Chit Chat with the Library Cat

Friends and neighbors,

A couple of years ago I was asked to write a brief summary of the life and times of Browser, the Library Cat.  What male, or female for that matter, doesn't like to talk about themselves?  I dashed off a few hundred words and thought nothing more about it.  A few months later I was told I "made the cut" out of several hundred entrants.  What that meant I really had no clue.  The upshot, though, was that I was then asked to turn 600 words into 3000 words!  This took a rather long time, but with the help of Muriel, our head librarian, I was able to come up with anecdotes I had all but forgotten.  Life goes on, as we all know, and the past becomes somewhat hazy.  Along with this epistle I was to provide the name of a pet rescue near me who would be rewarded monetarily for their service to felines and canines.  Muriel suggested Paws and Claws Rescue & Resort.  I know nothing about pet rescue organizations except the Pine River Public Library who rescued me, and I took her suggestion. A great deal more time passed.  Now, it seems, my story has been published along with the stories of eleven more rescued felines.  The name of this book is  "Rescued. The Stories of 12 Cats, Through Their Eyes".  The book is available through Amazon and Barnes and Noble, but wait!  If you purchase our book during the month of July a portion of the proceeds will go to Paws and Claws, Muriel and I are working on a book signing for that month.  We'll let you know.

Meanwhile, life at the Library goes on.  Summer is a time for -- you guessed it -- the summer reading program.  The theme this year is "Read To The Rhythm".  I'm wondering if this means either reading with music playing or perhaps only reading books about music and dance.  Could be, I suppose.  At any rate, the kids' program is K to 6th grade, the teen program 7th to 12th grade.  This program will run for eight weeks with activity days on Thursdays from 1:00 to 2:30.  Sign up is required,  Call the Library for more information.  587-4639.

Several more noteworthy events are programmed for summer:

Friday (10 - 6), Saturday (10 - 5), and Sunday (10 - 2), June 26 - 28 is the Summerfest Book Sale.
Sunday will be bargain day, but don't count on the book of your dreams being left over.  This event has earned me my title "Browser, King of Books" for my propensity for sitting atop the piles of books

July 31 is "Pie on Park Avenue".  It begins at 9:00 am and continues until 3:00 or whenever the pies run out.  It will take place at 209 Park Ave across from the Library.  Proceeds will go  toward my three season reading porch which you may share.  This event is a long standing tradition in Pine River and has recently been adopted by my Library.

August, lovely August, brings the Cupcake Wars!  August 1st is the date, The Warehouse the location.  This is the third annual event.  Be giving this some thought.  It is really fun.  Set up is at 10:00 am, tasting begins at 11:00 am and awards are given out at 1:00 pm.  The tasters are the judges in this competition.  Sign is required.  Form a group of friends, neighbors, or grandchildren and have fun with food!  More information can be had at the Library.

August 26 to 30 is the Bluegrass Festival, and once again the Library Foundation will be selling specialty coffees, popcorn and ice cream.

Sugar, sugar, sugar, and books.  What better combination?  In addition, June 23rd at 6:00 pm at the Pine River Public Library, the Minnesota Legacy Program will present Julie Klassen, the Christian Fiction author, so sugar, sugar, sugar, books, and more books!

Enjoy your summer as I will mine.

I remain,
Browser, the library cat

Summer brings author, book sale to Pine River Library

Friends and Neighbors:

Summer! We knew it was coming, but the actual event seemed so distant during our long winter.

Our Minnesota Legacy Program is kicking off summer here at Pine River Public Library with Minnesota Book Award winner, Julie Klassen. She will be with us Tuesday, June 23^rd at 6:00PM to talk about her books and the writing process involved and will be doing a book signing after the book talk.

Klassen writes inspirational Regency era romance novels and currently has 8 books out with another coming out this July.

Summer! The Summerfest book sale is June 26^th to June 28^th. Books can only be donated until June 15, and then only during regular library hours. If you have books to donate, hurry up!

Normally I am no longer allowed to be loose. I hate the entire idea of a leash, but such is life and politics, and I have learned to live with it. However, during the book sale I will once again be allowed to be King of Books. It is one of my favorite hats to wear.

The Friday hours are 10:AM to 6:PM. Saturday 10:AM to 5:PM, Sunday (bargain day) is 10:AM to 2:PM.

