Greetings
Readers,
I hope you enjoyed time with family
and friends from Thanksgiving through the New Year! Cheers to 2023!
Bring
a title or two that you found to be absolutely among the best books you have
EVER read. Share with the group the
title(s), author(s) and a brief summary.
I’ll take your recommendations and compile a “best of” list that will be
distributed at our March meeting.
Smarsh
was born a fifth-generation Kansas wheat farmer on her paternal side, the child
of generations of teen mothers on her maternal side. In HEARTLAND, she introduces readers to a compelling cast of characters
from her own family—grandmothers who act as second mothers, farmers who work
themselves to the bone, builders who can’t afford their own homes, children who
move from school to school.
Smarsh
maps their lives against the destruction of the working class wrought by public
policy: the demise of the family farm, the dismantling of public health care,
the defunding of public schools, wages so stagnant that full-time laborers
could no longer pay the bills. Readers will learn what Smarsh did: Working hard
in this country probably won’t get you ahead after all.
The
complex, often brilliant people of Smarsh’s story defy stereotypes amid a
culture that embraces the term “white trash,” suggesting that some lives are of
lesser value and even dispensable. Part memoir, part social analysis, part
cultural commentary, HEARTLAND is an
uncompromising look at class, identity and the perils of economic hardship in a
wealthy nation.
Prior
to our discussion, Jackie Lape, coordinator
of the STJ based Helping Hands Food Pantry
will be our guest and speak of local efforts to overcome food insecurity
and cultural instability.
April 8: Fates & Traitors by Jennifer Chiaverini
John
Wilkes Booth, the mercurial son of an acclaimed British stage actor and a
Covent Garden flower girl, committed one of the most notorious acts in American
history—the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
The
subject of more than a century of scholarship, speculation, and even obsession,
Booth is often portrayed as a shadowy figure, a violent loner whose single
murderous act made him the most hated man in America.
Lost
to history until now is the story of the four women whom he loved and who loved
him in return: Mary Ann, the steadfast matriarch of the Booth family; Asia, his
loyal sister and confidante; Lucy Lambert Hale, the senator’s daughter who
adored Booth yet tragically misunderstood the intensity of his wrath; and Mary
Surratt, the Confederate widow entrusted with the secrets of his vengeful plot.
May 13: The Son by Philipp Meyer
The
rise and fall of a Texas family made rich in the oil and cattle businesses is
detailed in the novel The Son by
Philipp Meyer. The story spans six generations of the McCullough family from
the time it claimed its first headright in Texas through its rise to great
wealth to its tragic end. A myriad of themes wind their way through the novel.
These include discrimination, family life, cultural relationships, religion,
sexuality, death and dying, and wealth and morality.
My
pal, Jade Gallt, will be baking some traditional cornbread to enjoy with our
discussion.
To reserve a book, available in regular, large print or audio, call the library at 518-568-7822.
One thing that is fun to do in the winter is to make
snowballs. If there is no snow outside, we can still have winter fun by making snowball sandwiches. Enjoy!
Large round cookie cutter or plastic drinking
glass
Plastic Wrap
Ingredients
2 slices white bread or two pieces of wheat bread
filling of your choice
Instructions
Start by cutting a circle
from a piece of bread, using the biggest circle cookie cutter that will fit on
the slice. If you don’t have a round
cookie cutter you may also use the top of a plastic drinking glass
Lay out a piece of wrap on
the countertop. Place your circle of
bread on top of the wrap.
Drop your filling into the
middle of the bread. I spread a little cream cheese and a small dollop of
raspberry jam in mine. Be careful not to use too much filling as it may squish
out when you roll it up!
Gather the sides of the plastic
wrap in your hand, so that the bread folds up on itself.
Tighten the plastic wrap,
taking care to let the air escape.
Twist the wrap until the
bread has formed into a firm ball.
Unwrap the snowball and
carefully remove the sandwich.
Repeat with a second piece
of bread to create another sandwich.
Put your snowballs on a
plate, add some veggie sticks, fruit, and something to drink for a perfect wintertime lunch.
It takes a village to Q-tip paint a Thanksgiving turkey! Among our great joys here at 19 Kingsbury is to welcome our tiniest of patrons to Toddler Time. Today was no different as we broke out the Q-tips and created very festive turkeys.
Last week I asked
volunteer Miss Mallory if she would draw me a turkey as I lack any artistic
talent. Keep in mind our pals are under
the age of 4 so it didn’t have to be terribly detailed.
Yesterday, Miss Marge cut
out a template and drew the turkeys on small canvases. Like any great masterpiece, they were all uniquely
individual. There were some beaks a tad
off center, legs of varying widths, and some feathers taller than others depending on if the Sharpie raged out of control.
