Altamont Library Notes for Wednesday, August 4, 2021
With last week’s concert, we have come to the end of the 2021 Orsini Park Summer Concert Series.
As I write this on Thursday, July 29, I don’t know yet whether or not that last concert was a good one or whether we dodged the rain for a fifth week in a row, but what I do know is that even if that last show was a total wash-out, this has already been the most successful concert series that we’ve ever had.
The crowds have been larger than ever before. We have raised more money for next year’s series than we ever have before. The kids have been more numerous, and happier, and more beehive-active than ever before.
Most importantly, I have heard so, so many people talk about how grateful they are to live in the place that they do, alongside the neighbors that they do, with such a great park, and such a great library, and such great local musical talent. I’ve been humbled by the gratitude people have expressed for the series, and I am myself enormously grateful for everyone who came out to support the concerts and the library. Thank you all!
We have gotten unaccountably, ridiculously lucky with the weather. Every week for the first four weeks of the concert series, we somehow dodged the nearly omnipresent rainstorms.
Every week, I worried from the time I got up on Tuesday morning right up until the bands started playing that the weather would turn and we would have to cancel, and every week, I was calmed and reassured by our concert coordinator Lori McCutcheon that everything was going to be fine, and it always was.
Lori booked a fantastic group of bands for us this summer, and we all owe her a debt of gratitude for her work in making everything come together. Thank you Lori!
The past year has been a hard one, and I’m worried that the coming fall and winter will be tough too. It’s sometimes been difficult to find things in our daily lives to be grateful for, and places where we can remind ourselves that the divisions that we constantly see cropping up on social media and on the news don’t actually reflect most of our lived experiences.
Throughout July, the attendees at our concerts came from a rainbow of political persuasions. Some were vaccine evangelists and some were vaccine skeptics. Some supported the Stewart’s renovation, some opposed it, and some had mixed feelings.
But the pleasures of gathering as a community, and listening to good music, and watching happy kids play games that they’ve just made up are more real and more important than the things that separate us when we only experience our neighbors through the mediation of a screen. We can’t wait to see you all together in the park next summer!
Summer Reading
The children’s Summer Reading Program is rolling right along! This year, our Summer Reading Program is all about animals, and it has been wild! Come pick up your Summer Reading bingo card at the library and start earning chances to win fabulous prizes, by having adventures, being helpful, and especially, by reading, reading, reading!
Don’t forget that all summer long, Altamont will be playing host to a stuffed friend named Library Llama, and she’ll be hiding in different businesses all summer long. If you can find her, you can be entered into a raffle for a special prize at the end of the summer. Look for clues on our Facebook and Instagram pages, as well as on posters at the library.
Schilling Park StoryWalk
Have you checked out our StoryWalk at Schilling Park yet? If not, you should! Read the positive and vibrant children’s book It’s Okay to be Different by Todd Parr while walking around this lovely little pocket park just off of Maple Avenue in the Village of Altamont!
Many thanks to our friends at The Upper Hudson Library System and the Village of Altamont for helping make this StoryWalk possible. It’s Okay to be Different will be up in Schilling Park for a little while longer, assuming the posts stay planted and the signs hold up.
Even better, did you know that Altamont Free Library is only one of many libraries hosting StoryWalks throughout the Capital District? The wonderful Guilderland Public Library has one in Tawasentha Park, and the equally wonderful Voorheesville Public Library has one in Wallace Park in Voorheesville, and there are many more besides those!
For a full list of all the StoryWalks in Albany and Rensselaer Counties, go to UHLS.org/storwalk. Collect them all, and let us know which ones you liked.
The StoryWalk Project was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, Vermont and developed with the Kellogg-Hubbard Library. StoryWalk is a registered service mark owned by Ms. Ferguson.