Come and see me. Bring home some great reading material. We will be located across from the library next to the Catholic Church.

 

Until then I remain,

Browser, the library cat, future King of Books

Pine River summer reading program to begin

Young friends and neighbors and parents of same,

Soon, very soon, the summer reading program will commence. The theme is “Read to the Rhythm”.

My friend and ghost writer played in a band for many years and this theme rings true for her. We feel everybody should fill their lives with music.

Our summer reading program, as always, is divided into two groups: our younger readers ages 5 to 12, and our teen readers ages 13 to 18. Activities will, of course, be age appropriate.

We will be learning to dance! We will have a special guest who will tell us about different musical instruments. We will indeed have a wonderful time!

 

Here are the specifics:

• Sign up begins June 1^st. Young people can pick up their reading logs at this time. (As an aside, humans tend to call their youngsters “kids”. This program is for human children, not baby goats.)
• This program continues from June 8^th until August 1^st.
• Thursdays are activity days. Children will need to sign up in advance.
• Prizes for reading are given out every week.
• By finishing all eight weeks, participants will have their names in a drawing for a larger prize and will be invited to the end of program party.
   
  Also the month of June, Story Times are being sponsored by the Pine River Lions Club.  If you wish to sponsor a month of Library Story Times please contact the Pine River Library at 587-4639. 
   
  Join me, Browser, the library cat, at our Pine River Library for fun times in summer. See you soon.
   

Pine River Library to host Legacy Program

Happy Spring, friends and neighbors.

April showers bring May flowers – if they aren’t covered in snow. This is Minnesota. Some May days are sunny and spring like, some others not so much.

We at the Pine River Public Library are welcoming May with another free Minnesota Legacy Program, thanks to the vote of our citizens on November 4, 2008. Thank you, people of Minnesota.

This program will take place on Saturday, May 16 at 2:00 at the Riverview Life Center on Barclay. It is none other than the Twin Cities Hardingfelelag. You pronounce it. I’m at a total loss.

Still, I know what they do. This is a five piece Norwegian folk group providing traditional dance music from Norway and Western and Central Europe. In this age of searching for your roots (I know something of mine.), this concert should bring a feeling of coming home to many of our residents.

Come and join them. Stomp your feet, clap your hands, move to the tunes of your ancestors. There will even be an historical discussion and time for questions and perhaps answers.

Our Legacy Programs continue. For a complete schedule of these marvelous events, visit the Kitchigami Regional Library website: www.krls.org. Click on Legacy Events.

I absolutely know deep down that there will be an event you will want to attend. The ones that take place in our library will be attended by me.

 

Story times for the month of May are being sponsored by the Brainerd Dispatch Echo Publishing.

 

I remain,                                                                                                            

Browser, the library cat, author of some note.

P.S. (That stands for post script.): My life story appears in the recently released book, “Rescued. The stories of 12 cats through their eyes.” Need I say more?

My visit to the Thomas Cooper Library

I visited the Thomas Cooper Library on the University of South Carolina’s main campus, in Columbia, South Carolina. My friend Bob deTomaat works there, and kindly showed me around. I posed outside with two of TCL’s librarians, Bill Sudduth and Debbie Yerkes. 

They then took me into the Government Information and Maps department, where they both work. There I found all sorts of fishy cookbooks put out by the Department of the Interior. One of the student workers there, Tyler Johnson, helped me pose for the picture I took with some of the more interesting cookbooks.

I liked the one called “Fancy Catfish” the best, I think. Then I was shown some of the kitty-themed documents that have been put out by the GPO (Government Printing Office, for those of you who might not know). I even learned how Wildcat and Coyote tricked each other! I’m glad neither of them have tricked me. MOL!

That's how my trip went. Stay tuned for my next exciting adventure!

I remain,

Browser the Library Cat

History of quilts to be presented April 17 in Pine River

Friends and neighbors!

The thought of being wrapped in a cozy quilt warms the cockles of my heart, whatever cockles are.
This month we welcome Vickie Wendel who knows everything there is to know about quilts, probably. I wonder if she knows what cockles are. Never mind that.
Ms. Wendel will give us a talk about the many stories that have been handed down about various quilts and she may poke holes in some - the stories, not the quilts.
She will let us know about the history and traditions of quilting and will bring quilt squares, small quilts and pictures of actual period pieces. Friday, April 17th at 4:00 PM at my home, Pine River Public Library.
Quilt facts, folklore, and fabrication! I plan to attend. So should you.


