Altamont Library Notes for Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Back in 2009, while the library renovation was still ongoing, the Altamont Free Library held a bicycle race as a fundraiser, and esteemed local artist Mary-Ann Brock created a beautiful, and colorful painting of it!

Ten years later, we’re pleased to be able to offer note cards featuring a reproduction of that painting, made up for us Jim Gardner of Enterprise Printing and Photo and donated by the Honorable James Gaughan. These cards, which we’re selling for four for $5, will brighten anyone’s day, while benefiting your favorite library. It’s a win-win!

Chicken BBQ

Tickets are now available and going fast! We’re approaching June, which means that it’s almost time for our famous annual chicken barbecue fundraiser on Friday, June 14 from pickup from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Our regular crew of volunteer chefs will not be cooking this year, instead leaving the hard work to Wagon Train BBQ, but we’ll still be breaking out the library’s chicken costume for the occasion.

We’ve already had a ton of people in at the library asking for tickets, which are now available. Every ticket gets you a dinner which includes a half chicken, baked potato, coleslaw, roll, drink, and a cookie. Once you’ve got your dinner, you can either take it home with you or spread out on the lawn in Orsini Park with your friends and neighbors and listen to the always enjoyable Traditional Strings.

If you’d like to help us serve the meals, we can always use an extra set of hands, so give a call to 518-429-8354 or send an email to director@altamontfreelibrary.org.

Book discussion

Please join us for a meeting of our newest book club, which is focused exclusively on mysteries! We’ve got members interested in every subgenre from intense psychological thrillers to low-key cozy mysteries and every type of mystery in between.

If you love a good whodunit, please join us on Thursday, June 20, at 7 p.m. as we try to crack the case of “Sulfur Springs” by William Kent Krueger.

Next month will be “The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon” by Alexander McCall Smith, part of the ever-popular No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series.

Local author

Please join us on Wednesday, June 12, at 7 p.m. for a presentation by local author Joe Vinette. Mr. Vinette will be giving an uplifting discussion, entitled “Encourager: Overcoming Learning Disabilities” about his experiences and observations of overcoming learning disabilities.

He will discuss tools and strategies that he has discovered in his own life to successfully deal with issues related to education, self-esteem, and much more.

Ongoing displays

We’re so lucky here in Altamont to be surrounded by extraordinary artistic talent, and this week we have some new artwork that we get to show off.

First of all, in our vestibule we are featuring a beautiful collection of wooden bowls and dishes, all handcrafted by local woodturner Bob Bernardi. These one-of-a-kind pieces are minimally adorned to show off the beauty of the wood itself. They’ll be on display for a few weeks so come check them out.

We have also received a new donation of a painting from renowned artist and longtime Altamont resident, the late Bob Cartmell. His painting, entitled “Lightning,” is on display above our audiobook shelves and makes a striking addition to the building.

Finally, we continue to feature an exhibit of pastels by Christine Capuano in our community room, which will be hanging for the next few weeks. Thanks to all of our local artists for letting us enjoy the fruits of your creativity, talent, and hard work.