Saturday, December 21, 2013

Longing for "summer"

With winter just about here but all we have really experienced so far is cold, cold weather and very little snow I decided to enjoy looking at these pictures I took last spring when the first skiers took to the water outside my lakeside home. The green grass really looks great compared to the cold brown yard outside my home right now. With not even white snow to make the yard look somewhat pretty one can only enjoy looking at pictures of prettier scenes.  Must admit though that there is still some accumulation of the white stuff on the north side of my home - the side we lake dwellers call our "back yard".  Merry Christmas anyway even though little if any snow may be here by next week's special holiday.  Oh well, one can always watch the movie White Christmas!


Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Library October Fun

October offers a lot of fun ideas for kids. A skeleton "race" was held to see which team could correctly put together the bones of a human skeleton.  Another activity was the participation of children in acting out parts to the Caldecott book Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds. The children made simple "carrot masks" to participate.  Then the town decided to have a city wide scarecrow contest.  Some of my "after school hour" children posed in front of the scarecrow that we actually used a year ago (or maybe it was two years ago) along with the reading of The Little Scarecrow Boy by Margaret Brown. The scarecrow had to be changed somewhat in order to withstand the elements but he survived two weeks of sunshine, wind and rain!


Saturday, October 19, 2013

Canterbury Inn

 I recently had the privilege of staying at this very unique Best Western Inn called the Canterbury Inn & Suites in Coralville, IA.  I am a frequent visitor of Best Western motels and this one in particular will be one I will probably never forget!! Such an awesome ambiance as you walk in and find yourself transplanted back in time to the age of chivalry!  It was a wonderful surprise and as such I had to take the time to walk around and take several pictures - some of which are posted here.  BECAUSE I learned that the BW "powers that be" are mandating a change in the overall look of this particular motel. Soon visitors will probably not be able to walk across this bridge and water wheel upon entering the lower level restaurant.  Probably the two long wall murals will be painted over. The canopy bed I was privileged to enjoy may no longer be part of the furniture found in rooms. Many of the room doors have very unique "coat of arms" decor on them. It will be a couple of years before all the changes are expected to be visible so if such an experience is one you would like to have, you will need to visit this motel soon! 





Tuesday, October 8, 2013

skeleton fun

A picture of some of the students who took part in a skeleton building contest. Two teams were given skeleton parts and had to try and arrange them correctly.  First team to complete the task correctly were rewarded with DumDum suckers.  They also cut out paper "bones" and since the weather was nice enough and not windy they hid the bones outside and then had fun trying to find them.  The book that I shared with the students was one called The Bones of Fred McGee by Eve Bunting, a popular author of many. 

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Author Janet Dailey visit

Saturday, September 7 was a very special days for some of us Sac County librarians and fellow book lovers - especially if those who have enjoyed reading any of the 100 plus books written by the native Iowa author, Janet Dailey. The hot and muggy weather didn't keep 90 some people from attending this special "meet and greet" event. No one was disappoinated in the author's presentation.  She gave a brief history of how she began her writing career and then explained the reasoning behind some of the particular books she has written. She has been to every state in the United States for representation and when asked her worst and favorite she claimed Texas as the one with most material to keep her motivated and that Delaware was the hardest which is why that particular book became one of her more humorous books. I personally have enjoyed her books with a western theme so when she mentioned she is thinking of a future book with a theme around Arabian horses, I had to personally encourage her to keep that future plan in place!!
The author spoke and took questions for a good hour and a half and then allowed for one on one book signings for anyone who had brought books along for that purpose. Lots of sweet goodies were available thanks to the county librarians and either their board members or library friends. It was definitely a pleasant and welcome event.



Friday, August 23, 2013

Back Hoe "visitor"

The finale event for this summer's reading program was a visit from a city backhoe.  Two city employees drove the backhoe to the library and let the children climb up in the machine before showing off some of the different ways it can be used.  One of the impressive moves was just the process of extending the "balance legs
before anything else could be done.  The children got to see it extend up as high as the trees or use the scoop for clearing off debris in the street.  This event also included a special "dirt cake" for an edible treat as well as the awarding of various prizes to winners for their reading efforts during the summer.



