Berne Library Notes for Wednesday, February 3, 2021
While temporarily transitioning to curbside pick-me-ups, accommodating your reading and movie entertainment needs remain a top priority for library staff. Call 518-872-1246 to schedule pick-ups. Available hours are Monday to Friday from 2 to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Please leave a message any time and someone will get back to you.
Welcome distraction
Distraction. Fuzzy head. Crrraaaazzzzaaaay. Have you experienced dialing a phone number and forgotten who you were calling? Or walked upstairs, looked around perplexed and asked, “Why did I come up here?
Here’s an idea. Sign up for the “Midway to Spring Reading Party.” Last week, in error, it was the “Winter Spring Reading Party.” Must have been distracted by a blinding quasar.
So, you’re gonna sign up, right? Hey, it’s a party without the fuss. Just bits of reading, participation awards, and activity suggestions for all ages. Call the library and add your name to the library’s “Midway to Spring Reading Party” guest list from Feb. 12 to April 2. It might be just the distraction you were searching for.
“Winter Storms”
Sunday Book Club meets on Feb. 7 at 4 p.m. to discuss “Winter Storms” by Elin Hilderbrand. The third installment of Hilderbrand’s Winter Street Inn series starring the Quinn family of Nantucket Island.
Choose your
favorite photo
The Friends first virtual photo exhibit entries are in. Go to bernelibraryfriends.org to view and vote on the submissions. Choose your favorites in each category and then give a thumbs-up on your overall favorite in the People’s Choice contest.
FFF Month
It’s FFF Month at the Berne Public Library. That’s Fine Free February on any and all Berne Library items. Look under the dog bed, in the clothes hamper, and up in the attic.
Return any long-overdue or just a smitch overdue Berne library material in good condition during the month of February for your Fine Free February reward.
Mushroom fever
Avery Stempel. A poet, artist, mushroom forager, former Empac front-of-house manager, teacher, philosopher, entrepreneur, apartment manager, father, brother, son, nephew, and friend. A writer, musician, and mushroom devotee.
Avery’s appreciation for nature, family, and friends shows in his laugh and in his smile.
After being nurtured to adulthood in the mountains of East Berne and transitioning through many life changes, Avery landed in Troy, New York.
“So you’re a nature lover living in a city?” I asked.
“Yeah, but Troy’s a city that’s close to nature. In my first days of moving here, I spotted deer eating apples from a tree in front of my house. I’m not a fan of the woodchucks though. They ambushed my garden more than once without a glimmer of guilt.”
A casualty of the pandemic, Avery’s furlough from his 12-year role as Empac’s front-of-house Manager, shot his dream of building an urban mushroom farm from table talk to “let’s do this.” Inspired by a special woman in his life who has been growing mushrooms in the Hilltowns for years, Avery caught mushroom fever and is mushrooming his passion to new heights with Collar City Mushrooms, despite COVID’s crushing handprint.
Experience Avery’s talk: “Helderberg Fungi and the Ways Mycelium Spreads,” during “TEDxBernePublicLibrary — Life On the Hill” broadcasting lively and virtual Feb. 27 from 1 to 3 p.m. Don’t know what mycelium is? Tune in and find out.