Virtual: John Muir, Ansel Adams and the National Parks
2025-04-17 10:30 - 11:45 (America/New_York)
**PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A VIRTUAL PROGRAM THAT WILL TAKE PLACE VIA ZOOM. Registrants will receive a link to access the Zoom Webinar via email.**
John Muir — celebrated naturalist, promoter of the natural parks, and founder of The Sierra Club — led an interesting life focused on conserving nature’s beauty. Ansel Adams is perhaps the greatest American landscape photographer. Learn and see how their lives and works intersected and overlapped at Yosemite National Park.
This program will be led by Eric J. Simon, Ph.D., a professor at New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire, who leads international biology-themed travel courses and teaches online lifelong learning classes at a variety of institutions.
Register directly on Zoom HERE.
This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Tewksbury Public Library and is held in partnership with the Bacon Free Library and the Tewksbury Public Library.
RECORDING NOTE: This program will be recorded. All registrants will receive the recording via email within 48 hours of the program.

Family Concert: The Carnival of the Animals
2025-04-24 10:30 - 11:30 | Morse Institute Library
Join us for a fun family concert on Thursday, April 24 at 10:30am in Morse Institute Library’s Lebowitz Meeting Hall! Walnut Hill Music Department students will be performing The Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns. This live music event will feature special added animals composed by Walnut Hill Composers!
This event is free, and no registration is required. We hope to see you there!

Virtual: No More Curse! A History of the Red Sox with Author/Historian David Kruh
2025-04-28 19:00 - 20:00
Take me out to the ballgame with David Kruh!
Based on his research for his musical, The Curse is Reversed!, David takes us to the roots of Boston baseball, when, just like today, the team captured the hearts of the people of Boston. We will look back at the real story behind Harry Frazee and his sale of slugger Babe Ruth. Relive the (sometimes frustrating) saga of the Boston Red Sox and their ultimately successful struggle for a World Series championship.

This program is held in collaboration with the Ashland Public Library and the Bacon Free Library.
PLEASE REGISTER HERE FOR THE ZOOM LINK
Recording note: This program will be recorded. All registrants will receive the recording via email within 48 hours of the program.

About the Author:
David Kruh is a former New Yorker and a 1978 graduate of the University of Maryland. While earning his Masters in Computer Engineering at Boston University, David worked as an engineer at WRKO Radio. He has also worked full time as a copywriter, computer programmer, radio producer, radio engineer, and, for a few years in the mid-1990s, as a spokesman and web master for the Big Dig. He retired a few years ago from a semiconductor manufacturer, where he was the Direct Marketing Manager. He is also the author of several other books, notably two on Boston’s Scollay Square and Building Route 128. David’s most recent book is Inseparable.
Learn more about David’s Musical: The Curse is Reversed! (A musical tribute to the Red Sox).

VIRTUAL: Author Shannon Reed Discusses “Why We Read”
2025-05-05 19:00 - 20:00
**PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A VIRTUAL PROGRAM THAT WILL TAKE PLACE VIA ZOOM. Registrants will receive a link to access the Zoom Webinar via email.**
This program is for readers everywhere! Join us as we chat with author Shannon Reed about her latest book, Why We Read: On Bookworms, Libraries, and Just One More Page Before Lights Out. Why DO we read? What compels us to? What holds our attention? How many of us remember reading by a flashlight after hours? Shannon will have the scoop and will be answering lots of our questions.
This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Public Library and is held in partnership with the Bacon Free Library and a multitude of MA Libraries.
Please register here for the Zoom link.
For more information on Shannon and this program, click here.

VIRTUAL: Author Heather Wolf Discusses How to Experience Spring Bird Migration to the Fullest
2025-05-12 19:00 - 20:00
Join Heather Wolf, author of Find More Birds: 111 Surprising Ways to Spot Birds Wherever You Are and Birding at the Bridge: In Search of Every Bird on the Brooklyn Waterfront, as she shares tips for jumping into the nature documentary happening around you, also known as spring bird migration! Learn how to find more migrating birds and witness their fascinating behaviors, as well as cue into birds that will be breeding and raising young in your area.
This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Public Library and is held in collaboration with the Bacon Free Library, and the Chelmsford, Groton, and Tewksbury Libraries and is in partnership with a multitude of MA & NH libraries.
Please register here for the Zoom link.
For more information on Heather and this program, click here.

