The Thorntown Public Library needs your help to bring back to Thorntown Helen at the Well, the historic Mills Memorial Fountain that graced Main & Market Streets from 1909-1944.
The public invited to a gala being hosted by the Friends of Thorntown Public Library, Inc., on Saturday, April 21, 5-9:00 p.m., at Thorntown Elementary School, 200 W. Mill Street. The cost per ticket will be $30.00 ($15.00 will be the cost of the food and $15.00 will be a donation). Other donations are welcomed.
The setting will be elegant and the food exquisite, prepared by Country Garden
Catering (Gene and Peggy Poe). The Thorntown Christian Church will be assisting
the caterers. Dress will be church dressy attire, not formal attire.
The menu will be a choice of prime rib or chicken oscar (chicken with crab).
Accompaniments will be twice-baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, mixed vegetables
in garlic butter sauce, salad bar, cheese cake bar, and beverages. In addition
there will be a large chocolate fountain with strawberries, banana, and pineapple.
There will be a punch reception at 5-6 p.m. in the lobby and multipurpose rooms at the north side of the school. During this time guests will be able to learn about Anson Mills and the historic fountain. A display with the head of the actual 1909 fountain is being prepared. Piano music and ventriloquist Jim Allen will provide entertainment during the reception and guests will be encouraged to read about the town’s history, Anson Mills and Helen at the Well. Guests will also have the opportunity to participate in a silent auction of local art work and other pieces well worth taking home.
Dinner will be at 6:00 p.m. and be accompanied by live music Gary Ketchum a clarinetist who plays the “oldies and goodies.” At approximately 7:30 there will a musical program by Western Boone Star Voices followed by a short program on Anson Mills and the Thorntown waterworks and fountain. Winners of the silent auction will then be announced.
Anson Mills was born in the Thorntown area, designed the woven web cartridge
belt for Civil War use (leather ones stretched when wet and cartridges fell
out), fought Indians, built bridges, became a builder in El Paso, Texas, etc.
He was
asked by the town of Thorntown to build a library but because the town was in
the middle of a typhoid epidemic, he instead gave the town its waterworks. In
addition, he donated four fountains. Two were on Main Street, and the largest,
Mills Memorial Fountain, was thirty-two feet tall and given in honor of his
parents. Helen at the Well, as it was named, included a basin and two bowls,
in addition to the figure of a woman and four figures at her feet. The fountain
was built in 1909 at the corner of Main and Market streets and remained until
1944 when the family approved its being removed so the road could become state
highway IN47.
The library’s reproduction will be about twelve feet tall, not thirty-two feet. This both controls cost and keeps the fountain in proportion to the building.
Cost estimates in 2003 ranged from $56,000 to $120,000. It was decided to not include the fountain in the library’s building project so that emphasis could be placed on fifty-year quality materials for the library’s expansion and renovation.
The board was pleased in 2004 to receive a quotation from Robinson Ironworks (Georgia) to provide the fountain for $48,280. The cost was reduced by creating a fountain that is of an appropriate scale for the building. Helen will be a six-foot figure, there will be one bowl instead of the original two, and the concrete portion of the existing circle at the west entrance will be used as a base rather than destroyed and re-poured.
Will YOU help? Only $32,000 is needed to make the fountain a reality once again in Thorntown.
YOUTH DEPARTMENT PROGRAMS
Storytime: Children ages 3-6 may come and join us in the Children’s
Reading Room for GREAT stories, friends, and fun from 3:00-4:00 p.m. on March
27, April 10, 17, 24, and May 1.
DreamWeavers: Youth ages 6-10 will meet on Tuesdays, March 27, April 10, 17,
and 24 from 3:00-4:00 p.m. Eighteen youth have been meeting for book discussion
and activities related to the book or theme. Africa, Iditarod, and Wolves have
been topics for discussion and fun. Future themes are Indiana Mysteries, Rainforest,
George Washington Carver/Peanuts, Westward Ho!, Puns, Oxymorons, anagrams, redundancies,
and palidromes, and more! It is not too late to join the group! Hope to see
you there!
National Education Week is April 15-21. The youth department
is hosting an author visit on Tuesday, April 17 from 3:00-4:00 p.m. Author,
Shari Klink, who wrote “100 Kisses” will visit with us and have
her books for sale for those who wish to purchase one for gifts and have it
signed.
Thorntown Public Library’s Youth Department presents the Summer 2007 Reading
and Activities programs, “Get A Clue At Your Library” with two Kick-Off
events. A Kick-off event for children ages 3-6 is being planned by the Teen
Council, under the direction of Rita Trafford, as a community service project
for the library and youth department on June 5, 2007, from 3:00-4:00 at the
library in meeting rooms 116 and 120. Activities related to books are: Paint
Your Pony, woodcraft, Mystery Animal, Create Your Own Animal, Mystery Rock,
Stories, and much more!
