The library came alive with a diverse cast of characters this past Friday night for Teen Council's first annual, "Night at the Library." On hand in the childrens department were Little Red Riding Hood, Frog of Frog and Toad, Anastazia the Evil Step Sister, and Snow White.
Fabio and Sherlock Holmes razzed each other in the adjacent Mystery and Romance section and Seņor Brandon held down the Spanish section. Cowgirl Lizzie shot 'em up in the Texas Collection, Elf Arwen served majestically in Young Adult, Dr. Lewis cared for our adult non-fiction and none other than Albert Einstein helped out in the biography section.
A decliciouis Italian meal was served while characters gave educational presentations about our library.
Before dessert was served a variety of entertainment was offerred which was comprised of two musical acts and two comedic. Cody Lewis had us all in stitches with his reading of Stephen King's short story "Here there be tygers," yours truly performed a comedic skit based Patsy Cline's song, "She's got you," Justin Larkin sang a beautiful song and Alex Adams played his guitar and sang. While that covers all the visible people, we would be seriously remiss if we did not mention our hard working cleanup crew and our lasagna wrangling kitchen staff. Spearheading the entire process was Teen Council's own Vice President, Miss Ellen Thompson.
Ellen constantly amazed me with her tireless effort, fantastic chart making and organizational skills, and dedication. Her brother Stephen was diagnosed last year with insulin dependent diabetes and was the primary reason for this fund raising event. The majority of the proceeds will be donated to the Greater Dallas Chapter of Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund. Everyone worked very hard to make this event the overwhelming success that it was. A special thank you to Mrs. Pat Hendricks of the Friends of the Library and to that entire group of saints who co-sponsored us with this event. Without their backing and support we would not have been able to pull this off.
If you are ever in the mood for some seriously good Italin food then head south to Anna to Italian Villa. In todays tough economic times we just didn't know if we would find anyone who would be willing to give an almost penniless group of teens any kind of discount at all. Tony, of Italian Villa was not only willing to cook 72 servings of really good lasagna for us but provide their amazing homemade garlic bread as well. Tony, you were willing to step up and support our library, our Teen Group, and with your generous discount, help our great big dream become a reality.
From Library Director Nita Hazelton: visitors to the Van Alstyne Library enjoyed a circus puppet show on Wednesday, June 17. Thanks to puppeteers Sharon Hayes, Dalton Hayes, Jarrod Renfro, and Katie Hendricks for an exciting perfomance of "Brownie Goes to the Circus."
Children also listened to the "Curious George Circus Act" and Norman Bridwell's "Clifford at the Circus." The Library is making a change in the Wednesday morning story time. Instead of meeting at 10:15 and 11:15, the story time will meet at 10:15 only. On Wednesday June 24, Merrill Hazelton will tell the story, "How Pa Shot the Tractor." Don't forget to visit the Library on Friday June 26 at 11:00am to see the Ringling Bros Clown!
On Thursday afternoon there was an unscheduled change of events. When our Anlger Education presenter was unavoidably busy elsewhere, the Van Alstyne Fire Department came to our rescue. Thanks to Brendon Snapp and John Grant of the Van Alstyne Paramedic Team/Volunteer Fire Department for bringing the fire truck to the library. Children were given a tour of the kinds of equipment used on the fire truck and excitedly climbed into the cab for a closer look. Afterwards, they listened to a book about different kinds of fire trucks. Thank you to our Home Town Heroes for filling in at the last minute!