Common Loons are some of Maine's most iconic bird species. The beauty of the intricate plumage of these divers is matched only by the songs they sing across Maine lakes and ponds every summer. Maine Audubon has worked since the early 1980s to track populations of Common Loons in Maine to understand the health of their population and potential threats. Join Maine Audubon's Nick Lund to hear all about the lives of our beloved loons and understand the work the organization is doing to ensure their continued success.

Instructor:  Nick Lund joined the staff of Maine Audubon in 2018 and has taught frequent classes on birds and birding for Sunrise Senior College.  He is Maine Audubon's Advocacy and Outreach Manager, which means that he helps move important bills through the legislature in Augusta, connects as many Mainers as possible to Maine Audubon's mission, and looks for birds as much as possible. He's the author of several books, including the ABA Field Guide to the Birds of Maine and the forthcoming Dinosaurs to Chickens: How Evolution Works.

Class Information:  This is a hybrid class - held in-person in UM@M’s room SCI 102 and via 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

This class is Free to Members of Sunrise Senior College if your membership is current for June 2024 to May 2025.  There is a $5.00 Administrative charge for all other MSCN Members.  The general public not wishing to join Sunrise Senior College at this time may attend this class for a $10.00 fee.

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 occur 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, the 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.

Why not join Dr. Val Libby on this follow up on last summer’s discussion of “Three Centuries of New England Gardens.”  We will see the design work of Beatrix Farrand, who was one of the first women to practice landscape architecture and one of the most successful at it, working with well know patrons from the heights of American society. She summered in Bar Harbor most of her life where her home and gardens are still preserved at Garland Farm. You will see her genius at work in these gardens. Farrand designed the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden in the 1920s and remained its design consultant until 1950. It is one of the ten most beautiful gardens in America and represents the synthesis of the natural beauty of Maine, antique Asian artifacts, and an English-inspired flower garden.

Come with us on this amazing day long field trip. We will start our day at 10:00 a.m. with a shared carpool caravan that will depart Machias with possible alternate pick-up stops in the Jonesboro and Harrington areas on the way down. There will be a planned lunch stop in Ellsworth at 11:30 followed by a tour of the Garland Farm in Trenton at 1:00, and then onto the Abby A. Rockefeller Garden in Seal Harbor at 3:00. The carpool will depart Seal Harbor at 4:00 returning through Harrington, Jonesboro, and Machias, arriving by 6:00 p.m. All attendees will be responsible for their own lunch costs. Admission to the gardens will be included for any current member of SSC with a 2024-25 membership. Space is limited to 15 people and the tickets must be purchased in advance. Any non-member of Sunrise Senior College will be charged an additional $20.00 to cover the costs of the tickets for this event.

Instructor:  Dr. Val Libby is Associate Professor of Landscape History and Horticulture, Temple University (retired). She was awarded a Fulbright Chair in Landscape History in Portugal for 2004. She has taught classes before for Acadia Senior College, and in the summer of 2023, for Sunrise Senior College.

Class Information:  This is an in-person only class – see the class description above for location information. 

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 (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 occur 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, the 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.

This class is now full and closed for registration.

We’ve all been fascinated with lighthouses – the mystique, the lore, the resilient people who lived there and help maintain these noble structures. Come join historian Delia Farris as she recounts how Lighthouse people are hardy folks and good storytellers. Using the magnificent background of Cutler Harbor with its Little River lighthouse, Delia will take us on an intimate 20-year journey of daily life in the remote lighthouses along our rugged shores with the many stories she acquired from her family. She will share many artifacts from her family’s times while serving as lighthouse keepers. We will hear her recount stories like how her grandfather, Willie Corbet, decided Velma Johnson was the woman for him when she arrived for a visit in a bosun’s chair strung between a ship’s mast and the island holding Saddleback Ledge Light. “He thought, ‘If she can handle this, she can handle anything,’” also saying “He called that station ‘nothing but a damned bare rock.’”

Presenter: Delia Mae Farris is a Cutler native, and an historical archivist for the many generations of her family’s lives on four lighthouse islands and fishing boats. She is a prolific storyteller, sharing her talents with young and old alike, in schools and communities throughout the downeast region. She is an interpreter for the historic McCurdy Herring Smokehouse Museum in Lubec, and leads shoreline tours for APPLE. “Reflections from Destiny Bay,” Delia’s essays on coastal nature and people, can be found in the Quoddy Tides Newspaper.

