BETHEL – “Down Home Maine,” a new series about creative and adventurous people of Maine, will be launched this spring by Western Mountains Senior College. The series, co-sponsored by the Bethel Historical Society, will bring audience members face to face with adventurers, leaders, artists, craftspeople, naturalists and educators – many of whom may be neighbors.

“Adventures on the Schooner Haagard in the Northeast Passage,” by local Bethel artisan Odd Lyngholm, will be the focus of the first program to be held Friday, April 27.

Lyngholm will speak about time spent aboard the Schooner Haagard sailing between Siberia and the North Pole. He designed and built his boat especially for the two-month trip. He said he wants his talk to be informal and he will be happy to answer questions.

When he retired to Bethel in 2002, Lyngholm needed furniture for his home, so he built some. Today, his hobby has become his part-time rustic Live Edge furniture business.

Other programs in this spring’s series include “What the Governor’s Local Schools Regional Support Initiative may mean for SAD 44,” by Superintendent David Murphy, May 4; “What’s With Wind Power and What’s up with Plum Creek,” by Steve Wight, Land Use Regulation Committee commissioner, June 8; and “The Past, Present and Future of the Bethel Historical Society,” by Stan Howe, museum curator, June 22.

All presentations will be offered free of charge from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Moses Mason House on Broad Street. However, donations will be gratefully accepted. For more information, contact J. Cressy at 824-0508, or P. Gartner at 665-2181.