Rout Cakes, Gruel, Muffins, and Toast: Food in the Novels of Jane Austen
About our speaker: Merry Post worked in book publishing and in history museums. She leads a writers group at the Dorcas Library in Prospect Harbor. Merry enjoys researching women’s diaries and writes a column for the Ellsworth American on nineteenth-century New England recipes. Jane Austen is one of her absolute favorite writers.
This FREE event is co-sponsored with Rockland Public Library.
REGISTRATION: requested in advance by Thursday, September 11 to ensure sufficient tables, chairs, and refreshments. Please scan the QR code or connect to our website at https://jasnamaine.org/event-registration-2/
Any questions, please email janeite2@gmail.com
message from our hospitality chair
Please email Terri Nickel at <terri.nickel@comcast.net> to let her know whether you can bring cookies, bars, or other bite-size sweet or savory items to share after the program. Beverages will be provided. Also let her know if you are willing to help with setup, serving, or cleanup.
Welcome to new JASNA Maine members Since May 2025: Joyce Alper, Ingrid Graff, Rebecca Honeycutt, Kirstie Kingston, Elizabeth Schneider, Wendy Smith, and Gabrielle Stojanovic
Directions to Rockland Public Library, 80 Union Street, Rockland
You may prefer to use your smartphone’s GPS. General directions appear below:
From the South:
Take I-295 North toward Brunswick
Take Exit 28 (Coastal Route/Route 1 North). Follow Route 1 to Rockland. Once in Rockland, turn left on Broadway, right on Limerick, left onto White Street. Look for parking.
From the North:
Take US Route 1 South
Follow Route 1 South/Commercial St to Rockland. Once in Rockland, right on Rankin Street, left on Union Street, right on Beech Street, then left on White Street. Look for parking
Book Group: The Jane Austen Project
Date: Sunday, January 25, 2025
Author: Kathleen A. Flynn
Facilitator: Carole Ryder
Location: Zoom – contact Carole Ryder
Time: 3pm
Save the Date – June 2025: Pejepscot History Center in Brunswick, ME
Date: : June 2025
Location: Pejepscot History Center in Brunswick, ME
More information to come…
Past Events
Jane’s Birthday Meeting – Madam Wood and Tales of the Night
Date: Saturday, December 14, 2024
Location: St. Mary’s Episcopal Church Parish House
43 Foreside Road, Falmouth
10:30am Registration
11:00 am Presentation followed by Q&A
12:00pm Lunch, Birthday Cake, and Toasts
Business Meeting and Reports
Remarks by Regional Coordinator
Madam Wood and Tales of the Night:
Sally (Sarah) Sayward Barrell Keating Wood (1759-1855) – “Madam Wood” – lived more than nine decades, authored four novels and one collection of tales, and was renowned as Maine’s first novelist. Maine Women Writers Collection Archivist Jefferson Navicky will talk about Wood’s life, as well as MWWC’s archival holdings of the Sally Wood collection. He will focus his talk on Wood’s 1827 book, Tales of the Night, which consists of two novellas, “Storms and Sunshine” and “The Hermitage.”
About our Speaker:
Jefferson Navicky is the archivist for the Maine Women Writers Collection (MMWC) at the University of New England. He has given talks about MWWC authors Ruth Moore, Elizabeth Coatsworth, Kate Barnes, May Sarton, and about the diaries of everyday Maine women. He is also a poet, and has published four books, including Head of Island Beautification for the Rural Outlands, a Finalist for the Big Other Book Award for Fiction, as well as Antique Densities: Modern Parables & Other Experiments in Short Prose, which won the Maine Literary Award for Poetry.
“Holiday by the Sea” in honor of
Jane Austen’s 249th birthday and the holiday season!
New Date: Sunday, December 1, 2024
Time: 1:00-3:00pm
Location: 73 Misty Harbor Drive, Winter Harbor, Maine
Melody Hannulah, JASNA Maine member, will be our presenter.
There will be door prizes and “Jane” games.
Please, bring a sweet or savory to share!