Class Information:  This is an in-person only class - held at the Cutler Town Hall - Louise Clements Memorial Library, 2655 Cutler Road, Cutler, ME. The building is handicap accessible and has bathroom facilities. If the weather is good, we are planning to hold this meeting at the picnic tables on the grounds, but you are welcome to bring your own lawn chairs. If the weather is inclement, it will be held in the library. 

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

This class is Free to Members of Sunrise Senior College if your membership is current for June 2024 to May 2025.  There is a $5.00 Administrative charge for all other MSCN Members.  The general public not wishing to join Sunrise Senior College at this time may attend this class for a $10.00 fee. 

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 occur 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, the 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.

Due to it's popularity, a second offering of this class has been added to our roster. It is the same as the class scheduled for July 23rd which has been closed due to reaching it's seat limitation.  This class has a limitation of 15 people.

We’ve all been fascinated with lighthouses – the mystique, the lore, the resilient people who lived there and help maintain these noble structures. Come join historian Delia Farris as she recounts how Lighthouse people are hardy folks and good storytellers. Using the magnificent background of Cutler Harbor with its Little River lighthouse, Delia will take us on an intimate 20-year journey of daily life in the remote lighthouses along our rugged shores with the many stories she acquired from her family. She will share many artifacts from her family’s times while serving as lighthouse keepers. We will hear her recount stories like how her grandfather, Willie Corbet, decided Velma Johnson was the woman for him when she arrived for a visit in a bosun’s chair strung between a ship’s mast and the island holding Saddleback Ledge Light. “He thought, ‘If she can handle this, she can handle anything,’” also saying “He called that station ‘nothing but a damned bare rock.’”

Presenter: Delia Mae Farris is a Cutler native, and an historical archivist for the many generations of her family’s lives on four lighthouse islands and fishing boats. She is a prolific storyteller, sharing her talents with young and old alike, in schools and communities throughout the downeast region. She is an interpreter for the historic McCurdy Herring Smokehouse Museum in Lubec, and leads shoreline tours for APPLE. “Reflections from Destiny Bay,” Delia’s essays on coastal nature and people, can be found in the Quoddy Tides Newspaper.

Class Information:  This is an in-person only class - held at the Cutler Town Hall - Louise Clements Memorial Library, 2655 Cutler Road, Cutler, ME. The building is handicap accessible and has bathroom facilities. If the weather is good, we are planning to hold this meeting at the picnic tables on the grounds, but you are welcome to bring your own lawn chairs. If the weather is inclement, it will be held in the library. 

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

This class is Free to Members of Sunrise Senior College if your membership is current for June 2024 to May 2025.  There is a $5.00 Administrative charge for all other MSCN Members.  The general public not wishing to join Sunrise Senior College at this time may attend this class for a $10.00 fee. 

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 occur 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, the 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.

Over the past decade, many changes have occurred at working waterfronts. Join us in finding out about the importance of lobster fishing in Washington County, upcoming regulations around this industry and what the impacts may be from this.  We will also learn about the ways in which the people of these working waterfronts can diversify their business interests and therefore increase their resilience both as a business and as a community.

Presenters:  Amanda Smith and Dodie Emerson are Business Advisors with Sunrise County Economic Council and work directly within the Working Waterfront community to assist with fostering its vitality.

Class Information:  This is a hybrid class - held in-person in UM@M’s room SCI 102 and via 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

This class is Free to Members of Sunrise Senior College if your membership is current for June 2024 to May 2025.  There is a $5.00 Administrative charge for all other MSCN Members.  The general public not wishing to join Sunrise Senior College at this time may attend this class for a $10.00 fee.

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 occur 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, the 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.

Here is your unique chance to explore the conservation hatcheries and learn about Maine’s Atlantic Salmon life cycles.  Why not join us at the Peter Gray Hatchery located on the beautiful East Machias River as we hear about the life stages that an Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) experiences in a hatchery and/or wild setting. This discussion of conservation hatcheries will be specific to this Hatchery where we will learn firsthand how these hatcheries are used to improve and increase the salmon populations in our Downeast rivers.

Instructor:  Mitch Monini has a degree in Fisheries and Aquaculture and is a fish hatchery manager who has worked in the region for the last 4yrs. He has been working with various trout and salmon across the country since 2013.

Class Information:  This is an in-person only class held at the Downeast Salmon Federation, 13 Willow Street, East Machias, ME. The building is handicap accessible - they have a ramp in the front of the building and an elevator. The hatchery rooms may not be the easiest for wheelchair access and navigation, but you should have some limited wheelchair access into the back hatchery.

                                                           IMPORTANT:  See Below

This class is Free to Members of Sunrise Senior College if your membership is current for June 2024 to May 2025.  There is a $5.00 Administrative charge for all other MSCN Members.  The general public not wishing to join Sunrise Senior College at this time may attend this class for a $10.00 fee.

