About the Forum
The Mid-Coast Forum on Foreign Relations was organized in 1983 by a small group of area residents with a special interest in the United States role in international affairs. Membership is currently about 150. The group includes individuals who have had considerable experience abroad with the United States government, corporations, and private agencies. Also represented are writers, physicians, educators, journalists, lawyers, businesspeople, and others seeking to stay informed on international issues. Local high-school students with a special foreign affairs interest are invited to attend meetings on a rotating basis.
The Forum meets during winter months in Erickson Hall at Point Lookout in Northport and during summer months (beginning in April) in the Baypoint Ballroom at the Samoset Resort in Rockport. Meetings are held on the second Monday of each month throughout the year and run from 11:30AM to 2PM. The format includes a brief social period, speaker’s presentation, question period and luncheon. Speakers typically arrive the day before and are hosted by Forum members.
Forum speakers have included U.S. and foreign government officials, diplomats, representatives of international organizations, academicians, working journalists, exchange students, international businesspeople, and other foreign policy specialists. In addition, each spring since 1989 the Forum has played host to a dozen or so international Nieman Fellows and their families for a weekend of discussion and relaxation. This event has become an annual highlight for Forum members, Fellows and interested members of the mid-coast Maine community. See the Speakers page for past and upcoming speakers.
The Nieman Foundation
Established in 1938 through a bequest of Agnes Wahl Nieman in memory of her husband, Lucius, founder and publisher of The Milwaukee Journal, the Nieman Fellowships are the oldest mid-career fellowships for journalists in the world. They are awarded to working journalists of particular accomplishment and promise for an academic year of study in any part of Harvard University. More than 1000 journalists from the United States and 75 other countries have participated in the program.
It has now become a tradition for the Mid-Coast Forum on Foreign Relations to invite the international journalists and their families to spend an informal weekend in our area at the end of their academic year. We feel honored and privileged to have developed such a mutually gratifying relationship with the Nieman Foundation.
Fourth Monday Lunch Bunch
The Lunch Bunch is a discussion group affiliated with the Mid-Coast Forum that meets on fourth Mondays in October and November and in January through April upstairs at Cappy’s Restaurant in Camden, Maine, at 11:45. The group is self-directed and selects its own topics, often based on a magazine or newspaper article. There are discussion leaders but no outside speakers. The Lunch Bunch is open to members of the Mid-Coast Forum and the general public who have expressed their interest. Seating is limited and attendees for each gathering will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. To reserve seating please phone Paul Diamond at 207-236-0283 or e-mail to Pauld625@roadrunner.com.
Watch the announcements section for information about upcoming Lunch Bunch sessions.