Friends of the Morse Institute Library May 2025 Book Sale
2025-05-17 08:30 - 16:30, 2025-05-18 12:00 - 15:00 | Morse Institute Library
It’s time for the Friends’ spring Book, Music, and Bake Sale! Join us on Saturday, May 17 (8:30-4:30) and Sunday, May 18 (12:00-3:00) and browse a wide selection of 25,000+ gently used books, CDs, and vinyl, and choose from an assortment of tantalizing treats from our bake sale in the library lobby. Proceeds from our donation jars at the sale will go to support library programs and activities. You’ll find most books and DVDs on the lower level. Books for children and tweens and our CD and vinyl sale are in the Morse Room on the first floor. Adult books are $1, and books for children and tweens are $0.50. We’ll be restocking throughout the book sale.
Your support makes a difference. The Friends are a nonprofit membership organization and dues are an important part of our fundraising. Pick up a membership form at the book sale or join online at www.morsefriends.org.

VIRTUAL: Q&A with Romance and Mystery Writer Olivia Waite
2025-05-19 19:00 - 20:00
Listen in — or bring questions and join in — to this fun conversation with romance author, Olivia Waite. Olivia has brought her blend of heart and humor to historical romance, fantasy, science fiction, and essays, so who knows where the conversation might lead! You can be sure we’ll delve into her newest book, Murder by Memory, the first in the Dorothy Gentleman sci-fi mystery series. Bring your questions as this is going to be a rapid fire, AMA (ask me anything) Q&A!
This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Public Library and is held in collaboration with the Bacon Free Library and the Ashland Public Library.
Please register here for the Zoom link.
For more information on Olivia and this program, click here.

How to Create a Homegrown National Park
2025-05-20 17:30 - 18:30 | Bacon Free Library – 58 Eliot Street Natick, MA 01760 United States
Join us for a fun and informative stroll around the lovely grounds of the Bacon Free Library. Our gardening guru Monica Foley will point out and discuss the native plants in our gardens. She will offer many practical ideas to help you encourage birds and other pollinators to your yard and to increase the biodiversity in your property. You will learn how the BFL became a Certified Wildlife Habitat, as well as the requirements to acquire a Homegrown National Park sign for your yard. There will be time for questions.
No registration necessary.
In case of rain, this event will be rescheduled to Tuesday, May 27th at 5:30pm.

Instrument Petting Zoo
2025-05-24 11:00 - 12:00 | Bacon Free Library – 58 Eliot Street Natick, MA 01760 United States
The Bacon Free Library is partnering with Bach to Rock in Wellesley to bring you this instrument petting zoo. B2R will bring a variety of musical instruments to the Bacon for 60 minutes of instrument exploration to give people of all ages a chance to learn about instruments and experience playing them. This event will be held outdoors at our picnic table.
Please stop by to try out an instrument, or two, that you’re curious about. No registration required.

VIRTUAL: Q&A with Romance Author Nalini Singh on “Archangel’s Ascension”
2025-05-28 19:00 - 20:00
Join us for a lively conversation with blockbuster romance author, Nalini Singh. We’ll definitely chat about her most recent Guild Hunter Series book Archangel’s Ascension, and there will be spoilers — you have been warned!! Be prepared for a rapid fire Q&A about all things SparkleBell — we’ll have our own questions but we know that Nalini fans are endlessly curious and enthusiastic so we expect this will be a wonderfully raucous discussion.
This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Public Library and is held in partnership with the Bacon Free Library and a multitude of MA Libraries.

Register directly on Zoom HERE. This program is at 7pm ET (Boston Time). If you know you cannot make it live please do not register with zoom (so we have plenty of space for those who can attend) but fill out THIS FORM to receive the video link.
For more information about Nalini and this program, click here.

Virtual: Death in the National Parks with Author Randi Minetor
2025-06-02 19:00 - 20:00
Why do some people lose their lives in America’s national parks? Randi Minetor, author of seven books in the nonfiction Death in the National Parks series, will explore the fatal mistakes people make when they venture into unfamiliar wilderness. Some forget critical steps in their preparation, forging off into wild lands far too challenging for their level of experience. Some refuse advice, ignoring warnings from rangers and more seasoned adventurers. Others are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, becoming victims of a lightning strike or a falling rock—or ravenous grizzly bears. And some fall prey to human predators.
Randi will share highlights of her in-depth research and what it reveals about the people who perish in the parks. Most importantly, she will provide tips on how to avoid your own disaster in a national park. Be ready for your summer vacation plans with this pertinent and, probably, humorous presentation!
This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Public Library and is in collaboration with the Bacon Free Library and the Chelmsford, Groton, and Tewksbury Libraries and is in partnership with a multitude of MA & NH libraries.
Please register here for the Zoom link.

