Altamont Library Notes for Wednesday, October 20, 2021
— Photo by Joe Burke
The history of local auto racing is on display at the Altamont Free Library curated by Dan Barker, above, of the Altamont Village Archives and Museum, assisted by local racing enthusiast Paul Malecki.
Did you know that an Indianapolis 500 winning driver was from Altamont? It’s true! Isn’t that cool?
His name was Lee Wallard, and almost as cool as that is that we are currently displaying his racing helmet and goggles, among several other artifacts of his. It’s all part of a new exhibit we’re hosting in our entryway display case all about the 95th anniversary of the beginning of auto racing here in Altamont.
The Altamont fairgrounds used to host some of the most exciting car races to be seen anywhere, and you can relive some of the excitement by checking out the posters, models, and artifacts that we’ll be displaying here until early December.
The exhibit was curated by Dan Barker of the Altamont Village Archives and Museum, assisted by local racing enthusiast Paul Malecki. Many thanks to Dan and Paul for letting us host their incredible exhibit!
Painting Joy
While you’re here checking out our racing exhibit, don’t forget that you still have a few more weeks to see another ongoing art exhibit in our Community Room. Painting Joy is an exhibit of wonderfully vibrant paintings by local artist Maria DeAngelo.
You’ll immediately recognize a few prominent local landmarks in her work, including a certain train station that I personally am very fond of. Painting Joy will be on display through the end of October, so come check it out! Thank you, Maria, for allowing us to show off your incredible work.
Local authors
While we’re on the subject of local talent, we’ve collected so many books from local authors recently that we’ve started a new section dedicated to authors based in Altamont and the surrounding area. We’ve got Tom Capuano and Thom Breitenbach’s new “True Ghost Stories From Altamont & Surrounds,” Diane Garbo’s brand new series of romance novels and many more besides, both fiction and nonfiction. Come check them out, and if you or a loved one have a book you’ve written that you’d like to have added to our local authors collection, please send it our way!
Storytime at ARC
Since June, we’ve been doing our weekly Tuesday morning storytimes for children outside in Orsini Park on our back patio, and it’s been a ton of fun! Now that the weather is getting colder, we’re moving story times a few blocks away and indoors!
Starting on Tuesday, Oct. 26, please join us in the community room at Altamont Reformed Church at 129 Lincoln Ave. in Altamont on Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. for a super fun morning of songs, stories, and activities! We’re moving to ARC so that our story-time families have lots of room to stretch out and distance themselves from one another.
Since this is an indoor program, all participants over the age of 2 must wear masks for the duration of the program. Many thanks to Altamont Reformed Church for hosting us this fall and winter. We hope to see you there!