The Other Side of Rescue

Joan VeilleuxOn Tuesday, October 23 at 6:00 pm, Brownfield Public Library will host a talk by Joan Veilleux, volunteer for Androscoggin Valley Search & Rescue and Mountain Rescue Service, on what it is like to be part of a rescue team in the White Mountains. She will present with candor and suspense, incredible and moving stories from some her colleagues who have dedicated their lives to saving others. In addition, she will share stories the wives of some of these rescuers and the story of a friend who was rescued.

Joan Veilleux is a mountain guide, park ranger and storyteller formerly from Brownfield, ME.  In 2003, while working as a naturalist for the AMC,  Joan discovered a love for storytelling.  In the evenings at the Highland Center Lodge and on the trail she told stories of the history of Crawford Notch and the White Mountains.

Since then Joan has presented on numerous occasions with the Mountain Story Teller’s guild and the US Forest Service at campgrounds, libraries, coffee shops and fundraisers in and around the Mount Washington Valley.  For the last 18 years Joan has worked as a mountain guide in all seasons, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and in Acadia National Park.  She enjoys telling stories with her clients on and off the trail.

Learn about mountain rescues

mountains in fogOne of the goals for 1 Book 1 Valley is connecting the books we read to our local area. The action in The Finest Hours comes from the dangerous ocean rescue missions, which in many ways are similar to the mountain rescues that volunteers and first responders right here in our valley do on a regular basis. There will be two talks on mountain rescue missions in October:

Anatomy of a Mountain Rescue — Wed., October 5, 7 pm at the Cook Memorial Library, Tamworth, 603-323-8510. Bill Kane, who has over 40 years in wilderness medicine and rescue, tells how a mountain rescue unfolds, how information is developed, how a rescue plan is executed.

Rescue in the White Mountains — Thurs., Oct. 20, 6 pm at the Brownfield Public Library, 207-935-3003. Joan Veilleux — mountain guide, nurse, storyteller and part-time search & rescue volunteer — will share stories of what it is like to be part of a rescue team.

 

This week’s events

Red FortThis week we have two events that touch on our book’s interrelated themes of place and culture.

Tuesday, October 20 at 6 pm, the Effingham Public Library is hosting a slideshow talk by Kamal Nath, “A Few Glimpses of India Past.”

Thursday, October 22 at 6 pm, the Brownfield Public Library will host a slide presentation by local photographer Patricia Turner, “On Location: Photographing the Essence of Place.”