Behind on my posting

So Sorry that I haven't posted in a while.  It's been a busy year and going too fast for me!

I will be soon turning 17 in the next two months and don't know if I can keep up with everything.

Spending time out of the library and my health is not as good as it use to be.

I will try to keep everyone updated on all goings on at the library.

Your Friend,

Browser the Library Cat

Music of the Minnesota Legacy Program

Friends and Neighbors!

We are so lucky to be living in Minnesota, land of the Legacy Programs, funded in part or whole with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota November 4, 2008. This means that we can experience marvelous arts and cultural events for free.

 

The next Legacy Program is “Music of the Mississippi” with the Everett Smithson Band. As always, it is free. I won’t be able to attend since the venue is the Pine River Depot, but those of you who do attend, please come into our library and tell me all about it. The date of this program is Monday, October 16^th at 6:00 PM. It is, of course, open to everyone (except me). Band members are Phil Schmid on guitar, Jeremy Johnson on drums, the ubiquitous Bill Black on standup bass, and Everett and Kathy Smithson. If the concert isn’t enough, hang around afterwards. There will be a free, all ages, harmonica lesson given by Everett Smithson and sponsored by the Minnesota Blues Society. It’s pretty doubtful I could learn to play the harmonica, but perhaps you could!

 

For a complete schedule of Legacy funded events at Kitchigami Libraries, visit the Kitchigami Regional Library website: www.krls.org and click on Legacy Events.

 

Here’s hoping you are enjoying your fall.

Sincerely,

Browser, the library cat.

Library Building Foundation Memebers needed

Friends and neighbors,

In my dotage I am called upon to reach out to our community in many ways. Some are simply announcements. Others are calls for help.

This one is a call for help. Muriel has alerted me that we have a shortage of humans to help with our Pine River Library Building Foundation. Muriel writes:

“The Pine River Library Building Foundation is looking for 3 volunteer officers to serve on their board. The board meets 3 to 6 times a year.
Board members help with organizing fund raisers and volunteer for activities the Foundation sponsors. If interested contact Muriel Erickson at the Pine River Public Library. 218-587-4839.”
Here is an explanation of what, exactly, the Building Foundation is:

The Pine River Library Building Foundation is a non-profit 501[c]3. The Foundation is governed by a Board of Directors consisting of 7 members. The Foundation supports the Pine River Library Building, making sure that our library continues to provide a comfortable, functional, and safe environment. The Foundation holds several events throughout the year to fund building maintenance and improvements. It was formed in 1996 to raise funds for the new library building and received a generous donation of the Pine River State Bank building in January of 1999 for library use.

Thanks to funds raised by the Building Foundation, renovations to the donated building were completed in July 2002. A new metal roof to the building was installed in spring of 2009. The old and damaged flooring was replaced with new tile in March of 2014.

Without these upgrades, my home, the Pine River Library, would be in serious disrepair. Thank you Building Foundation. And the good works continue as the Foundation holds fundraising events and applies for grant monies.

 

Join us! We need you. I need you.

Browser, the library cat

Minnesota's part in WWI topic of program

Friends and neighbors!

 Attention history buffs! We begin the month of May with a program about Minnesota’s part in WWI.

 The month of May offers more Legacy Programs. These free programs are funded in part or whole with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008 which dedicated funding to preserve Minnesota’s arts and cultural heritage.

 On Friday, May 5^th at the Lifehouse Coffee Shop on Barclay Ave at 4:00 PM, Arn Kind will present a riveting program on the 100^th anniversary of the United States’ entrance into World War I. Our participation in WWI only lasted 19 months but involved more than 100,000 men from Minnesota. What an astonishing number!

 These men served in the Army, Navy, Marine Corp, and Medical Corp.  Arn Kind will dress the part for this exciting living history program as you learn about the causes of the war, why Americans got involved, strategies used to win the war, the role women played, and the life of a typical Minnesota soldier.

 I certainly hope you can attend. I would if I could.

Browser, the library cat

SPRING IS A TIME FOR PEEPS

Well, friends and neighbors,

The winter reading program is fast coming to a close. Are you a procrastinator? If so, are you a speed reader?

Friday, March 31 is the final day. Bring you lists of 15 books you have read during these three months to the Pine River Public Library and receive you mug and my person thank you for enjoying our free public library.

