Les Rolston, author of several books on Civil War “ordinary people who do extraordinary things” will present a program based on his book Long Time Gone: Neighbors Divided by Civil War. It is an epic story of two young Rhode Islanders—boyhood friends from the sleepy seaside village of Pawtuxet—who as teenagers fought in the Civil War on opposite sides. Elisha Hunt Rhodes served with the 2nd Rhode Island Regiment while schoolmate James Rhodes Sheldon shouldered a musket in the 50th Georgia Infantry. What these two youngsters saw, felt, and suffered through makes for absolutely riveting reading.

At the Carriage House. Non-members $2.00; members free