Friday, August 2, 2013

Succulent Plants


I have become totally "addicted" to succulent plants this year!! Maybe because they represent the kind of plants that survive best in dry, desert climates.  Since I miss living in the southwest I am bringing a little of the southwest to my home and garden here in Iowa.  I have a few more such plants not pictured here and once Iowa's winter weather arrives, I will have to have all my succulents moved safely indoors.  Will then have to take a "group picture" of them I guess to share with interested people. Had to also include this lovely picture of my precious granddaughter from Florida who blessed me with a short visit earlier this summer.



Friday, July 26, 2013

Summer Posters -2013

Here are pictured some of the 2013 summer readers who completed their personalized poster of some of their favorite things. Upon completion of their poster they get to choose from two possible prizes -a colorful "porcupine pen" or a special "dinosaur egg".  This latter prize is definitely the most popular prize so the pens may become prizes later in the summer for other options. There are still a few more weeks of the summer program for participants to continue reading and accumulating points toward the end of summer awards/prizes. A special visitor is scheduled to attend the August 12 "awards day" so I'm hoping we have a good turnout of kids.  That is the week that school starts so most kids should be through with their summer vacation plans.



Monday, July 22, 2013

Biking across America

This is Jeremy Pokela from Minneapolis.  He is riding his bike across the U.S. He stopped in at the Lake View Library to buy a used book on July 10, 2013, and planned to camp at Lake View's 30 Acre Campground for the night.  He left Cape Disappointment State Park in southern Washington state and is riding from coast to coast and planning to end up at Coney Island in New York. He said he loves visiting libraries as he travels, buying a book and leaving a book he has read. 
Growing up he read about folks going on adventures like this and decided that if he was going to do it, ---this was the summer!  He plans to be back to work in Minneapolis on September 1st.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

"archeologists" at the library

Representatives from the Sanford Museum from Cherokee, Iowa, again provided an educational program for this summer's reading program theme.  With the theme of "dig into reading" these ladies had the children learn about fossils and being "archeologists".  Fortunately our unusually "monsoon" season wasn't in affect on this day so they could go outside for most of the activities. Homemade chocolate cookies were provided by one of the parents and lemonade was also provided when they returned inside.  A final activity was an added "treat" provided by the museum in that the children had to practice using a sifter to sift real dirt that also had small tootsie roll candies.  After sifting out the dirt, the children got to keep what was left in the sifter ---the candy TOOTSIE ROLLS!!



Thursday, May 23, 2013

First skier, May 2013

 Finally getting to see some activity from my lake front view! The month of May, 2013 is almost over and the weather being so unseasonably cold or wet has kept a lot of people off the lake.  Fortunately all the rain has helped to raise the level of the lake which I'm sure has also helped in bringing out this first skier of the season.  There was actually a boat out earlier this morning pulling two people on one of those two seater tubes. Notice how green the grass is also, thanks to all the rain -  and the weather forecast predicts at least 6 more days of potential rain.  Today's sunshine will be greatly enjoyed by many I'm sure.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

New Baby recipients for May 2013

The Lake View Library was glad to again present new board books to two more new baby arrivals to the community.  Both of these moms were present during a special library program presented by Rick the Magician who was performing for our summer reading program "kick off". These moms weren't expecting to receive these books at this time but hope they will want to return to the library in the future and take advantage of all the library offers our young children. Speaking of young children, the summer reading program events and means of earning points toward prizes begins Monday, June 3rd!!!

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Earth Day Fun

 For Earth Day this year we had the "after school hour" kids plant some flower seeds (Marigolds) with the purpose of having them ready to take home by "Mother's Day".  They also participated in a small group activity where Ms. Marcia had three different bags of items the students had to categorize into items that one could either recycle, reuse or reduce.  The "grand finale" of the day was getting to eat some "dirt cake". This is a special recipe of pudding, crunched up oreo cookies with gummy worms mixed inside! We'll have this same dessert for our end of the summer reading program awards day since the theme this year is "Dig Into Reading"!