Tuesday afternoon our most
junior volunteer, Miss Lela, painted a turkey to serve as an example.
Today, after we shared
some singing and enjoyed playing with puzzles and toys, we returned to the
reading room and began creating.
Enjoy the work of Miss Z,
Mr. J, Mr. I and Mr. J#2.
We do have other children
that attend but I think the weather may have kept them away. There will not be Toddler Time next week as
families travel, prepare or just relax in anticipation of the holiday. The library will be open regular hours.
We get asked lots of interesting questions here in Libraryland. Most recently, someone wanted to know how to get their water turned on and another individual asked what I knew about a book that spoke of an incident when canal boats were frozen in Oneida Lake.
The first inquiry was
pretty straight forward; call the village clerk who would then alert DPW and
with the second I reached out to the Oneida County Historical Society who in
turn contacted the Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse. While neither could speak to an actual book I
did get some basic information which eventually led me to this 1936 article
from the Utica Daily Press.
The photo is courtesy of
the Canal Museum and the Daily Press article was found on the newspaper site www.fultonhistory.com
Enjoy and learn!
Utica Daily Press- December 14, 1936
Crowds Inspect Icebound Fleet at Sylvan Beach
Well, the fleet is in. It's tied up alongside the pier at the
entrance of the Barge Canal at Sylvan Beach. Indications last night were that
the ships would keep their berths until spring. Such channel as there was from
Oneida Lake where the vessels had been Icebound for a week, into the canal, was
a pretty sketchy affair. Broken ice showed where the craft had banged their way
through. But at noon the thin layers of Ice crystals were forming on top of the
open water between, blocks, and by this morning the whole surface will doubtless
be another layer of ice.
These members of the
Barnes fleet hardly fit the usual conception of Barge Canal craft. They are
sea-going vessels of 200 feet or more, Diesel powered and ready to go places.
That is, anywhere in or on water that is not covered with from six inches to
six feet of ice. The difference is accounted for by the thickness of the “pressure
ridges" which form on big bodies of water when ice takes bold
and buckles itself into
thicker sections.
Those blocked the five
ships out in the lake last week. After Friday's thaw their skippers and crews
thought they had a chance to make port. Their first effort had been to reach
Brewerton at the western end of the lake. They missed that by 15 miles. Saturday,
they had only five miles to go to make Sylvan Beach—If they could break a
channel through the ice. The state tug
Syracuse helped clear the way.
The Andrew M. Barnes was
out in front and with some dynamite ahead of it, finally crashed its way
through to the haven of Sylvan Beach. Some of the crews, many of whom talked
with a Scandinavian accent thought the dynamite was more bother than it was
worth and really had little to do with getting alongside a pier.
But they arrived, the last
about I p. m. Saturday. Yesterday they were visited by hundreds of curious
persons who went to the Beach to see what ice-bound freighters might look like.
The fleet includes the
Robert Barnes Fiertx, the Alden Barnes Fiertx, the Andrew M. Barnes, the Detroiter
of Wilmington, and the Michigan, all members of the Barnes fleet They are
loaded with everything from steel to caustic soda. Part of the cargoes are
consigned to a silverware company In New Haven. Smart local boys were advising
the crews yesterday to sell the stuff to the Oneida Community and cut down hauling
charges.
The crews had no
particular excitement to report from their week's sojourn in the lake. They
were surprised to have been caught off-shore by ice but let it go at that. Attendants were on duty at Lock 20 but had no
activity to report. Nothing Is moving in the channel between Utica and Rome.
The channel eastward is similarly icebound at least as far as Little Falls.
There were unconfirmed
reports that the Transoil, coastwise tanker, had broken its way eastward to
Lock (?) and might make the Hudson River and open water. Other tugs and barges,
however, were thought to have been "interned by the frost for the duration
of the winter."
Margaret Reaney Memorial Library is very pleased to offer for sale an extraordinary St. Johnsville keepsake at the upcoming Bridge Street Block Party August 13 & 14th.
From the June 7, 1939 Enterprise and News newspaper:
“Mr. Joseph H. Reaney has caused to be struck a number of bronze discs which relate to the local Margaret Reaney Memorial Library. Each medal weighs one half pound and measures 3 inches in diameter and is a quarter inch think. It is cast in bronze of the proper alloy approved by the United States standard of quality.
The medal shows the library in relief with the inscription: “Margaret Reaney Memorial Library, St. Johnsville, NY.” On the reverse side is shown the soldiers’ monument (which is on the library south lawn) with the inscription: “Fifth NY Duryee Zouaves, erected in memory of Joseph Reaney.”
The medals are $20 and will come with a photocopy of the original 1939 newspaper article.