The Kick-Off Event for youth in Grades 1-7 will be a visit
from Campfire Kev and his I Spy Mystery program on June 8, 2007, at 3:00 p.m.
Campfire Kev will examine the literary elements that make up a mystery, and
apply them to solving a mystery in which members of the audience are the prime
suspects. Kids are introduced to literary terms: setting, character, and plot
as well as some specifically related to mysteries. Then the audience is involved
in creating their own mystery to solve. After the whole process, Kev reveals
his “Big Prediction”.
The detective/sleuth genre is strongly represented in children’s books.
There are wonderful stand-alone mystery stories, mysteries series from beginning
readers to chapter books and more. However, there are other mysteries to look
for in the library. Look for history mysteries, science mysteries, and local
mysteries. Have fun with puzzles-word puzzles, logic puzzles, and math puzzles.
Some of the summer programs will include making a codebook, going on a scavenger
hunt, learning how to make disguises, and how to take fingerprints. There are
so many ideas and plans on how to make this summer’s programs truly a
mystery and the Clueless Mystery Club members will be involved to make this
a great summer on how you can “get a clue” about anything at your
library this summer.
Youth Cook met on Wednesday March 7th. The youth made Biscuits and Gravy, and
the Best Ever Sticky Buns. The youth now have a Mother’s Day Menu to serve
mom on her special day. The Sticky Buns were the Best Ever as there weren’t
any to share with the staff. There will be no Youth Cook during Spring Break.
We will be making healthy snacks for our Wednesday, May 2nd class from 4 p.m.-
5:30 p.m. in the library kitchen..
From Fern’s Desk: Adult Programs
We have enjoyed reading our customers’ comments on February’s Valentine ‘survey,’ I LOVE MY LIBRARY BECAUSE…..AND I WISH……. Here are some of the responses: I LOVE MY LIBRARY BECAUSE….it’s fun to be at. They are always pleasant & helpful. It is quiet and safe. It has great books and staff. It has books!! It is the best! Everyone is so knowledgeable and helpful—and—always with a smile. I can find what I’m looking for and has wide choices I like. Everyone is so nice and helpful, and a joy to speak with. We love listening to the audio books. I truly appreciate the easy access with my electric scooter. The library staff are ready to help you. They serve lunch, have lots of activities, the people are all friendly and courteous. There is so much going on. There is a good selection of everything.
AND I WISH….they had the magazine Bop. There were more books. It would stay the same. The library can get bigger with more books and movies. The books are all of my own. It was my library. All libraries were like ours. I had more time to read. God may bless you all. Keep up the good job. There was more large print mysteries and humorous fiction.
Librarian’s comments: THANK YOU FOR ALL THE KIND WORDS. We do listen. We take your requests to heart, and will do our best to obtain the materials for which you ask.
Books on the Move
We have acquired some new shelving, and that has allowed us to display our DVDs in a user-friendly manner. The new book shelves are giving us much-needed space to spread out our adult collections of books. A few more shelves are on order, and in the meantime, we will have posted paper-signs telling what is shelved on each range. Every book in the adult collection has been moved—we have the sore hands and creaky knees to prove it. Please allow the library staff to help you locate materials. When we finish the moving, we will be providing new signs for the end panels (which incorporate the beautiful photos that have been entered in the photography contest).
Adult program notes
The adult “Bee a Reader” program concluded with a program on Beekeeping on March 19. Speaker/beekeeper Lisa Schluttenhofer talked about the issues you need to know to get into keeping bees, with demonstrations of bee equipment, life cycle and functions of the bee family, and caring for your colony year round. She also had honey and honey products (soap, body cream, lip moisturizer. for sale.
Quilting with Anita was a very successful day on Saturday, March 17. For a $5 fee twenty-one participants made five to eight quilt blocks and took notes from Anita’s knowledge and experience. Interest was expressed in having her return periodically. Let us know if you are interested in another session of ”Quilting with Anita.”
Tuesdays are for Matinees
Movie matinees are shown on Tuesdays, from 12 – 2 p.m. Tuesday Matinees
are FREE, and are shown in the meeting rooms, immediately after the Senior Lunch.
Audio Book Users
We have acquired some audio books in both cassette and CD format. To guide
us in future purchases, we need your input in which format you prefer. Take
the time to stop at the adult circulation desk, and let us know which format
best suits your needs. If you use audio books while commuting or on trips, which
player does your vehicle have? If you use audio books at work or home, which
player can you use? This has become a space issue for us, and we may need to
make adjustments in our buying habits. Also, have you ever used the downloadable
audio books? We really do need to hear from YOU, our customers.
For a more complete list of new materials including books-on-tape,
music CD’s, etc. go to the library’s web site at:
Updated
April 11, 2007