Later this month bestselling author, Lauraine Snelling will visit us at The Warehouse in Pine River on Saturday, April 25th at 2:30. Chances are good that you have read some of her books, since she is an award winning author of over 80 books! Some of them take place in our wonderful state of Minnesota. This is a special program and book signing. A book signed by the author! Just think about that.

Don’t forget to visit Pine River Library and wish our special librarians on April 16th. It is National Librarian Day!


The Library parking signs are back. They were gone during snow removal season. Half the parking lot is designated as library parking.

The Month of April Story times are being sponsored by Ladies Auxiliary VFW in Jenkins.

Hope to see you soon. We at Pine River Public Library make every effort to make life interesting and informative for you, all my favorite people.

I remain,

Browser, the library cat

Sharing Ideas for Spring

Hello, friends and neighbors.

   Browser here with some ideas for spring. Going to the nursery or discount store to buy flowers means you may need deep pockets. (I, of course, have no pockets, not being a marsupial.) I have some suggestions.

   Buying annual plants is a quick fix to a sad looking yard, but it is a yearly expense. Consider perennials. These are often very expensive. My friend and co-author does her perennial shopping through a couple of wholesale catalogs.

   This means you often have to purchase several of one kind of plant. This is not necessarily a bad thing. A large planting of, say, astilbe or echinacea can be very eye-catching.

   Another option would be to get together with friends and agree to split various items. Here are two catalogs, both of which can be viewed online. Our library has computers that you can use by reserving a time and presenting your Kitchigami library card. Simply call. 587-4639.

   K.van Bourgondien & sons, inc. Website: www.dvbwholesale.com They have a huge selection and plenty of information about each plant and whether it is good for Central Minnesota.

   Breck’s Wholesale. Website: www.breckswholesale.com They have some wonderful choices not seen in the other catalogs. They also have items listed by zone.
   I have mentioned “zone”. Here in Pine River we are a zone 3 unless you are planting in a protected area or next to the south side of a building. Then you can venture into zone 4.
   Both of the catalogs I have mentioned have sun, shade, and partial shade (4 hours of sun) marked. Also, many of the plants are nasty to deer and this is also marked. What is it with deer? I don’t go around eating people’s flowers. Of course I’m a carnivore. That might be the difference. 


Check out our library’s selection of books on planting a garden.


Remember, March 31 is the end of the adult winter reading program. Bring your completed book list to the library and enjoy your new mug!


I remain,
Browser, the library cat

Historical re-enactment program on tap Feb 13

My physiognomy is medically sound thanks to today’s veterinarian medicine. I wonder how I might have fared in the 1820’s. Have you ever wondered something similar? On Friday, February 13^th at 3:00 the doctor will be in at the Pine River Public Library. You can ask him yourself. This is not an ordinary doctor, but Fort Snelling’s medical personage from the 1820’s. In this historical re-enactment the doctor will discuss treatments for various diseases of the time. Often the treatment sounds worse than the ailment.

The following day, February 14^th, is, of course, Valentine’s Day. One must wonder whether visiting Fort Snelling’s doctor would have allowed you to live until Valentine’s Day. Incidentally, Valentine of Rome was a priest in Rome who was martyred about AD 496. That’s a lot of Valentines Days!

Remember that February 16^th is President’s Day, honoring our early presidents, George Washington of cherry tree fame, and Abraham Lincoln, a man who knew his hats. (This is an obscure reference to “The Cat in the Hat”.) The library will be closed that day.

Also starting this year a different business or person will be sponsoring Story time for the month.  This Month I will be the sponsor.

I remain

Browser, the library cat

New Addition for the Pine River Library

Oh my, friends and neighbors!

The people at my home here at the Pine River Public Library are working on a project to expand my world. I can hardly believe it. I will be able to sit in the sunshine most of the year. Let me explain.

The Pine River Building Foundation voted unanimously (whatever that means) to build me a three season reading porch with sliding storm windows, no less. You, friends and neighbors, are welcome to share. The project will cost a meager $18,000. I am certainly worth it. The porch will be an estimated 225 square feet. That’s plenty big for me and a few of my closest friends.