The end of the winter reading program marks the beginning vestiges of spring. The weather is warming somewhat, and though we may still have snow there is hope just over the horizon for balmy weather.

It is the time of year for baby plants, baby animals, and Peeps. In case you didn’t know, “Peeps are marshmallow candies, sold in the United States and Canada, that are shaped into chicks, bunnies, and other animals. There are also different shapes used for various holidays.” Wikipedia

It’s entirely possible that you assumed I’d write some tome about the meaning of Easter. Not so this year. Peeps epitomizes the season for me. You are, perhaps, more of a chocolate bunny person, or maybe a Cadbury egg fan. The stores are full of these treats. Buy them, hide them, find them, eat them. What an interesting tradition!

I am a purist. I insist on yellow sugar dipped marshmallow chickens. Those are real Peeps. All others are imposters. This year there is a flavor they call “surprise”. I don’t want to be surprised by my Peeps. I like them just the way they are.

Better still, the older they get the more tasty. Keep them until the 4^th of July. The outside becomes crunchy while the inside is tantalizingly chewy.

Spring! A time for Peeps.

 

I remain, my sugar coated little friends,

Browser, the library cat

February is date month

Friends and neighbors,

It is February, the short month. Stuffed into this seemingly non-descript month is Valentines Day and President’s Day, the latter of which is a closed day for your library, Pine River Public Library. Chances are good that I will be taking a short vacation at my country home. I look forward to that.

February is also “I love to read” month. Very fitting for myself, since I live at a library. It is also the second month of our adult reading program. Do you have your sign-up sheet yet? 15 books and you get a great mug.

During Valentines week we have a special feature at our library. We are calling it “Blind Date with a book”. We have several books wrapped in red which we will be checking out to you. You will have no idea what is in this package until you open it at home. Read the book and return it with a review. Rate your date with a book! How fun is that? I love surprises.

I hope you find this chilly month filled with good reading and good friends.

Browser, the library cat

Rudolph reminds us that bullying is not OK

Happy holiday season, friends and neighbors.

With the onslaught of various holiday greetings and messages everywhere, I have been pondering the origins of some of these, for want of a better word, “things” that have become tradition - the colors of red and green, the tree with decorations, the wreath, various songs, St. Nicholas, stockings, and so forth.

Recently I was somewhere – I don’t remember quite where – and there was music playing. It was Christmas music, but it was unusual in that it involved a duet of cellos. They were playing “Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer”. The sound was lovely, but there was something so ridiculous about making lovely a song about a fictional [cartoon] character, that I began to wonder about Rudolph’s origins.

 

According to Wikipedia:

 

Robert L. May created Rudolph in 1939, as an assignment for Chicago-based Montgomery Ward. The retailer had been buying and giving away coloring books for Christmas every year and it was decided that creating their own book would save money. Rudolph was supposed to be a moose but that was changed because a reindeer seemed friendly.^{[citation needed]} May considered naming the reindeer "Rollo" or "Reginald" before deciding upon using the name "Rudolph".^[7] In its first year of publication, Montgomery Ward had distributed 2.5 million copies of Rudolph's story.

 

Wow. Those numbers certainly explain how Rudolph became so popular so quickly.  If you are not familiar with the story of Rudolph, it goes like this:

 

"The story chronicles the experiences of Rudolph, a youthful reindeer buck (male) who possesses an unusual luminous red nose. Mocked and excluded by his peers because of this trait, Rudolph manages to prove himself one Christmas Eve after Santa Claus catches sight of Rudolph's nose and asks Rudolph to lead his sleigh for the evening. Rudolph agrees, and is finally treated better by his fellow reindeer for his heroism."

 

I’m glad I researched this. It is a story with a message. Making fun of or bullying others because of some difference from ourselves is wrong. A difference is often a blessing.

 

Quickly let me say that we at the Pine River Public Library will be closed Saturday, Dec. 24 and Monday Dec. 26^th as well as Monday, Jan. 2^nd. Shortly thereafter – the very next day, in fact – the adult reading program begins. “Snow Time To Read”.

Read 15 books in three months (until March 31) and receive a mug. Slips for chronicling your reading are available at our library. For those who fill out a second slip, your names will be placed in a drawing for an infused water bottle.

 

Happy reading!

Browser, the library cat