About the Author
Born and raised in Rochester, NY, Randi Minetor discovered the backcountry wonders of America’s national parks in 1992 with her husband, photographer/lighting designer Nic Minetor. That first trip changed her life, and by 2000, the Minetors had pledged to see all 391 (now 429) national parks in their lifetimes. They found a way to subsidize this passion in 2006, when they began writing and photographing books on the parks for The Globe Pequot Press (now Rowman & Littlefield). Today Randi has written more than 90 books, including seven books in the nonfiction Death in the National Parks series, ten hiking guides in New York State, several bird-finding guides, and even reference books on health topics. To date, they have visited 354 national parks. In addition, Nic’s photography appears in eight Quick Reference Guides to the Birds, Trees, and Wildflowers of New York City and New York State, and The Trees and Wildflowers of the Mid-Atlantic States. The Minetors live in Rochester, NY.

Note: This program will be recorded and a link will be sent to all registrants soon after the program. It will be available on YouTube for one month.

Art Exhibit: Maps of Natick
2025-06-04 08:00 - 17:00 | Bacon Free Library – 58 Eliot Street Natick, MA 01760 United States
Stop by the Bacon Free Library to view a selection of Natick Historical Society’s maps of Natick, on display May 21st to June 30th. These fascinating reproductions show the streets, properties, and bodies of water of Natick, while some also display sketches of trees & buildings, and in one case, the handwritten names of property owners. Among the historic gems are:

an 1830 land survey of Bigelow Mills
an 1887 map of Cochituate
an 1887 rendering of South Natick including sketches of noteworthy buildings
a map of Felchville, circa 1908
an illustrated map reproduced in 1976 by Natick Five Cents Savings Bank for the Town of Natick Bicentennial Committee

These maps are available for viewing and for sale year round in the Natick History Museum. For more information, visit www.natickhistoricalsociety.org

Circus Tots Class
2025-06-09 11:00 - 11:30 | Bacon Free Library – 58 Eliot Street Natick, MA 01760 United States
Kids can take their first steps into the magical world of circus with this class from our neighbors at Eastern Acrobatics! Kids ages 3-6 will learn some simple and fun circus skills outdoors on the BFL lawn.
Registration is required for each child attending.

Juggling Class for Kids
2025-06-10 16:30 - 17:30 | Bacon Free Library – 58 Eliot Street Natick, MA 01760 United States
Kids will learn some basic juggling skills in this fun outdoor class from our neighbors at Eastern Acrobatics!
Geared toward kids ages 7 and up.
Registration is required.

Juggling Class for Adults
2025-06-10 17:30 - 18:30 | Bacon Free Library – 58 Eliot Street Natick, MA 01760 United States
Learn some basic juggling skills in this fun outdoor class from our neighbors at Eastern Acrobatics!
This session is for adults.
Registration is required.

VANISH: Disappearing Icons of a Rural America – streaming documentary film
2025-06-13 08:00 - 2025-06-27 17:00
VANISH chronicles the “visual preservation” adventures of fine art photographer, Jim Westphalen, as he travels across the country seeking out and creating stunning imagery of America’s disappearing rural structures. Equal parts art, history, and storm chasing, this film takes you on a road-trip with Westphalen as he races against time and the unrelenting elements to capture the extraordinary beauty of aging barns, one-room schoolhouses, grain elevators, prairie churches, and other classic structures that our country’s rural heritage was built upon. Vanish also features deep-dive interviews with preservation experts as well as the passionate people who strive and struggle to save these fading treasures, sharing their intimate stories of dreams, loss, and triumphs.
Please register to view the film. You will receive the link to screen the film on June 13th. The link will be good through June 27th.
The streaming link may not be shared with anyone outside of your class, campus event or community event, or posted on any website or social media page that is accessible to the public. Do not post this on Youtube, Facebook or any public platform. GOOD DOCS film and video content is protected by United States copyright law. Duplication, reproduction, alteration, television broadcast or cablecast, (except for on- campus closed circuit), loaning for a fee, leasing, sublicensing to others or use for any commercial purposes (i.e. charging admission) is strictly prohibited without express written permission from GOOD DOCS.

