December Tidbits & Tidings

It seems to me that our years are punctuated by certain days, and that they accumulate in our memory like so many frames in an old home movie, to be recalled and replayed at will. Christmas Eve has always been the day that I benchmark my life by. I recall so many of them, but one of my favorites was the year that the Christmas season was particularly hectic. I was on my way home from work on that Christmas Eve, my mind filled with dozens of chores that needed attention. But at the edge of town, I stopped and turned the car around. I parked near the town clock and walked up and down Canal Street. The businesses were closing for the holiday. People thinned out and soon the street was empty. Two children appeared from somewhere with the general clamor of youths running on bare sidewalk on that cold, snowless Christmas Eve. They hurried around the bank corner and ran up Division Street toward home and supper. “Children,” I thought, “should have snow for Christmas vacation.” And then it happened. A single flake landed on my coat sleeve, and then another. I looked up and watched as millions of flakes seemed to magically materialize from the void above the streetlight.
Christmas is a season when we are most mindful of those in need around us. In this spirit, the Fort Plain Free Library will be accepting Food for Fines. Any individual who currently owes fines to the library for overdue materials may have those fines forgiven by donating non-perishable food items such as canned or packaged goods to the library. At the end of the program on January 2nd, all items collected will be donated to the Fulmont Community Action Agency.
The two Wednesday evening programs on the log cabin quilt and the Victorian beaded ornament covers were very well attended. We look forward to presenting more such programs in 2010. While we have several ideas, we welcome input from our patrons and hope to hear from you….and see you as well at Fort Plain’s Last Night celebration on December 31st. The library will host The Bard Rocks, also known as Roland Vinyard, who will be performing a wide variety of songs including funny songs, bluegrass, children’s songs, as well as sharing jokes and stories. Performances are scheduled from 6:00 to 7:30 and from 8:00 to 9:30.
Finally, I have come to realize the greatest gift my mother gave me was a weekly trek to the library. It is where I discovered what interested me in life, where I learned to knit and crochet, and where I found good books to read. It is my wish that every child might receive the gift of belonging to a library during this coming year.
Submitted by Fort Plain Free Library Board of Trustee member Sally-Jean Taylor.