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 occur 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, the 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.

Over more than 35 years as a family physician, Dr. Hunkler came to realize that the root cause of most disease is not known and because of this, he was not trained to treat the underlying root of disease but rather the symptoms of diseases - mainly with medications. Medications can help treat symptoms, but they rarely treat the source of disease. Through his career he become aware that we all have personal issues which he has come to call dis-ease. He believes this dis-ease is a major component of illness, and gets in the way of us caring for ourselves and our bodies.  Come join us as we get an overview of the main sources of our dis-ease along with a discussion on the fundamentals of healing.

Presenter:  Dr. Samuel Hunkler, MD was a Family Medicine Specialist in Jonesport, ME with over 35 years of experience in the medical field and was affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area, including Maine Coast Memorial Hospital and Down East Community Hospital. He graduated from Case Western Reserve U, School of Medicine medical school in 1987. 

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

Please Note:  Image from National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health.

                                                    IMPORTANT:  See Below

This class is Free to Members of Sunrise Senior College if your membership is current for June 2024 to May 2025.  There is a $5.00 Administrative charge for all other MSCN Members.  The general public not wishing to join Sunrise Senior College at this time may attend this class for a $10.00 fee.

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 occur 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, the 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.

Why not take a journey with our instructor Thiela Schnaufer as she explores the life of the poet Virgil, from his rural upbringing to his hatred of the bloody civil wars prevalent throughout that time to his hope for Rome with Augustus becoming ruler, and the first four books of his epic poem, the Aeneid.  She will explore characteristics of a Roman epic genre and how this, along with the events in Virgil’s life, helped to shape his writing of this incredible classic. Join Thiela as we study the plot and mythology of each of the four books with an emphasis on the poetic devices and nuances used at that time in coming to an appreciation and better understanding of this poem.

Instructor:  Thiela Schnaufer received a BA in Latin and an MA in Classics from the University of Georgia. She has taught in a wide variety of educational institutions in Georgia and South Carolina. She also received numerous awards including Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi from the University of Georgia. Her experience with professional education societies is deep and she has publications in New England Journals dealing with Classic education. She has also taught a number of classes for SSC.

Class Information:  This is a hybrid class - held in-person in UM@M’s room SCI 102 and via 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

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.

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 occur 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, the 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.

Environmental contamination – it’s in the news a lot.  From the sludge used on farms as fertilizers to pesticides to plastics, we are constantly hearing about how we and the animals living both on land and in the ocean are impacted by this issue.  Why not join our instructor Meredith Harris as she introduces us to the basic concepts of contamination in the environment.  She will discuss the different types of contaminants that are out there and where they come from.  She’ll also explain how your government is regulating them, how they are investigated and how they are cleaned up. As part of this series, we will also learn a little bit about PFAS contamination which has been prominent in the news. This topic is of importance to all of us and we here in Maine are not safe or immune from this problem.

Instructor:  Meredith Harris has a Civil & Environmental Engineering degree from Villanova University and has worked in the environmental remediation industry for 30 years.

Class Information:  This is a hybrid class - held in-person in UM@M’s room SCI 102 and via 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

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.

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 occur 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, the 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.

Travel along with Jackie O’Clair as she uses materials, pictures and photos from her recent trip to Egypt to look give us a brief fun look into the history, mystique and splendor of ancient Egypt.  We will see how the sands of the Sahara help preserve the art work and history of Egypt that is now visible in these magnificent structures. This four session presentation will peek at Egypt’s history through some of the temples and tombs they visited and the stories and antidotes they were told.  Egypt’s history Spanned more than 3,000 years, with the cities along the Nile River serving as the seat of power, religion, art, architecture and learning in this part of the world. With the Nile River being so fertile it fed much of the known regions of that time with trade going as far as Canaan, Lebanon, Nubia and Punt. Much of this history was lost to us until 1799 and the discovery of the Rosetta Stone but since that time has enriched us with a new understanding of just how advanced this society was and the impact it had on modern civilization.   

Presenter:  Jacqueline O’Clair is an avid traveler and history buff.  She has always been fascinated with ancient history and how it impacted our development. She has visited Machu Pichu, the Myan ruins of Mexico and Central America, ancient Greece, Ephesus, Jerusalem and Jordan’s Petra, and many ancient Roman sites and historic places in Europe. Her recent trip to Egypt was one of her bucket list items.    

Class Information:  This is a hybrid class - held in-person in UM@M’s room SCI 102 and via 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

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.

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 occur 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, the 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.