The funds for this project are coming from a number of sources. Pine River Lions Club, which I have not encountered in perambulations or I would certainly remember them, has donated $200 to the project. John Stranne, president of the Lions, is shown presenting the check to Steve Hansen, Library Building Foundation board chair. Okay, I have to interject here. I see no lions in this picture, nor do I think Mr. Steve looks anything like a chair.

News release item: Fundraising will continue, and grant opportunities are being considered. The Foundation will take over the Pie on Park Avenue fundraiser, previously run by the Riverview Tabernacle Church. Proceeds from this event will go towards the reading porch project. A Rotary Club matching grant is also a possible funding source for this project.

I am hugely excited. For more information, call the library (218-587-4639), email the foundation at prfoundation@krls.org or if you wish to send donations, send them to PO Box 14, Pine River, MN, 56474.

Thank you one and all in advance for my new room.
I remain,

Browser, the library cat

Holiday Bake Sale is December 13.

Okay, friends and neighbors,

It’s time to get out a pencil and some paper and make that all important grocery list. Thanksgiving is late this year which means that Christmas is just over the horizon.

 

Baking! That’s what I’m talking about. If your grandma didn’t leave you her best cookie recipes, run into our library and check out a cookbook.

 

Our Pine River Library is counting on you. The annual Holiday Bake Sale fund raiser is Saturday, December 13, the same day as the Pine River Parade of Lights.

 

If you want, you can always come into the library and go online for some great suggestions from www.epicurious.com or sign in to www.pinterest.com. Remember to schedule your computer time.

 

You’ll need to bring your list making materials with you for your trip to the grocery.

 

Not a baker? Don’t even own an oven or a cookie sheet? Don’t be embarrassed. I don’t bake either, but I do love cookies. Stop by the bake sale and take something home with you.

 

The sale is from 10:00 AM to 1:00pm. The Parade starts at 5:00 PM. This year our library is providing specialty coffee and hot chocolate for sale as well.

 

Could it be any better? Well, as a feline I would hope for some cream and tuna, but that’s just me.

 As an aside, Pine River Public Library will be closed Thursday, December 24 and Friday, December 25 so our staff and you can spend quality time with friends and family.

 Have a wonderful holiday season.

I remain,

Browser, the library cat

Pine River Library to host Illustrated History event

Dear friends and neighbors:

For those of us more simple souls who do not know what the Minnesota Legacy Program is, I will attempt to edify. Though the various programs presented by Pine River Public Library [my home] and Kitchigami Regional Library are “free” to the public, you and others have already paid for them.

“The Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund receives 19.75 percent of the sales tax revenue resulting from the Legacy amendment to support arts, arts education and arts access, and to preserve Minnesota's history and cultural heritage.  Based on current sales tax revenue, Minnesotans will invest more than $1.2 billion in arts and cultural heritage fund projects and programs over the 25 year life of the tax."

A portion of the dollars appropriated from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund are being made available through grant programs.” [www.legacy.leg.mn/funds/arts-culture-heritage-fund.]

This program was voted into action in 2008 by the people of Minnesota. You voted for this. Having voted and paid, it would be foolish not to partake. It would be like buying groceries and not eating them. There are many and varied events offered to you, friends and neighbors. For a list, visit www.krls.org and click on Legacy Events.

 

Here is the next program!:

 

On November 15^th at 2:00 PM at the Pine River Library, Steve Stark will make art and history come alive for you. “Steve Stark’s unique Illustrated History presentations bring history, art and presentation to entertaining life as Steve, in historical costume tells true history stories while actually drawing with skill and speed them before your eyes” Why would you want to miss this? It’s blustery outside. Come inside.

See you here at Pine River Library. Don’t forget to visit me anytime except for the following days when the library will be closed: November 11 for Veterans Day, early close Wednesday, November 26^th at 5:00 PM, and November 27^th for Thanksgiving. (Turkey Day! I am hugely fond of that day and will spend it in the country, no doubt.)

I remain,

Browser, the library cat

 

Pine River Library offers two treats - music, haunted house

Trick or treat? This is no trick. It is a treat.

