Summer Extravaganza 2026

Summer Extravaganza 2026 is a variety course held Tuesdays, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., July 7, 14, 21, 28, August 4, 11, 18, 25, and Sept. 1. Each session covers a different exciting topic! One registration ($35 fee) covers all nine sessions.

Sessions will be recorded to allow later viewing by registered students.

July 7- Maine Railroads: When the Good Times Rolled” – Geoffrey H. Doughty

This session will provide an overview and brief history of Maine’s seven rail carriers and effects on Maine economy.

Instructor: Geoffrey Doughty is a graduate of Franklin College of Indiana holding a degree in history and English. His railroad career began working summers while in college for the Chicago & North Western Railway, and after two years of teaching in private schools, he went to work for Maine Central Railroad where he worked in the transportation, revenue accounting, engineering and then safety departments. When he left Guilford (later Springfield Terminal, then Pan Am Railways) in 1987, he was the railroad’s safety director. He became a safety consultant for the next 20 years before becoming safety director for the New Hampshire Motor Transport Association and Vermont Truck & Bus Association. He is now retired. He has authored 30 books and numerous articles about railroad, passenger train, and transportation history. His most recent book, Amtrak – America’s Railroad was given an award for “a distinguished book of lasting value to the interpretation of North American railroad history,” and for 51 seasons has been the voice of the Portland Symphony Orchestra radio broadcasts.

July 14 – Phone Resources for Hearing Loss

This presentation will teach how to stay connected by phone—even if hearing or speaking is challenging. Discover practical tools and communication options designed to make calls easier and more accessible for everyone. Learn about a range of accessible technologies and telephone equipment designed for those who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have speech challenges. The session will also highlight valuable resources and programs that may provide this equipment at no cost, making accessibility more attainable for everyone.

Instructor: Riley Albair is a Program Director at Disability Rights Maine. She is a Co-Director of DRM’s Deaf Services program, where she manages advocacy, training, outreach and communication technology services. Riley has been involved in advocacy for equal access and effective communication since 2012. She joined DRM as an Advocate in 2013, and became Program Director in 2018. Her work focuses on access and equity in employment, healthcare, voting, and community life.

July 21 – Restoring the American Chestnut in Maine

For the last 40 years, The American Chestnut Foundation has been working to restore the chestnut after it was tragically decimated by a fungal blight. Mark McCollough, President of the Maine Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation will explain why restoring a blight tolerant American chestnut is essential to the ecology and resilience of our eastern forest. Come to learn what is happening in Maine, to bring back America’s “Perfect Tree.”

Instructor: Mark McCollough is President of the Maine Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation. He is retired from careers with the University of Maine (caribou project 1986-1990), Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (endangered species biologist, 1990-2002) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (endangered species biologist, 2002-2022). Mark has used his art skills to benefit many conservation projects. You may own a piece of his artwork (chickadee and loon license plate)!

July 28 – Travels in Southern Africa

We will see a presentation on a trip through parts of South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. It included an eight-day backpacking trip in the Drakensberg Mountains, Victoria Falls, and wildlife safaris along the Chobe River and SW Okavango Delta in Botswana. 

Instructor: Mike Timpson is a retired earth scientist with a penchant for travel to out-of-the-way places. He has been interested in photography since about the age of 11 and is working on moving from snap hots to more intentional photographic compositions. 

August 4 – Geology of Maine

This talk will explore the amazing diversity of Maine’s geologic landscape and discuss how the natural features were developed from 700 million years ago to the present day. We will briefly look at what tools scientists use to study the earth and projects that are currently underway in Maine. 

Instructor: Amber T. H. Whitaker, a Maine native, returned to her home state in 2016 to join the Maine Geological Survey (MGS). Prior to her tenure at MGS, Amber’s career encompassed both industry and graduate work in diverse locales such as New Mexico and New Zealand. Her professional journey to conduct geological lab and field work has taken her across the globe, including Maine, the desert Southwest, the European Alps, the Southern Alps, and Antarctica. Amber has a wealth of experience investigating various geological issues, ranging from mountain-building processes to mineral exploration and addressing water scarcity in arid regions. At present, her primary responsibilities involve conducting bedrock mapping and creating bedrock geologic maps for publication. In addition to her mapping endeavors, Amber collaborates closely with academic institutions and state and federal agencies on grant-funded projects and the publication of peer-reviewed articles. 

August 11 – The Community Collaborative, Rain, Hail, and Snow Network: A Volunteer Precipitation Monitoring Network

The Community Collaborative, Rain, Hail, and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) is a volunteer network of precipitation observers primarily in the continental U.S. This session will cover its purpose, origin, scope, and how the observers perform and report their observations. It will also provide some specific examples as to how the observations have helped flood and drought assessments and predictions as well as provide data to help monitor the climate.

Instructor: John Fitzgerald is a retired industrial chemist and statistician who worked in the auto and paper industries. He grew up in the South (TX, FL) but his adult life has been in the Midwest (MI, WI) and Maine (40+ years). He has always been fascinated by the weather and spends many hours analyzing weather and climate data on local and wider geographic scales. He has been an observer for CoCoRaHS for about ten years. He has several hobbies that are heavily impacted by weather including gardening and paddling.

August 18 – Lobster 101: The Industry and the Animal

This presentation will include basic biology of lobster along with information about sustainability. It will also cover the lobster fishery in Maine and Canada as an industry. 

Instructor: Robert Bayer is the emeritus director of the Lobster Institute at the University of Maine and Senior Scientist at Lobster Unlimited, LLC, a company that is making medicinals from lobster byproducts. 

August 25 – Why Literacy Matters and How You Can Help

Participants will learn about the pervasiveness of adult low literacy and how it affects the individual, their family unit, and our community. Literacy Volunteers of Bangor offers a community-building and strengths-based solution through volunteerism. Individuals can make a tremendous difference in the life of another, while experiencing physical, mental and emotional benefits. 

Instructor: Mary Marin Taylor has led Literacy Volunteers of Bangor as Executive Director since 2003. She has a master’s degree in communication studies from the University of Maine, has her Certification in Volunteer Administration, and is a Nationally Certified Poverty Coach. Mary loves connecting people with purpose for the benefit of this important mission.

September 1 –  Evolution of Sports Writing 

This presentation will describe how sports writing has evolved from typewriters to computers. The importance of giving both sides to every story. Avoid AP leads (who, what, where, why, when) in the  first paragraph but including that information with a twist to it in order to capture the readers’ interest. Impact you can have with a story. The job is never dull and you can always learn and get better. Interviewing technique: engaging in conversation first
Larry will discuss some of the highlight like covering two UMaine national championship hockey teams and five UMaine College World Series teams. 

Instructor: Larry Mahoney moved to Bangor when he was 15, as his family was an Air Force family.  He began working at the Bangor Daily News as a sports clerk in 1972-answering phones and taking info on games and doing three-paragraph bits on each game. It eventually evolved into a full-time position. Larry has covered high school basketball tournaments for over 50 years; UMaine hockey since its inception since 1977 with the exception of two years in the 90s when he was reassigned to cover UMaine men’s basketball. He now covers most UMaine sports and high school girls’ sports. He is one of 10 honorees inducted into the two Maine Sports Hall of Fame in September 2025. He was also inducted into the Maine Press Association Hall of Fame in 2024, and named Maine Sports Writer of the Year six times.