POLAND — The Friends of Ricker Memorial Library will present “An Afternoon with Maria Girouard and James Francis” on Tuesday, June 14, at the Ricker Memorial Library. The event will begin at 12:30 p.m. with a potluck luncheon followed by the talk at 1:30, with time afterwards for questions.

Girouard and Francis, both of the Penobscot Nation’s cultural and historic preservation department, will present a special talk that will cover a variety of topics including Wabanaki place names and contemporary Wabanaki tribal issues. Both Girouard and Francis are accomplished historians with extensive backgrounds in Wabanaki historical and cultural research.

“We are very excited to host Maria and James for the day,” said library trustee Sara Willett. “I feel that this programming in many ways is bridging a gap between two cultures and renewing a friendship that existed between the Penobscot Nation and Poland during the turn of the century when the Wabanaki basketmakers sold their baskets at Poland Spring and famous Native American baseball player Louis Sockalexis played for the Poland Spring team. Given our combined histories, we are very excited to host this program and hope that we can have more programming like this in the future.”

The event was made possible with the generous support of the Maine Humanities Council. For more information, call the Ricker Memorial Library at 998-4390.

Prior to the library event, Francis and Girouard will participate in a Wabanaki landscape activity with students at Poland Community School.