Book Group: Reading Austen in America
Date: Sunday, November 10, 2024
Author: Juliette Wells
Facilitator: Lisa and Robert Prisco
Fall Meeting: How to Make a Reticule*
Date: Saturday, September 14, 2024
Location: Falmouth Memorial Library
5 Lunt Road, Falmouth, Maine
* a woman’s small handbag usually made of cloth typically having a drawstring and decorated with embroidery or beading.
About our speaker: DeAnna (Dee) Rieber is a recent retiree to Winter Harbor, Maine. She is a life member of JASNA and currently serves as a JASNA Maine Board Member focused on building the organization in Down East Maine and further up the Maine coast. Dee is a lifelong seamstress and formed her label, DeAnna Denise Couture in 2019. DeAnna Denise Couture is a sewing and design business based in Down East Maine. Dee is renowned for her Regency Period creations. Her vast collection features gowns/day dresses/spencers and pelisses made with fabric from around the world.
Date: Sunday, August 4, 2024Author: Stephanie Barron
Facilitator: Merry Post
Summer Picnic by the Sea
Date: Sunday, July 28, 2024, 1-3pm
Location: 241 Prospect Point Road
Prospect Harbor, Maine
Historic House & Garden Tour
Date: Sunday, June 9, 2024
Location: Nickels-Sortwell House (1807)
121 Main Street, Wiscasset, Maine
10:00 am Guided House and Garden Tour
*Please note that the tour requires a considerable amount of standing and climbing stairs. The site is not equipped with ramps, elevators, or lifts.*
11:45 am Bring your own lunch and picnic on the grounds or choose a lunch spot nearby.
The Nickels-Sortwell House is a historic house museum built in 1807 by a wealthy shipping magnate, William Nickels. The house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970 as an exceptionally high-quality example of the Federal style of architecture built in the United States following the American Revolution. Nickels’ ships traveled to Europe and the West Indies, bringing back fine imported goods for wealthy Wiscasset households. William and Jane Nickels’ lavish lifestyle abruptly ended when Thomas Jefferson’s Embargo of 1807 devastated the East Coast economy by prohibiting international trade. By the time of his death in 1815, William Nickels was bankrupt, Jane had died, and their children were left with nothing but debt.
The Nickels house became a hotel for many years. In 1899, it was purchased by industrialist Alvin Sortwell as a summer home for his family. The Sortwells lovingly restored the house over a period of years and decorated it in the Colonial Revival style with fine antique furnishings.
Book Group: Miss Austen by Gill Hornby
NEW Date: Sunday, May 26, 2024
Author: Gill Hornby
Facilitator: Laurie Power
Spring Tea by the Sea
The Jane Austen Society of North America invites you to a spring “Tea by the Sea” in honor of Jane Austen.
New Date: Sunday, April 28, 2024
Time: 1:00-3:00pm
Location: Misty Harbor Condo Chart Room 73 Misty Harbor Drive, Winter Harbor, Maine
Merry Post, JASNA Maine member and food historian will give a presentation entitled, “Pride and Partridge: Jane the Foodie.” There will be door prizes and “Jane” games.
Book Group: Mansfield Park
Date: Sunday, February 11, 2024
Author: Jane Austen
Facilitator: Susan Burnett
Jane’s Birthday Meeting: Fashion’s Transition in Jane Austen’s Lifetime
Date: Saturday, December 16, 2023
Location: St. Mary’s Episcopal Church Parish House
43 Foreside Road, Falmouth
10:30am Registration
11:00 am Presentation
12:00pm Lunch, Birthday Cake, and Toasts
Business Meeting and Reports
Remarks by Susan Claska Burnett, Regional Coordinator
Learn how, during Jane Austen’s lifetime, fashion underwent one of the most extreme changes to ever occur in the history of Western (European) women’s dress. This illustrated talk will adventure through the changes and consider them in the social context and custom of this period––the backdrop of Jane Austen’s novels.
