Spooky Library Room

Spook Trail time in Lake View. Between 4:30 and 6:00 p.m. on Monday, October 31, trick or treaters will be roaming the streets of the down town where most if not all businesses will dole out Halloween treats. Since beginning the library's "after school hour" the library meeting room has been acquiring all kinds of creepy decor leading up to this final October event. Beginning with the creation of a life size scarecrow, bats & skeletons hanging around, spiders weaving their webs all over the room and pumpkins&jack-o-lantern art showing up all over, this room is ready for "masked visitors" of all shapes and sizes come Monday, the 31st. Some added items include a skeleton head that blinks and another skeleton that sings a silly tune. Black candles will be lit along with a special votive candle that along with the hanging black entrance bat will create those typically frightening sounds one associates with Halloween.

Do wish everyone a safe and pleasant Halloween!

October "after school hour" projects

The Monday "after school hour" I initiated this year has really been a successful endeavor. Pictured here are scenes from our "skeleton day" and "spider day". You will also notice the life size scarecrow the students made during our "scarecrow day". Our visiting live "skeleton" in one picture helped pass out unique skeleton shaped candy on a pretzel stick that his mother so graciously made for the students. A team competition was held on Skeleton Day to see which team could assemble skeletal bones the quickest. One of the special spider activities was the making of cake roll "spiders" using pretzels for legs and red hots for eyes. We also played the game Twister. With the help of a library volunteer, our meeting room is getting spookier each week. Pictures of this room will be forthcoming as we complete our October Halloween themes before going into a November theme.

The Pumpkin Patch at Valles, Ne.

I had the opportunity to visit this excellent Halloween extravaganza recently. It is an extensively decorated pumpkin patch along with a large gift shop and numerous areas of family fun as seen in some of these pictures. I was there to specifically to see and hear my friend's grandson who plays in the teenage band called Crimson Dawn. That is a great band group I might add. I would like to have them be one Lake View's Stone Pier Concert performers for some time in the future.

Sept. 2011 Cabin coffee event

Another great turnout for our "Coffee at the Cabin" event. Close to 20 people, including more men than usual enjoyed a perfect weather morning to fellowship outside the 'ole log cabin. Coffee, juice and delicious pastries were available as well. The next one is scheduled for Wednesday, October 26 at the usual 9:00 a.m. time. If the weather should be cold enough, we enjoy eating and visiting inside near the working fireplace. Anyone is welcome.

Halloween in September - 2011

The annual "Halloween in September" at our local Camp Crescent Campground is set to be open in all its glitz and glimmer tonight. Although a camper's event, many local children along with curious adults will "trick or treat" throughout the campground this evening. The pictures shown here are just a few of the "haunting scenes" participants have set up. Once it becomes dark, there will be lots of lights and TREATS!! A special thanks to all those who take the time to make this a special September event in small town Iowa.

"Scarecrow" After school event

Scarecrows was the theme for our 2nd After school Hour event. Didn't have as many children as our "gingerbread" event last week but that was probably because it wasn't advertised the same. Now that word will be getting out that this will be a weekly event I expect the numbers to increase. Those that did attend this week had a great time again "competing" at some Wii sport games, participating in a story/poem about a scarecrow who needed to make "scary faces" to scare away the crows, AND the stuffing of our own life-size scarecrow! It is still standing in our meeting room and actually does cause one to "jump" when not expecting to see it standing there.

Next week's theme will be centered around football season with bats, spiders, apples/pumpkins to be upcoming themes. This weekly event is for K-4th grade students and includes popcorn, drink, prizes and other edible goodies.

Gingerbread Man- After School Event

The first After School Hour event went off in great style with a gingerbread man theme- thanks to a new picture book entitled The Gingerbread Man - Loose in the School by Laura Murray. 30 children from grades K-4 croweded into our not hardly large enough meeting room to eat popcorn, design paper gingerbread men (seen above) compete in Wii sport games, hear the story, go on a gingerbread man scavenger hunt throughout the library and then end up decorating edible gingerbread man shaped cookies! Since only a few pairs got to compete on the Wii the competition, along with prizes, will continue next Monday and other Mondays up until November when the weather gets a little unpredictable. Will try and plan for the younger children to be able to do their activitity in a different area if the crowd of older children is as large as this first one. All in all everyone had a good time. I failed to get a picture of my able assistant, Joyce, who was even wearing a special gingerbread apron. Will get a belated one to post.