SATURDAY,July 4; 11:15 AM @ T&C
To celebrate our nation’s birthday, we’ll read America stories, including We The Kids by David Catrow; make American flags; learn how to make origami 5-point stars; and more fun activities.
THURSDAY, JULY 9; 7 PM @ The Greene
POETRY SHARING NIGHT! If you love poetry, you won't want to miss this event. We encourage any poets to join us this evening to read their original or favorite poems.
SATURDAY,July 11; 11:15 AM @ T&C
We’ll have a Family Game Time. Join us for such fun games as Twister, hop-scotch, marbles, bean-bag toss, and more. Learn to play some of the games your Grandmother and Grandfather played as kids. Better yet, bring your Grandmother and Grandfather with you! We’ll have prizes!
SUNDAY, July 12; 4-6 pm @ T&C
Harmony Islanders with special guest Bobby Ingano on steel guitar and Leilani, hula dancer.
MONDAY, JULY 13; 7-8 PM @ The Greene
HOLLY ROBINSON will introduce her memoir, The Gerbil Farmer’s Daughter, and tell of her unusual upbringing as a child of the “Gerbil Czar.” Her father, Donald Robinson, grew up in Dayton and has had a long-time fascination with gerbils. After reading an article about “America’s Newest Pet” in 1965 he purchased four pairs of gerbils and gave them a home his Virginia garage. It didn’t take long before he was the owner of hundreds of gerbils. He regarded raising gerbils as a hobby, at first, but after retiring from the Navy, he focused all his energies and enlisted the help of his wife, in-laws, and his children into expanding his hobby into a business. The business eventually became the world’s largest supplier of gerbils, a.k.a. The Gerbil Czar. HARMONY BOOKS
Are you interested in having a gerbil in your life? We’ve invited Complete Petmart to bring gerbils to this event.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 15; 7-8 PM @ The Greene
FRAN CANNON SLAYTON will introduce her new children’s book, When the Whistle Blows which is set in a railroad town in West Virginia in the 1940s. In it, we meet young Jimmy Cannon who loves trains. More than anything he wants to work on the B&O railroad when he grows up, just has his father and ancestors before him have worked on steam engines. Fast-paced and action packed, readers join Jimmy on midnight Halloween romps in graveyards, robberies, explosions, a secret society, and a championship football game. At its heart this is a story about a boy and his father in a time when trains reigned supreme. PHILOMEL BOOKS
Kirkus Reviews gave When the Whistle Blows a starred review. “Ultimately, Jimmy learns to accept that the days of the steam engine are over, to better understand his emotionally distant father and to embrace his role as newest member of his father’s society, which turns out to be centered not on the railroad after all, but on faith, brotherhood and love. An unassuming masterpiece. (Historical fiction. 10 & up)”
We have invited members of the National Model Railroad Association and the National Railway Historical Society to bring railroad memorabilia and a working model railroad layout. Both adults and children will enjoy that.
FRIDAY, JULY 17; 12 NOON – 1:30 PM @ The Greene
(Line numbers beginning at 11 am)
ASTRONAUT BUZZ ALDRIN will discuss his book, Magnificent Desolation. Forty years ago, he became the second human being, minutes after Neil Armstrong, to set foot on a celestial body other than the Earth. The event remains one of mankind’s greatest achievements and was witnessed by the largest worldwide television audience in history. Few people have not seen the iconic photograph of Aldrin standing on the surface of the moon with the blackness of space behind him and the lunar module reflected in his visor. It has forever changed the way we view both the moon and the earth.
That flight made Buzz Aldrin one of the most famous persons in the world. While we knew a great deal about his life as an astronaut, he has never shared much of his personal life, until now. Following his career in the Air Force and as a public relations representative for NASA, he experienced the twin demons of depression and alcoholism. Redemption came when he finally embraced sobriety and gained the love of the women who became his wife, Lois. He has now dedicated himself to being a tireless advocate for the future of space exploration, not only as a scientific endeavor but also as a thriving commercial enterprise.
Magnificent Desolation, which are the words Aldrin used to describe the moon, is not only an adventure story, but a searing memoir of self-destruction and self-renewal. CROWN PUBLISHING
On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong landed their lunar module on the Sea of Tranquility and became the first humans to walk on the Moon. He has founded a rocket design company, Starcraft Boosters, Inc. and the ShareSpace Foundation, a nonprofit organization devoted to opening the doors to space tourism for all people. Joining him at this event will be
Ron Kaplan, Executive Director of the National Aviation Hall of Fame.
SATURDAY,July 18; 11:15 AM @ T&C
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first landing on the moon, we’ll decorate a balloon moon and put 2 astronauts on it; learn about the space shuttle and the features of a space suit; and read moon exploration books.
SUNDAY, July 19; 4-6 pm @ T&C
RICK FANNIN entertains with World Folk Music.
THURSDAY, JULY 23; 7-8 PM @ The Greene
PAUL GRINER will introduce his novel, The German Woman, which Kirkus says is “Complex, authentic, compelling.” Spanning both world wars, we meet beautiful Kate Zweig, the English widow of a German surgeon, and Claus Murphy, an exiled American with German roots. That year is 1944. Going back in history to 1918, we find that Kate and her husband, Horst, had been taken for spies by Russian soldiers and forced to flee their field hospital on the eastern front, barely escaping with their lives.
Years later, in London during the Nazis’ V-1 reign of terror, Claus spends his days making propaganda films and his nights as a British spy, worn down by the war and his own many secrets. When Claus meets the widow Kate, he finds himself powerfully drawn to her—even after evidence surfaces that she might not be exactly who she seems. As the war hurtles to a violent end, Claus must define where his own loyalties lie, whether he can make a difference in the war—and what might be gained by taking a leap of faith with Kate. Reminiscent of the haunting romance of Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient, The German Woman takes us inside the two world wars that defined the twentieth century and the hidden histories of two characters whose love story will haunt readers’ hearts and minds. HOUGHTIN MIFFLIN
Paul Griner has also written Collectors and the story collection, Follow Me. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky.
SATURDAY,July 25; 11:15 AM @ T&C
We’ll feature a Beach theme, with fun activities and games.
SUNDAY, July 12; 4-6 pm @ T&C
RICK & HILLARY WAGNER entertain with Celtic music.