Duane Prugh, avid outdoorsman and naturalist, will be the presenter at the USM Lewiston-Auburn Senior College “Food for Thought” 11:30 a.m. luncheon on Friday, Jan. 8.  The event is open to the public.

Prugh will narrate “An Armchair Tour of Maine’s Local Giants.” That would be Maine’s Giant Trees.

There are dozens of giant trees to learn about in the state — places an individual cannot normally get to or see.  Anyone can visit the state library, but some of these trees are on private property or deep in the woods.  Prugh is an instructor at the University of Maine at Augusta Senior College.

His presentation will describe the Senior College course he conducted in the fall of 2014.  For 10 weeks, Duane led a group of seniors around the State, viewing and measuring 90 of these giant trees.

The course was conducted in collaboration with the Maine Forestry Department “Project Canopy” led by Jan Santerre.  Several of Maine’s champion trees haven’t been measured since the 1990s.  The purpose of the course was to help the project bring those measurements up to date.

A graduate of the University of New Hampshire with a degree in Electrical Engineering, Prugh is now a semi-retired computer consultant.  He loves the outdoors and for many years has been interested in the unusual facets of
Maine. He loves to share his observations with others.  For the past 14 years he has been teaching at several of Maine’s Senior Colleges, taking local seniors on field trips to explore dozens of these sites.

There is so much to see in our own state, and his goal has been to get the senior citizen students out of their homes for day trips to explore places in Maine that most people don’t know exist. For instance, Maine has 68 lighthouses, 12 covered bridges and more than 200 named waterfalls to be explored.  Prugh has taught a senior college course on that as well, taking participants out in the field or on the sea.

Maine’s Senior College courses usually consist of six to eight 2-hour classes in the classroom, but Duane’s courses usually start at 7 a.m., end at 5 p.m. and last for 10 to 20 weeks.  Forty to 80 students travel in car caravans around the State using radios to communicate, ensuring that no one gets lost.

In addition to the exploration, there is the social aspect.  Students in these classes travel a total at least 1,200 miles in Maine.  While travelling to these remote places, the students meet others from their own senior college and those from other locations.

Senior College, now in its 18th year, presents the monthly 11:30 luncheon program open to the public, in the Function Room 170 at USM LAC. The cost, which includes lunch, is $7 with advance reservation or $8 at the door. Reservations must be made by noon on Wednesday, Jan. 6. Any late callers will be considered “at the door.”

FMI, register: 207-753-6510.