Searsport museum offers hostel programs

SEARSPORT – Mac Deford, executive director of the Penobscot Marine Museum, has announced that the museum’s Elderhostel Program is welcoming hostelers from across the United States this summer.

The Elderhostel program provides affordable educational adventures for adults 55 years of age and older.

The Penobscot Marine Museum will sponsor 10 week-long Elderhostel courses on campus in 2003; each one will bring up to 40 people to Searsport and Belfast. Minnie Gribbin, who has been working with Elderhostel for seven years, is the director of this program.

“The most popular courses offered are those highlighting regional history. This is why the Penobscot Marine Museum is such an ideal venue for our programs,” she said.

For information on available commuter scholarships, contact Gribbin at 338-6076.

The “Angelique” Elderhostel programs, also sponsored by the museum, will be held Sept. 14 and 21. Participants spend a week on board the windjammer Angelique, learning about Maine history and natural history. Well-known instructors in various fields of expertise will be on-board. Mike McHenry, captain of the Angelique, will instruct vessel operations and act as the on-board host.