About our speaker: A recent JASNA member, Jacqueline Field is a textile and dress historian and author. She taught at USM and Westbrook College, is now retired, but remains active in her field. She was a speaker for Maine Historical Society’s (2022)
costume exhibition Northern Threads and authored the MHS Historic Dress Collection narrative and site overview for the Society’s MMN portal, accessible online where clothes from the Jane Austen era may be seen. Jacqueline is the author of the new book, Textiles & Designs: Bates Mill 1930-1990, (2020), and co-author of the award-winning book, American Silk, 1830-1930, (2007), and numerous articles.
Book Group: Lover’s Vows
Updated Date: Sunday, November 19, 2023
Author: Elizabeth Inchbold & August von Kotzebue
Facilitator: Lynn Harlan
Book Group: Pemberley: Mr. Darcy’s Dragon
Date: Saturday, September 30, 2023
Author: Maria Grace
Facilitator: Lynn Harlan
Quilling Program at Falmouth Memorial Library
Updated Date: Saturday, September 23, 2023
Location: Falmouth Memorial Library
5 Lunt Road, Falmouth, Maine
1:30 – 2:00pm Registration
2:00 – 2:30pm Presentation
2:30 – 3:30pm Craft & Refreshments
Learn a little bit about the history of quilling before diving into the craft and making your own filigreed note card, ornament, or piece of jewelry to take home.
Quilling or filigree was a popular pastime for ladies in Regency England. Common items like jewelry boxes, screens, picture frames, and tea chests were often adorned with filigree accents.
From Sense and Sensibility, Chapter 23:
“…I should have been at my filigree already…”
About our speaker: A life member of JASNA, Lynn Harlan joined the ranks of Austen aficionados in 2011. A reference librarian at Bangor Public Library, Lynn has led library programs and book discussions about Jane Austen for multiple libraries throughout the United States. She has taught classes on Children’s Literature and led professional development sessions on Library Partnerships, Blackout Poetry, #MeToo, Afrofuturism, and Soothing Reads for Stressful Times. Lynn’s favorite Austen novel has been Sense and Sensibility since she picked up her first copy for fifty cents at Scholastic Book Fair in junior high school.
This free event is co-sponsored with Falmouth Memorial Library.
Historic House Tour
Date: Sunday, June 18, 2023
Location: Hamilton House (c. 1785)
40 Vaughan’s Lane, South Berwick, Maine
10:00 am Guided House and Garden Tour
11:45 am Bring your own lunch and picnic on the grounds
In a picturesque setting overlooking the Salmon Falls River, this striking Georgian
mansion, a National Landmark c. 1785, and its landscape share a history that mirrors
that of its Southern Maine region. Hamilton House is located on the homeland of the
Wabanaki. After European colonists took ownership of the area known as South
Berwick, Maine, the site was purchased by merchant Jonathan Hamilton for his
shipping business in the eighteenth century, farmed by the Goodwin family in the
nineteenth century, and restored as the summer retreat of Emily Tyson and her
stepdaughter Elise at the turn of the twentieth.
Book Group: Juvenilia of Jane Austen
Date: Sunday, April 16, 2023
Author: Jane Austen
Facilitator: Misty Krueger
Book Group: Jane Austen the Secret Radical
Date: Sunday, February 5, 2023
Author: Helena Kelly
Facilitator: Barbara Briggs
Jane’s Birthday Meeting: “Domestic and Public Music Making in the Age of Austen”
Date: Saturday, December 10, 2022
Location: St. Mary’s Episcopal Church Parish House, 43 Foreside Rd, Falmouth, ME 04105
Speaker: Justin Murphy-Mancini, Ph.D., is an artist faculty member for organ at the Osher School of Music at the University of Southern Maine. He is a graduate of Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music, where he earned degrees in historical performance, organ, composition, and philosophy. Justin is a keyboardist, composer, and liturgical musician who specializes in the performance of music from the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Baroque at the organ and harpsichord. He is Music Director at the Unitarian-Universalist Church in Newburyport, MA and also performs as a musician throughout New England.
Click Here to check out Justin’s YouTube Channel before the event!
10:30 am Registration
11:00 am Presentation and Q & A
12:00 pm Lunch, Birthday Cake, Toasts, Raffle
Member Profile: Lynn Harlan
Business Meeting and Reports
Remarks by Susan Claska Burnett, Regional Coordinator