The call is out for young people of all ages with an interest in local history and cultural heritage.
Friday, June 21 and Saturday, June 22, Silver Birches, an oral history project formed in the 1970s, will launch a new book dedicated to preserving cultural heritage by collecting and publishing stories from elders in the community.
The new 50th anniversary edition of Silver Birches incorporates the first three editions and a fourth containing reflections by members of the original group on the significance of their experiences as teenagers. The book concludes with a look to the future written by Emma Hixon, 2024 graduate of the University of Maine at Farmington, with a vision for attracting local young people to continue the practice of interviewing and photographing their elders for books containing their stories.
The public is invited to a book launch at the Stockholm Historical Museum Friday, June 21 from 3-5 p.m. and those interested in participating in future Silver Birches activities, especially teens and preteens, should attend the group’s 50th Reunion from 2-4 p.m. Saturday, June 22, at the Sportsmen Inc. Lodge in Stockholm. The events will include recollections and demonstrations of interviews, noting the evolution of recording technology.
The first Silver Birches were produced by Stockholm and New Sweden teenagers, now in their 60s, inspired by Foxfire, student-produced magazines in Rabun Gap, Georgia, that spawned counterparts across the nation, including Salt, which became the Salt Institute in Maine.
The idea for a fourth Silver Birches hatched when members of the group reunited in 2023 and brainstormed on ways to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Local alums of the project and new recruits carried the idea to fruition during the following year.
“We decided to share in our own words how being part of Silver Birches influenced the fabric of our lives,” wrote alum Beverly Sodergren Wardwell in the book’s introduction, adding “more important, to try to inspire and pass on the torch to a new generation.”
In her conclusion to the book, Hixon writes, “There are rich histories held within the stories of our community members and I worry they might be lost to time if we do not seek them out.”
The books will be sold at Midsommar in New Sweden on June 22, online through the Stockholm Historical Society and in Maine book and gift stores.
For more contact David Strainge (207-231-2547), Beverly Wardwell (207-896-5263) Emma Hixon (207-728-5417), Jeanne Clowes (207-227-6788) or Kathryn Olmstead (207-217-0316).