Read-a-Story, Dance-a-Story
2025-06-13 10:30 - 11:00 | Bacon Free Library – 58 Eliot Street Natick, MA 01760 United States
Join us on the lawn of the Bacon Free Library for an outdoor dance class inspired by the enchanting tale, The Firebird. We’ll glide through spellbound forests, flap like mystical birds, and break a powerful curse with our dance. Perfect for young movers and curious minds, this class blends storytelling, dance, and music for a joyful and expressive experience. Recommended for ages 3-8. No dance experience needed – just bring your imagination!
This class will be taught by Ms. Ashlie from the Community Dance Academy at Walnut Hill School for the Arts.
Registration is required.

Virtual: Summer Romance Beach Read Recommendations with Lorelei of Lorelei’s Lit Lair
2025-06-16 19:00 - 20:00
If you know romance, you probably know Lorelei! Affectionately referred to as a passionate romance ambassador, Lorelei has been offering book recommendations through social media since 2010. In this program, Lorelei will chat about the books she’s looking forward to reading this summer — the best of romance beach reads! If your TBR pile isn’t already groaning, it will be! Grab a cool drink and join us.
This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Public Library and is in collaboration with the Bacon Free Library, the Chelmsford, Groton, and Tewksbury Libraries and is in partnership with a multitude of MA & NH libraries.
Register here for the Zoom link

RECORDING NOTE: This program will be recorded. All registrants will receive the recording via email within 48 hours of the program.

Virtual: “Dead End Road” with True Crime Author E.C. Hanson
2025-06-23 19:00 - 20:00
In June 1977, Renee Freer, nicknamed Giggles, went out to play with her friends. A few hours later, she was found bludgeoned to death with a rock. In a true crime book unlike most others, E.C. Hanson stumbles upon an unsolved murder case that haunted his former stepfather. Unable to get specifics from the old and new guard of detectives, Hanson forges ahead, mining what he can from previously released articles and people who lived in the neighborhood at the time. An unusual yet passionate text, Dead End Road honors Renee Freer’s memory and asks “how will you help?”
Join us for this conversation with E.C. Hanson as he discusses this book, his research, and his goal in pursuing this cold case.
This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Public Library and is in collaboration with the Chelmsford, Groton, and Tewksbury Libraries and is in partnership with a multitude of MA & NH libraries.
Register here for the Zoom link
RECORDING NOTE: This program will be recorded. All registrants will receive the recording via email within 48 hours of the program.

Big Bubbles with Mr. Vinny the Bubble Guy
2025-06-24 16:00 - 16:45 | Bacon Free Library – 58 Eliot Street Natick, MA 01760 United States
Kick off Summer Reading with some running, jumping, and bubble-popping fun! With his giant, homemade bubble wands, Mr. Vinny gets kids and adults involved in bubble chasing games. Silly, interactive entertainment for all ages!
This program will be held outdoors at the Bacon Free Library. If it rains, the fun will move to the Morse Institute Library and Mr. Vinny will share his shadow puppet show instead.

Professor Bugman’s Insect Safari
2025-06-27 15:00 - 16:00 | Bacon Free Library – 58 Eliot Street Natick, MA 01760 United States
Come to the Bacon Free Library to explore the arthropod biodiversity outside in your own community with a real entomologist! Professor Bugman will bring the equipment and expertise; you bring the curiosity!
Geared toward ages 4-12. Registration is required.
If it rains, this program will be held indoors at the Morse Institute Library.
Registration is required for each child attending.

Drop-In Plein Air Art Studio
2025-06-30 13:30 - 16:00 | Bacon Free Library – 58 Eliot Street Natick, MA 01760 United States
Join Natick landscape artist Barbara Levine this summer for drop-in plein air (outdoors in natural light) painting on the grounds of the Bacon Free Library. (Other locations may be considered as well.)
All levels of painters, and all mediums are welcome. Supplies will not be provided, so please bring your own equipment including: easels, paints, brushes, any solvents or mediums used, painting surfaces, paper towels, drinking water, hats, garbage bags, sunscreen and good humor.
Barbara will be on hand to offer suggestions during this recurring 2-hour program. Come to as many sessions as you like and please arrive by 1:30pm in order to have time to set up. Please register for the sessions you will be attending, so that we have an idea of how many artists to expect each week and so we may contact you if the program is canceled due to inclement weather.
This program is for adults only.
Please register in advance.

