Compiler of Edith Patch book to speak at UMaine-Augusta event

ORONO – Author Jo Carol Alford, who compiled “Favorite Recipes from Friends of Edith Patch,” will speak at 1:30 p.m. March 15 at the Maine Women’s Hall of Fame 15th induction ceremony at the Bennett D. Katz Library, University of Maine at Augusta.

The ceremony will be held in observance of Women’s History Month, with the BPW-Maine Futurama Foundation and the University of Maine at Augusta as co-sponsors.

Alford had compiled the recipe book, which honors Edith Patch, who was a teacher at the University of Maine and a pioneer for women in higher education. She lived in Orono in a house called Braeside.

The Friends of Edith Patch hope to restore Braeside as a center of learning for entomology, environment and education.

The Maine Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs established the Maine Women’s Hall of Fame in 1990. It is dedicated to women who have made an outstanding contribution to improving opportunities for all Maine women.

After her talk, Alfond will hold a book signing. Copies of the book, which contains more than 500 recipes, will be available for purchase.

A silver tea will be held at 2:30 p.m. to benefit the Business and Professional Women-Maine scholarship program. In addition, there will be a special stamp cancellation by the U.S. Postal Service for the Maine Women’s Hall of Fame.

The induction ceremony for Nancy H. Hensel, president of the University of Maine at Presque Isle, will be at 3 p.m. Pamela Wilson of the University of Maine at Farmington and Deborah Burd of the Western Mountains Alliance sponsored Hensel for inclusion in the Maine Women’s Hall of Fame.

Hensel went to Presque Isle in 1999 after serving as dean of the University of Maine at Farmington’s college of education, health and rehabilitation from 1992 to 1995, and as provost and vice president of academic affairs from 1995 to 1999.

Before her affiliation with UMF, she lived and worked in California. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from California State University, San Francisco, and her doctorate from the University of Georgia. Her academic preparation has focused on early childhood education and her professional research, writings and presentations have focused on a variety of issues related to women’s equity.