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It seems like there is a day for everything, and this week (yesterday), we celebrated “Pi Day”! Why is it called Pi Day? The date’s digits, 3/14, are also the first three digits of pi: 3.14. But why would anyone celebrate the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter?
Well for one thing, the importance of pi has been recognized for at least 4000 years. The first calculation of pi was done by Archimedes of Syracuse (287–212 BC), one of the greatest mathematicians of the ancient world. In 1706, a mathematics teacher named William Jones assigned the symbol “π” to the ratio, which in actuality is an infinite, non-repeating sequence of numbers.
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Before Jones, pi was known long-windedly as “the quantity which, when the diameter is multiplied by it, yields the circumference.” At the beginning of the 20th century, 500 digits of pi were known. Today, thanks to the miracle of computers, we now know more than the first six billion digits!
Library Programs and More
Speaking of infinite, Peninsula Community Library offers an infinite number of activities, materials and smiles from friendly staff! Hope you will join us for one or all of these upcoming March programs LIVE in the library!
Journaling. Writing down our thoughts on a regular basis can calm the mind. Adults may drop in any time from 4-6 p.m. on March 21 to decorate a journal to take home. All supplies provided. Call the library, (231) 223-7700, to RSVP! (Check out the pic at the top of this story!)
911! Worry that you won’t know what to do when an emergency arises? On March 24 at 6:30 p.m., Peninsula Township Lieutenant/Paramedic/EMS Coordinator Kyle Sarber and his crew will go over emergencies, when to call 911, how to use an AED and more.
Book Worm Party. Staying home for spring break? Bring the kids on March 30, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., for DIY activities, from making a book to games and snacks. Draw a pic of your favorite book and be entered to win a gift card to Lucky Jack’s!
Books WITH the Boathouse. Our annual fundraiser happens April 12, and once again, it will be takeout. Tickets are available at PCL only and are $150 for a dinner for two, including wine, or $170 to include a copy of our new coloring book, “Once Upon a Peninsula: A Collection of Stories and Drawings Recounting Childhood Memories,” narrated by our own Tim Carroll. Meal pickup will be from 5-5:30 p.m. in the PCL parking lot. A silent auction will take place all that week in the library. Let me know if you have something to donate!!!
The PCL Men’s Group meets in the library on Wednesday, 3/16, at 7 p.m. The guest speaker will be Barb Wunsch, a prominent Peninsula farmer. I hear that a slice of Buddy’s pizza will be served while you meet!
Chapter Chicks Book Club for 3-5th graders meets April 6 at 4 p.m. via Zoom, because our girls are spread about at so many schools! The book is “Wish” by Barbara O’Connor and copies are available now at PCL for your daughter/granddaughter/special girl to keep if she is participating. Please let me know so I can send you the Zoom info. Themed activity bags will be available for pick up the week before.
Do check out our New Explorer Bags for your kiddos! The colorful sacks are filled with themed educational toys and books – from music to tentmaking to dinosaurs to space to gardening and more! These were purchased through a generous grant by the Friends of PCL!
STORY STEW HAS RESUMED IN PERSON ON THE SECOND AND FOURTH WEDNESDAYS AT 11 A.M. BRING YOUR PRESCHOOLERS IN FOR STORIES, ACTIVITIES, SONGS AND MORE!
Our craft queens Dawn and Amber are still offering those ever popular craft bags. Stop in – adult bags are usually available the 2nd week of the month and kids the 1st and 3rd!
Local Artists Fair Returns in September
Speaking of Friends, thanks to chair Becky Dykstra, the Artists Fair returns to the library September 24 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. There will be booth spaces with a six foot table included. If you are interested in participating, please contact Becky at [email protected] for info and an application. Spaces are first come and are limited!
Friends are collecting books for their August sale! Bring items in on the first and third Mondays of the month from 4 – 6 p.m. at the Carriage House. If you have a small bag or box, you may bring them to the circ desk anytime! Please make sure all items are in good condition – no magazines, religious books, medical books, text books and no Reader’s Digest Condensed books. DVDs and puzzles and games with all pieces intact and in good condition are welcome too!
Math aficionados around the world love celebrating Pi Day and its neverending number. Interestingly enough, Pi is actually a part of Egyptian mythology. People in Egypt believed that the pyramids of Giza were built on the principles of pi. The vertical height of the pyramids have the same relationship with the perimeter of their base as the relationship between a circle’s radius and its circumference. The pyramids are among the seven wonders of the world.
Easy Egg Pie Recipe
You can celebrate Pi Day with a pie! Don’t have time to run to the store for ingredients? Here is an easy recipe for a pie I loved as a child:
Easy Egg Pie
6 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups milk
1 9″ pie crust, purchased or homemade
Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Mix filling ingredients well. Pour into the crust. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake another 25-35 minutes until the filling is set and the crust is golden. Serve with whipped cream! Yum!
SUPPORT YOUR INDEPENDENT LOCAL NEWSPAPER: I started Old Mission Gazette in 2015 because I felt a calling to provide the Old Mission Peninsula community with local news. After decades of writing for newspapers and magazines like the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Family Circle and Ladies' Home Journal, I really just wanted to write about my own community where I grew up on a cherry farm and raised my own family. So I started my own newspaper.
Because Old Mission Gazette is a "Reader Supported Newspaper" -- meaning it exists because of your financial support -- I hope you'll consider tossing a few bucks our way if I mention your event, your business, your organization or your news item, or if you simply love reading about what's happening on the OMP. In a time when local news is becoming a thing of the past, supporting an independent community newspaper is more important now than ever. Thank you so much for your support! -Jane Boursaw, Editor/Publisher, Old Mission Gazette
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