Virtual: “Heal the Beasts – A Jaunt through the Curious History of the Veterinary Arts” with Author Philipp Schott
2025-07-07 19:00 - 20:00 | Bacon Free Library – 58 Eliot Street Natick, MA 01760 United States
Author and veterinarian, Philipp Schott, DVM will be on hand to discuss his new book, Heal the Beasts: A Jaunt Through the Curious History of the Veterinary Arts. This history of veterinary medicine provides an abundance of bizarre, funny, surprising, and heartwarming anecdotes. Heal the Beasts chronicles human efforts to treat animal illnesses from 14,000 BCE to today.
This virtual program will be held in collaboration with the Bacon Free Library and the Ashland Public Library.
Please register here for the Zoom link.

Virtual: In Conversation with Romance Author Rachel Reid
2025-07-09 19:00 - 20:00 | Bacon Free Library – 58 Eliot Street Natick, MA 01760 United States
Do you love sports romances? Are you intrigued by the behind-the-scenes of this romance sub-genre? Well then, join us for a virtual conversation with Rachel Reid, Canadian author and hockey fan who explains “I like to write cute smut about hockey players and other people.” Rachel has been dubbed “the queen of M/M hockey romance” by Ashland Public Library’s romance book club (this is a dedicated crew who knows this genre well!). Listen in on the conversation with Rachel that is bound to be revealing.
This virtual program will be held in collaboration with the Bacon Free Library and the Ashland Public Library.
Please register here for the Zoom link.

The Poop Museum!
2025-07-11 10:30 - 11:30 | Bacon Free Library – 58 Eliot Street Natick, MA 01760 United States
Are you fascinated by all things relating to poop? If so, the Poop Museum is the place for you! At the Poop Museum, Susie Maguire will teach us many fantastic, fabulous, and fun facts about human, animal, and insect poop. Just a few of the poopers that visitors to the Poop Museum will meet include:

The world’s messiest pooper
The animal that has poop attack powers
The animal that uses poop as protection
The rainbow pooper
The animal that has to hold its poop ALL winter long

Science meets silliness in this program geared toward ages 5-10.
This program will be held outdoors at the Bacon Free Library. If it rains, the program will move indoors to the Morse Institute Library.

Goats and Giggles!
2025-07-14 11:00 - 12:00 | Bacon Free Library – 58 Eliot Street Natick, MA 01760 United States
Play and cuddle with some curious and friendly baby goats outside on the Bacon Free Library lawn! The Farmer’s Helpers program from Chip-in Farm will be bringing their goats to the BFL for a visit.
All ages are welcome. Please note that participants may be required to wait in line, as the number of people interacting with the goats at a time will be limited for the animals’ comfort and safety. We’ll provide coloring pages and some farm-themed books to browse while waiting.

Drop-In Plein Air Art Studio
2025-07-14 13:30 - 16:00 | Bacon Free Library – 58 Eliot Street Natick, MA 01760 United States
Join Natick landscape artist Barbara Levine this summer for drop-in plein air (outdoors in natural light) painting on the grounds of the Bacon Free Library.
All levels of painters, and all mediums are welcome. Supplies will not be provided, so please bring your own equipment including: easels, paints, brushes, any solvents or mediums used, painting surfaces, paper towels, drinking water, hats, garbage bags, sunscreen and good humor.
Barbara will be on hand to offer suggestions during this recurring 2-hour program. Come to as many sessions as you like and please arrive by 1:30pm in order to have time to set up. Please register for the sessions you will be attending, so that we have an idea of how many artists to expect each week and so we may contact you if the program is canceled due to inclement weather.
This program is for adults only.
Please register in advance.

Virtual: “Captain Kidd: A True Story of Treasure and Betrayal” with author Samuel Marquis
2025-07-14 19:00 - 20:00 | Bacon Free Library – 58 Eliot Street Natick, MA 01760 United States
We are excited to chat with author Samuel Marquis about his most recent book, Captain Kidd: A True Story of Treasure and Betrayal, which is both thrilling and tragic. Behind the legend is a real man woven into the tapestry of early America, rendering him a unique colonial hero and scapegoat whose life story was fascinating, exciting, bizarre, and heartrending. Doesn’t that sound fascinating? We hope you can join us!
This virtual program will be held in collaboration with the Bacon Free Library and the Ashland Public Library.
Please register here for the Zoom link.

Virtual: Gardening and Water Conservation
2025-07-17 18:00 - 19:00 | Bacon Free Library – 58 Eliot Street Natick, MA 01760 United States
As the summer heats up, how do you keep your garden well hydrated without wasting water? The experts at Blackstone Valley Veggie Gardens are here to show you how. In this virtual program, hosted by the Bacon Free Library, the BVVG pros will explain several techniques to hydrate your garden to manage droughts and/or dry, summer conditions.
Please register to receive the Zoom link.