 

Actually, we have two treats, the first of which is a visit from the Everett Smithson Band, coming back to Pine River on Tuesday, October 21^st at 6:30 at the Warehouse.

 

In Minnesota winter comes earlier than we might like, so enjoy the moment. Come hear this eclectic band, playing everything from Zydeco to Hillbilly Music. To prevent musical chairs, come into the library for your free tickets so we know how many chairs we need!
 

 

This is yet another Minnesota Legacy Program. Thank you, Minnesota, for being so good to us.

Our second treat is our Halloween Fund Raiser Haunted House. It will be open Friday, October 31 and Saturday, November 1 from 6:30 to 8:30 at 209 Park Avenue, behind the library.

 

Entry fee is $4.00, but… if you wear a costume it is only $3.00. I’m coming dressed as a person. Guess which one I am.

Thank you, everyone, for being so careful of our new sidewalk. I tried to leave my prints, but apparently I would have to gain a few pounds. I was a ghost that day. No foot prints.

 

We also have enjoyed our 4^th Graders for coming to the library. I always love it when the children come to visit. They are my favorites.

As always, I remain,

Browser, the library cat, King of Books

Musician Shannon Murray to be in Pine River!

Friends and neighbors, rejoice!

Clean Water Land & Legacy Amendment is sending us in Pine River music! Shannon Murray will bring us Songs of the Industrial Workers of the World. Shannon is a local songwriter, singer and guitarist. She will be sharing her music with us Thursday, September 4^th at 7:30 PM at The Warehouse. Timely, is it not. We have just had Labor Day. Shannon will also be sharing some of her research of the history of WWI. Join us, won’t you, for this free program. We look forward to seeing you there.

 

 

Browser, the library cat

Cupcake Wars participants needed

To blatantly alter an old saying, Let them bake cupcakes! Marie Antoinette would probably agree.

Friends and neighbors,

The cupcake wars are just around the corner [August 2] and not very many of you have signed up to have fun with food. Spend a little quality time with a friend, neighbor, granddaughter, husband, etc. Build some fun cupcakes. Good times will have been had by all. In the end you’ll have desert!

Make them big, make them small,

Ice them well or no icing at all.

Make them green, make them blue

Make them almost any hue.

Call Muriel at the Pine River Library and let her know you rethought it and want to join in. 587-4639. Judging for this is at 11:00 AM at the Warehouse in Pine River. Don’t be outdone by a Girl Scout…

I remain, yours in food,

Browser, the library cat

Cupcake War Fund Raiser for the Pine River Library

The Pine River Public Library is having their

Second Annual Cupcake Wars!!

 

Saturday, August 2nd, 2014 at The Warehouse in Pine River

Setup is at 10:00am and judging starts a 11:00 am to 12:30 pm.

You are the Judge!

Vote as many times as you want!  Remember we are raising money...

 

Best Display/ Appearance

 

 

Cupcake Taste

 

 

Purchase voting tickets at the door! Each ticket costs .25cents

Pay and vote for your taste sample using your tickets at each cupcake display

Tickets will be used to pay for cupcakes.

Cupcake prices are set by the contestant!

Winner gets name on the Cupcake Plaque and bragging rights!

 

All proceeds go to the Pine River Public Library for updating computers! 

 



 

Learn the story of Pine River past

Friends and neighbors,

Most of us know Charles Dickens’ story of Scrooge and the ghost of Christmas past. Well, it isn’t Christmas and it isn’t Charles Dickens. It is the story of Pine River past.

Minnesota Legacy has put together a trip back in time. This is exciting stuff. There will be rides in a horse drawn conveyance where you will talk to the ghost of George Angus Barclay.

There will be ghosts of loggers at the dam telling of their exploits. Ammarrilla Barclay, the first Caucasian woman in Cass County will be on hand at our Pine River Library to talk to you about her times.

You’ll be able to explore the Pine River Depot and learn its history. Ghostly, yes, but not the least bit scary. This tour begins at the Depot where you can board a horse drawn stage coach or a covered wagon and ends with a walk to our library where I will await you.

Don’t miss this. I wish I could meet all the ghosts, but at least Ammarrilla will be hanging out at the library.

The times and dates for this wonderful tour are Fridays, June 20, July 11 and 25, August 1, 15,and 22 and September 5 from 11:00 AM to1:00 PM.

