Events

Northern New England has many “lost” towns–settlements that existed and thrived for a period of time, and then, for a variety of economic, social, or other reasons, ceased to exist. One such lost town is an important element in Go With Me. More locally, there is Shawtown, a settlement that used to be found in Freedom’s northwest corner, whose location today is revealed by its cellar hole remnants.

On Thursday, October 14 at 7 pm at the Conway Public Library, Carol Foord will talk about Shawtown’s growth and eventual demise. Using slides and maps, Carol will lead a virtual tour of Shawtown, moving from site to site, just as the census taker in 1860 would have done.

Want to put your One Book, One Valley reading into context? Two events this week reflect the logging themes in this year’s book, Go With Me.

On Tuesday, October 5 at 7 pm at the Cook Memorial Library in Tamworth, Dick Fortin will present a hands-on and slide program “Yankee Lumberjack,” about life in a woods camp in the 1800s, showing tools of trade and telling how they were used. Then, on Thursday, October 7 at 7 pm at the Bartlett Public Library, Rebecca Rule will discuss the logging industry in New Hampshire’s north country using oral history and photographs in her NH Humanities Council program “Crosscut: A Spoken Documentary.” If you have a story to share about working in the logging or paper industries in NH’s north country, please come and share.

For a relaxing evening out, stop in at the Met in North Conway on Wednesday, October 6 starting at 7pm for a Go With Me read-aloud. Treat yourself to a coffee and cookie, come sit and listen to the first few chapters. The read alouds will continue every other Wednesday, on October 20 for the middle of the story, then on November 3 for the exciting ending.