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

First Coffee at the Cabin for 2013


The popular "Coffee at the Cabin" get togethers has begun again for the year 2013. Chilly weather doesn't prevent this event from taking place thanks to the cozy fireplace that the Bettin family so willingly make available for us.  As usual delicious refreshments and warm coffee added to the many conversations shared among those in attendance.  I, myself, wasn't able to stay long at this one due to another meeting out of town I had to attend but heard that everyone had a great time.  Since starting these coffee get togethers, a pattern has evolved where most of them are scheduled on the last Wednesday of the month during our spring - fall months.  That means that the next one will  probably be on the 29th of May if all goes as  planned.  Even though it is mostly women who come there have been several male participants and they are certainly welcome.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

April "After school fun" 2013

Here are some of the fun activities children got to enjoy recently during our weekly "after school hour" on Mondays.  We finally had nice enough weather on this particular day to let the kids have some out door fun. Everyone enjoys blowing bubbles!  Even adults!  Assistant Joyce even demonstrated the old fashion game of hot scotch for the kids and probably slept quite well later that evening! Ms. Marcia let the kids use playdoh to create figures from a story she read to them. From the looks of the book's cover it was a story about a caterpillar! We are all hoping for many more warm days ahead for more outdoor fun.


Saturday, April 20, 2013

Libri Foundation Donations - 2013

 Every three years the Libri Foundation gives small libraries the opportunity to acquire new books for children.  All a library has to do is obtain matching funds up to $300.00.  The local Friends of the Library group that is part of this library have again helped. As library director I had a specific list of books from which I could choose up to $200.00 worth of books.  Those books have arrived and our pictured here,.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Mini Easter Egg Hunt

 Decided to have a mini Easter egg hunt in the library on our Monday "After school hour" the Monday following Easter Sunday.  Since it was still a vacation school day, we didn't have the usual large number of students in attendance making it easier to have the hunt indoors what with the much cooler April we have been having this year.  Any kind of "hunt" seems to be a popular activity and these children were no exception.  Ms. Marcia and I are hoping for warmer weather to become more of a constant reality so we can have the Monday after school kids enjoy more outdoor games. 

Monday, April 8, 2013

Pelicans Return - April 2013

April 2013 and here come the pelicans again. Just in time for the town's annual Pelican Fest which is still scheduled for this coming weekend of April 14th.  Unfortunately, with no fish in the lake yet this year, they may not stick around long for the weekend events if they decide to find a more palatable place to feed. These two were swimming right up to my shoreline yesterday but when I stepped outside to take this picture they turned and fled back across the lake where there were several more gathered -  probably searching hopelessly for something to eat.  Wish they could help clean up the dead fish still remaining along everyone's private "beaches" from the big fish kill of last fall.
As for this weekend events - there is a pancake breakfast/lunch scheduled to help raise funds for the new playground equipment, a pelican pedal event for kids and the ever increasing popular "Pelican Plunge" into the waters at Crescent Beach.

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Elephant Window Display

The library has been "invaded" by elephants galore for the month of April!!  This particular collection is owned by Carla Lawrence of Wall Lake. There are enough elephants that our library display designer made use of two top shelves above some of our magazines to help showcase the items.
I have been remiss lately in keeping up with some of our library displays. We have had displays of items related to a child's firemen items and a colorful collection of Blenko glassware. It never ceases to amaze me at all the different collections people do have and are willing to share with the library.


Monday, March 25, 2013

Murder Mystery Dinner Production- 2013

Lake View's first ever such dinner theater production was held in March of 2013 in the old high school gymnasium.  This location brought back many memories to many of us who were not only in the "cast" but for many in attendance at the meal as the stage in this gym was the site of many play and musical productions before the new additions were added to the school.
The title of the mystery was" Murder on the Black Hawk Casino" and was directed by Paul W. of Murder 4 Fun. Cast characters represented a mob boss and his wife from Chicago who were hoping to convince local residents to approve a floating casino on Black Hawk Lake. Characters in favor of this were the president of the chamber of commerce, a wealthy real estate saleman along with his spoiled daughter. The town mayor was somewhat undecided along with his teenage son.  Those characters against the casino were an avid environmentalist and one of the town's weatlthy widows. The "play" allowed for a lot of local jibes that brought laughter from not only the audience but even from some of us in the cast as we tried to "stay in character" while on stage. 
Since the performance was held on two nights, the murdered victim and murderer were different causing some of the characters to have to change some speaking lines to accomodate this change.
Hats off to the great crew who decorated the room and another round of applause is due the two "mom and pop" type restaurants that were the sole means of caterers for the delicious meal that was provided. 
I am hoping Lake View will be able and willing to do this again in the near future (several months in the future at least) despite the fatigue that can be seen on some of those who did the most in putting all the fine details together to make it the success it was!