 

Ghosts in the day time. Unusual.

After the tour you might want to saunter on down to Pine River Market Square. That opens at 2:00.

 

Your friend,
Browser, the library cat

The new Miss Pine River comes to visit me at the Library

Danielle Butcher the 2014 Miss Pine River, stopped in at

the Pine River Library to have her picture taken with me.

 

Once a year I help the Miss Pine River pageant by being a sponsor.

This year I was able to sponsor Danielle Butcher.

 

In all the years of my sponsoring this is the second time one of my girls won the title of Miss Pine River

 

 

 

 

Expand your horizons with a good book

Greetings, friends and neighbors. Welcome to spring.

There are plenty of rainy days when you can make time for a good book, so let us talk literature.  I have read two books recently that are “period pieces”.

 The first, called “Orphan Train” by Christina Baker Kline, is about a time in American History when hungry homeless children roamed the streets of New York City. It was not a pretty time.

 

I understand homelessness, since it is in my history as well. Social Welfare Agencies rounded up these children, packed them in trains, and delivered them to families mostly in the mid western states.

 

Our state of Minnesota received many of these children. They were lined up and handed over to families who wanted them, many to work as laborers on farms and so forth.

 

This book is factually based and follows an Irish girl who was ill received because of her red hair. This is a compelling read.

 The second, “The Invention of Wings” by Sue Monk Kidd, is a chronicle based on the lives of the Grimke sisters from South Carolina.

 

This missive dates to the early 1800’s when “...by law, a slave was three-fifths of a person.” Women were not allowed to have an opinion and certainly not allowed to vote.

 

It follows the journey of these real life sisters, girls and then women of gentry in the South, on their mission to right social wrongs. It is historically interesting. It is hugely depressing in part. The treatment of slaves in the south was utterly appalling.

 

Still, it is beautifully written, and well worth your time.

Expand your horizons with a good book.

Browser, the library cat

Spring Fever turning into Spring Cleaning

Hello, friends and neighbors. Browser here wishing you the finest spring ever – if we get one! I know most of you believe that early summer is a time when allergies spoil your fun in the sun, but consider this. Spring cleaning, the type that causes blinds to come down and furniture to be moved, kicks up all sorts of nasty particles including that old standard, “house dust”.

My advice to humans who feel the need to clean in the spring is simple. First buy several boxes of nasal tissue! You are going to need it. After that, go for whatever products tickle your fancy. Of course it makes the most sense to tear up those old t-shirts and mix a bottle of vinegar and water and have at it, but that would mean you don’t get to go Shopping. Spring cleaning is the best excuse ever to buy all sorts of colorful boxes and bottles of stuff you’ve always wanted to try. Advertising people have been working hard to get your attention.

Unlike Christmas, which is a retailer’s dream, spring is the season cleaning product manufacturers live for! Celebrate spring. While you are at it, buy yourself some fresh flowers to put on the table, because it is going to be a while before any are in the garden and it will help you to realize that it is indeed spring.

Check out the krls.org website for books on “how to clean anything”. There are loads of those. It will help you with your shopping list of products you can’t live without.

Instead of letting April fool you, fool April. Make a sunny spring sanctuary for yourself!

I remain,

Browser, the library cat

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

“The Cat in the Hat”? Whose bright idea was that? I know no self - respecting cats who would willingly wear a hat. This is a human concept, obviously. Children have a tendency to dress their pets in all manner of clothing, but no pet willingly subjects themselves to such foolishness. Oh, wait! This is fiction. Poetic license. A “Dr. Seuss” manner of fiction where animals do all sorts of un-animal things. Like Horton the elephant who actually sat on Mazy the lazy bird’s egg. Believe it or don’t. It still makes an entertaining story. We are celebrating Dr. Seuss at our Pine River Public Library. Still, I have no intention of wearing a hat.

Dr. Seuss had animals speaking human language. In our new data base, accessed through your library card, Kitchigami Regional Library is offering “Pronunciator”. No, you won’t learn to speak “elephant”, but you could learn French or German. It is free through your library. Just log onto krls.org and check out what is available on-line! You’ll need your library card number and PIN. Other than that, have at it!

I remain,

Browser, the library cat