Did you know that April 2021 is the 25th annual celebration of National Poetry Month?
I have to confess in all my years working in a library, 16 this year, I did not. I assumed that we had been celebrating poetry since I first fell in love with it in sixth grade. I spent my children’s elementary school years, about 20 of them, reading and putting together anthologies of favorite poems for school. The truth is in 1995 the Academy of American Poets, along with a group of publishers, booksellers, librarians, literary organizations, poets and teachers convened to discuss the need to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the United States. Encouraged by the success of Black History Month and Women’s History Month, the group launched the first celebration in 1996.
Mar 13, 2021
Rec Center closing announcement/update: The Rec Center will be closing on designated dates through the end of construction; expected late summer:
March 29 thru construction – Racquetball Courts CLOSED
April 3 & 10 (Saturday) – hours will be 7 a.m.-12 noon
April 4 – Rec Center closed for Easter holiday
April 12 – Remainder of Rec Center campus CLOSED thru construction
April 12-18 Fitness Equipment will be relocated to the Civic Center, 1212 N. Franklin St.
April 19 – Civic Center will be open for Fitness equipment use, classes and walking
Red Cross Lifeguard Training offered as blended learning course March 18-21. Completion of online work required prior to start of class. The precourse test of swimming 300 yards (6 laps) using front crawl and breaststroke, tread water for 2 minutes with no hands and retrieve a 10 pound brick from 7 to 10 feet of water, swim 20 yards back to side of pool and get out without using ladder or stairs within 1 minute 40 seco
Melissa Hoffmann, RN, BS, PHN
With spring coming and gardening plans being made it is a good time to think about how we can all make informed food choices and develop sound eating and physical activity habits that we can follow all year long. Check out these 10 tips:
Eat Breakfast. Start your day with a healthy breakfast that includes lean protein, whole grains, fruits and vegetables.
Make Half Your Plate Fruits and Vegetables. Fruits and veggies add color, flavor and texture plus vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber to your plate. Make 2 cups of fruit and 2 ½ cups of vegetables your daily goal.
Terry and Kim Kovel
Furniture made in America during its early days sometimes used expensive imported material like mahogany with hardware from Europe. But local woods, like pine, oak, walnut and cedar, iron and even paint were available and inexpensive. The use of a local wood helps identify furniture made in New Mexico, Louisiana and parts of Pennsylvania.
An early 19th-century ladderback chair from Louisiana was sold at a recent Neal auction. It was made of cypress wood, which is rot-resistant, hard and durable, has few knots, a light golden color, and, best of all, found near the furniture maker. The chair could also be dated from the shape of the stiles, rungs and its corn husk seat. Modern copies of this type of chair to be used outdoors are made of cypress because it lasts longer than other woods.
Reference Librarian
The Minnesota Book Award Finalists were announced earlier this month, so I would like to highlight a few of them that will be available at the library. The Minnesota Book Awards are annual awards presented for the best books by Minnesota authors that honor Minnesota stories. You can be sure all of them are worthy of a look even if they don’t win the top prize.
In the General Nonfiction category is “100 Cookies: The Baking Book for Every Kitchen, with Classic Cookies, Novel Treats, Brownies, Bars and More” by Sarah Kiefer (641.8654 Kieffer). This beautiful cookbook was also nominated for a 2020 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Cookbooks! If you love baking cookies, you will want to take a look at this one, you can never have enough cookie recipes!