Library Love: Stone Soup, Michigan Movies and ‘My Mother’s Valentine’

“The weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful. Since we’ve no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!”

It certainly is a real northern Michigan winter. A patron came in the other day and remarked that she had never seen anything like this before. Turns out, she recently moved here from Arizona. To some of us, however, this is what we remember, some of us fondly, some with disdain.

The average annual seasonal snowfall for Traverse City historically is 125 to 145 inches, but over the past few years, it has averaged 60 to 70 inches. This year, as of January 31, we were already at 90.7 inches. More to come, I am sure!

On March 3, 2012, we had a record one-day snowfall of 24.4 inches! Looking for a warm, friendly place to escape? Come by and enjoy our fire, a warm beverage and something great to read!

Stone Soup. Share a winter’s evening telling of the old folk tale and a supper of bread and soup. Bring 1/2 cup of a ready-for-the-pot (pre-cooked fresh or frozen) veggie or bean. Enjoy a stone craft, as well! 2/17 @ 6 p.m.

Michigan Movie Mania. Join us for a series of movies set and/or filmed in the Great Lakes State!

• Barn Red (NR) – Set and filmed on Leelanau Peninsula about a farmer who makes a stand to keep his cherished family land, 2/27 @ 6:30 p.m. Filmmaker Rich Brauer joins us! Of course, what is a movie without snacks?! We will have those too!
• Marqueetown – A documentary by local filmmakers (and OMP neighbors!) Joe Beyer and Beth Milligan which tells the true story of a Michigan man’s efforts to restore the U.P. theater of his youth to its former glory. Joe will be joining us 3/27 at 6:30 p.m.!
• Look for Anatomy of a Murder, Bitter Harvest and Gran Torino in the spring! Watch the PCL website and Gazette for dates and times.

BFFs! We LOVE the Friends of PCL! Join them for their annual Adult Coloring Party 3/13 from 5-7 p.m. Sign up in the lobby. This great group of people sponsors all of our newspapers, the Library of Things, much of our programming and more! We can always use more Friends!!! Used books for the August sale are accepted at the Carriage House on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month from 4-6 p.m. We can no longer accept used books at the desk. If you need to make a dropoff of used books outside of these dates, please contact the Friends at [email protected].

The Gift of Life. PCL partners with VERSITI for a blood drive 3/19 from noon-5. All blood collected stays in Michigan. I have already signed up. Donors are desperately needed due to shortages with the wintry weather. You may register here.

The Regulars

• Peninsula Insights meets with speakers of interest @ 7 p.m. on the 3rd Wednesday of the month. The TC Curling Club will be featured on 2/19!
• Tim Carroll returns for “Talks with Tim” in the spring.
• Story Stew for preschoolers is offered the 2nd & 4th Wednesdays of the month @ 11.
• Reading Dogs listen to kids on Tuesdays from 3:30-5 pm.
• Threads meets Mondays 10-noon – bring a project, work among friends!
• Gentle Yoga happens on Thursdays at 9:30 a.m. for a small fee.
• Pageturners Book Club meets the 3rd Thursday @ 6:30 pm. Books available on a first come basis. (The February book is The Prospectors by Ariel Djanikian. -jb)
• Practice Spanish at our Spanish Meetup, on the 3rd Saturday @ 10:30 am.
• Takeout Craft Bags are available for kids the 1st full week of the month. Adult craft bags seasonally. While supplies last!

At Your Service. PCL offers a Library of Things, a Seed Library, books, movies, puzzles, games, explorer bags, large print books, a Children’s Garden with a play village and more. Little Free Libraries have books for the taking. Stay Sharp Kits are available for adult patrons in memory care. Our new Launchpads for kids are self-contained digital learning units and are available on the game shelves for checkout. Printing, faxing, copying and laptops available onsite. Check out STEM kits for kids! Wireless service accessible in the parking lot 24/7. Limited notary service available by appointment.

A Few Notes: We LOVE our PCL children in the library, but we need you to supervise younger ones and help them clean up so the toys are ready for the next crew that comes in! It is a HUGE help to a small staff and teaches responsibility and caring!

Also know that when TCAPS closes for weather, PCL is also closed. We will reschedule any programming planned for that day. There are occasions when the weather becomes severe during the day and we close early. All closings are posted on both our website and Facebook page. Please check before heading out on slick roads! We will override fines accrued because of the closing and keep your holds until we reopen!

This week we celebrated Valentine’s Day, and we absolutely LOVE all of you.

I share this smile by Jack Prelutsky…

My Mother’s Valentine

I bought a box of chocolate hearts,
A present for my mother,
They looked so good I tasted one,
And then I tried another.
They both were so delicious
that I ate another four,
then another couple,
then half a dozen more.
I couldn’t seem to stop myself
I nibbled on and on,
Before I knew what happened
all the chocolate hearts were gone.
I felt a little guilty,
I was stuffed down to my socks,
I ate my mother’s valentine …
I hope she likes the box.

Love from all of us at PCL!

-Vicki Shurly, Director, Peninsula Community Library

Also Read…

Photo Gallery: Winter on the Old Mission Peninsula