Children's June 4th of July Parade

 

6-27-2025

The East Troy Lions Public Library is very fortunate to be located on a sizeable Village owned property and across the street from another in form of Playmore Park. This allows us the flexibility in holding programs outside. Unfortunately, we don’t own the weather.

Monday’s program was to be the annual FFA Petting Zoo. That was switched to a movie once the forecasted highs became a reality. The animals have, through their social secretary Mr. Ryan Holle, made arrangements to be at Playmore Park this coming Monday. That means we are double booked for the weekly children’s program. Here’s the plan.

The original schedule called for a Children’s Parade along the sidewalk in front of the East Troy High School and East Troy Middle School. They would love to have an audience so feel free to gather some friends and a lawn chair to come watch. I don’t believe it will be necessary to drop off chairs the night before. There is plenty of prime seating. Participants should bring their bikes, scooter, wagons, stroller, etc. to the library at 1:30. We will have plenty of supplies for decorating their “float” including streamers, garland, temporary tattoos, flags, and pinwheels.

The parade will line up in the library parking lot just before 2:00 to begin the parade. We will be led by Chief Jeremy Swendrowski and followed by a mini pony.

Waiting for us at the park will be the rescheduled FFA Petting Zoo, water, and a small snack.

The East Troy Lions Club will take over the celebrations at the end of the week beginning at 5:00 on Thursday, July 3^rd. In order to make room/stay out of the way, the library will close at that time and reopen on Monday, July 7^th. Copies of the Lion’s event schedule including the bands and parade are available at the library.

Before we close on Thursday, Miss Maria will be holding a Preschool Sensory Playtime at Playmore Park’s Pavilion. She held on the day we rescheduled the FFA Petting Zoo last year. (It seems we don’t have luck with animals outside.) This is a hands-on exploratory event. Children will be invited to play with items that appeal to their senses of touch, smell, and sound as well as their creative nature. While some of the activities may be a repeat of last year, others will be new.

That event will take place during the regular Thursday Playgroup’s 10:00 am time.

Reading Now: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betsy Smith (#13 on the Great American Reads list)

Listening to Now: David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (July's Adult Book Club Selection)

 

Competitive? Like Puzzles? See below

 

6-20-2025

Summer seems like an odd time for this article about a puzzle competition, but I didn’t schedule it. The competition is officially called the Prairie Lakes Puzzle Masters’ Tournament and is entering its second year. That means I wrote sketchy articles about it last year with little detail or used it as filler. This year I have history to draw from. History is very helpful.

The competition is sponsored by our library system; that’s the Prairie Lakes portion of the name. It involves teams of 2-4 working their way through three levels of competition for full bragging rights; that’s the Puzzle Master portion of the name.

The first level of competition takes place at individual libraries to select up to three teams to represent them at the regional level. A shortened version of the rules would include the amount of time allowed for assembling the puzzle (I’m thinking 1 hour at this level) and the number of pieces (500 at this level). Other rules apply that can be summarized here as don’t cheat or distract other teams and participants under 16 years old need a parent involved. The full list will be provided to anyone interested. All teams will be given the same puzzle. A date will be set for September.

East Troy’s best puzzlers will then move onto the regional competition on October 18^th at Walworth Memorial Library. Competitors at this level will have 2 hours to complete a 750-piece puzzle. The top 3 teams will continue to the 1000-piece systemwide competition on November 15^th at Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay. Therein lays the true glory.

Given the number of events happening at the library this month, it may seem odd to write about a September/October/November event now. Most of us will be lucky to remember these details tomorrow. However, true puzzlers and competitors need time to create their teams and should block out those dates early. They are also welcome to meet at the library, preferably the 1^st or 3^rd Saturday of the month to hone their skills and team work.

Will they complete the edges first? Sort pieces by color? Divide the puzzle by sections assigned to specific team members? Well oiled team work takes practice.

The library has a large selection of puzzles in our Puzzle Swap to use as practice in preparation of each level. It is separated onto two different shelving units: 750+ pieces and -750 pieces. The former collection is in a side room that is usually locked. We are happy to open it for anyone, competitor or not, to borrow/swap a puzzle. The later is in the programming space near the television for easy accessibility for children and families.

We’d love to hear from anyone interested in competing. Look for more specific information about a local competition when the fall Park & Recreation Guide is available. Even if we don’t have a page in the guide, we’ll have our fall calendar available.

 Reading Now: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (Back to PBS's Great American Read list)

Listening to Now: David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (Time to compare it to Kingsolver's Demon Copperhead. Hopefully it won't take as long.)

IMLS Update

 

6-13-2025

In April I wrote an article about President Trump’s Executive Order regarding the Institute of Museum and Library Services. At that time, Trump had appointed Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith E. Sonderling as Acting Director of the IMLS and the majority of staff had been placed on administrative leave. Libraries across the country received half the funding appropriated by Congress on their behalf. This was a departure from the traditional full payment. It is not known at this time if payment of the other half will be made.

Since then, President Trump has release his FY26 budget with does not include any funding for the IMLS and would eliminate the only federal agency that provides funding and services to public libraries.

There are currently several lawsuits against these actions playing out in the courts. One of their arguments is that the Executive Order disregards the role of the federal government’s three branches. Congress makes laws and appropriates funds the president is meant to implement and spend. While some of those suits have resulted in temporary restraining orders others have not allowing some of the dismantling of the IMLS to continue before final rulings are given.

Libraries systems across Wisconsin have worked together to create the Speak Up for Libraries advocacy campaign. In additional to an informative website providing basic background on the issue, they have also distributed postcards for patrons to express their opinion to US Senators and Congressional Representatives who also have a say on the future of the IMLS.

We have postcards and address labels for Senators Tammy Baldwin and Ron Johnson and Congressman Bryan Steil available for residents to express their opinion. In addition, there is a collection box for the postcards. Those boxes will be collected in Milwaukee and bulk mailed. Residents may also choose to mail them independently instead or voice their opinions via a phone call or email.

The Walworth County Health & Human Services has given us a second collection box for the summer. Every three years they conduct a Community Health Assessment. Those survey results are used to create their Community Health Improvement Plan and guide their work to improve quality of life in Walworth County.

Anyone wishing to complete the survey may return it to the collection box at most Walworth County libraries. We do have paper copies of the survey and a QR code for the electronic version.  A link is also available on the Walworth County website by searching Community Health Assessment & Improvement.

Reading Now: The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted by Robert Hillman

Listening to Now: Candle & Crow by Kevin Hearne (Final book in the Ink & Sigil series)