they register for this course. Any member of another MSCN college is also able to enjoy this course, but may incur some additional charges. If you are a member of the general public, you can take this course but will have to pay additional fees associated with being a non-member. For any attendee that is not a current member of Sunrise Senior College, any materials required for the course are your responsibility. When checking out, please carefully read and answer the questions asked associated with this specific course so that you are charged appropriately for this class. Failure to do this may result in your being cancelled from the course. We hope you enjoy this offering.

Sunrise Senior College wishes to thank you for your tax-exempt donation.  Your generosity enables us to continue providing the programs and activities that are so vital to our community.  In accordance with IRS regulations, we acknowledge that no goods or services were received in exchange for this gift.  Please save this email for your tax records.  

Thank you.

Susan O'Clair 

Treasurer, Sunrise Senior College   

Sunrise Senior College wishes to thank you for your tax-exempt donation.  Your generosity enables us to continue providing the programs and activities that are so vital to our community.  In accordance with IRS regulations, we acknowledge that no goods or services were received in exchange for this gift.  Please save this email for your tax records.  

Thank you.

Susan O'Clair 

Treasurer, Sunrise Senior College