February 2016 - Greenville Public Library

Library News!
Greenville Public Library, 520 Sycamore Street, Greenville OH
45331937-548-3915
Board
Members:
President
Bill Frazer
VicePresident
Eunice
Steinbrecher
Secretary
Jean McLear
Suzanne
Brown
Anne
Brumbaugh
Ryan Carpe
Alex Warner
February 2016
Longtown: The History
John Vehre
Director
Susi Halley
Assistant
Director,
Editor,
Fiscal Officer
www.greenville-publiclibrary.org
C
onnor Keiser returns with an encore presentation on Longtown, Ohio,
Saturday February 20th at 1:00 p.m. in the Library’s upstairs meeting room.
We are honored to host Connor again and to celebrate Black History Month by
learning more about this important community and our rich local history.
T
he original “Greenville Negro Settlement,” later renamed Longtown, was
founded by Connor’s fifth great-grandparents James & Sophia Clemens in
1822. Situated in Liberty Township it was established as a strongly abolitionist
farming settlement. Many people have heard of Longtown but most are unaware
of its significance as the first free black settlement and one of only two tri-racial
communities in the state of Ohio.
T
he Clemens Family arrived in Ohio from Virginia with slave-owner Adam
Sellers who freed his people and provided them with land. Other free blacks
joined them and as the town grew, a school and several churches and cemeteries
were established. It was an important station on the Underground Railroad.
T
he height of its population was around 900 people in the 1940’s. Many
descendants live in the Muncie, Richmond, Indianapolis, and Dayton areas. A
well-known tavern was opened in 1956 where Connor’s grandparents first met.
Its baseball teams from the 1930’s onward, the Longtown Tigers and Longtown
Giants, were legendary!
T
oday the Union Literary Institute Preservation Society is raising money and
awareness for the above named school which was founded by Connor’s
grandfather in 1914. It was a manual labor school for all races and provided room
& board. One church from 1856 is still very active, the Bethel Long Wesleyan
Church, holding services every Sunday. The Community Center also hosts an
annual “homecoming.“
onnor is proud to continue the research his
grandfather Maze Clemens started and in the
past year has uncovered even more interesting
facts and pictures which he will share on the big
screen TV. Please join us to learn more about our
fascinating heritage.
C
Author’s Night Presents Cyndi Pauwels
T
he next Friends of the Library’s Author’s Night will feature author Cyndi Pauwels on
Friday February 12th at 7:00 p.m. at Montage Cafe in downtown Greenville. Doors open
at 6:00 so come early for dinner and to enjoy the live music provided by virtuosos R.J. Price
and Bill Westfall.
W
riting under C.L. Pauwels, Cyndi recently published an exciting debut novel titled 40 &
OUT which will be available for purchase at Author’s Night as well at Deadly Writes
Publishing, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon. “Someone is targeting Toledo’s single women
when they turn forty, tucking them into bed and turning birthday greetings into obituaries.
Newly-assigned Homicide Detective Veronica Jadzinski vows to prevent the body count
from increasing and to prove her transfer from Narcotics wasn’t a fluke — departmental
regulations, disparaging lieutenants, and a rigid new partner be damned.” Wow!
C
yndi is not new to writing! She holds an MA in creative writing from Antioch University
McGregor in Yellow Springs and her short fiction has appeared in Mock Turtle ‘zine,
Over My Dead Body!, The View from Here (UK), and other journals. In 2009, she published
the award-winning non-fiction Historic Warren County: An Illustrated History. Sugati
Publications has selected two of her essays for their Reflections from Women anthology
series, and Sinclair Community College’s literary journal Flights has published several of
her pieces over the past few years.
I
n addition to writing, Cyndi’s portfolio career includes book editing (The Enduring Legacy
of Kahlil Gibran and The Essential Rihani), teaching freshman composition as an adjunct
at Clark State Community College, and serving as assistant director for the Antioch Writers’
Workshop. She lives in Yellow Springs with her husband of thirty-seven years, three spoiled
dogs, and six chickens. See http://clpauwels.com for more info.
O
ur Author’s Nights are a unique event for the area. Be sure to join us for another
stimulating, fun evening - and a chance to enjoy Cyndi’s sense of humor and to ask her
how she came to know about detective work! Her answer may surprise you.
T
wo other events of interest involve two of our Greenville Poets whom we always feature
in April. Poet Cathy Essinger will be giving a reading at the Hayner Cultural Center in
Troy on February 25th at 7:30 p.m. and poet Lianne Spidel and artist Ann Loveland will be
there on March 24th with Ann’s original art and
Lianne’s matching poems from their book Pairings.
Seeds 4 All: Seed Swap
by Rachel Brock
T
he Growing Harvest Seed Library will host its annual “Seeds 4 All: Seed Swap” on
Thursday February 11th at 6:00 p.m. in the upstairs meeting room at the Library. Prior
to the Seed Swap Janell Weiss from the Darke County Soil & Water District will provide a
short presentation about starting seeds.
B
ring your extra seeds and trade them for something you need or have been wanting to
try. Remember, these are heirloom, open-pollinated seeds that grow year after year.
The idea is to borrow seeds, plant them, and return a
few from your harvest to the Library for next year.
E
I
veryone is welcome to attend this free event.
Reservations are not required but helpful for setup. As always refreshments will be served.
f you bring seeds, tubers, or starts, please have
them labeled with the seed name, variety, harvest
date, and any additional growing or harvesting
information that is pertinent.
F
or more information please call 548-3915 or visit
the Library’s Facebook Event Page. This is a fun
and informal event so be sure to come and have a
good time getting ready for spring planting!
Film Series Screens Man on a Tightrope
by David Nilsen
I
n February GPL's Third Floor Film Series will be a screening Man on a Tightrope. This 1953
film is an under-appreciated entry in director's Elia Kazan's filmography, living in the
shadow of films like A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront, but carrying the
same level of dramatic tension and emotional depth as his most popular titles.
M
an on a Tightrope stars Fredric March as Karel
Cernic, the leader of the circus his family has
owned for generations but which is now under the
ownership--and watchful eye--of the communist state of
Czechoslovakia. Cernic has grown increasingly
disillusioned with his government and begins
developing a plan to escape across the border into
American-occupied Bavaria, but he refuses to leave any
of his performers behind. He and his trusted cohorts
must act quickly while dealing with increased scrutiny
from the state and trying to ferret out a spy in their
midst. Man on a Tightrope is tense and richly felt, equal
to the best of Kazan's films.
P
lease make plans to join us on Thursday, February
18, at 7:00 p.m. as we watch this underseen classic.
Coffee, soft drinks, candy, and popcorn will be available
free of charge, and I will be leading a brief discussion
after the film. I look forward to seeing you there.
The History of Wakefield
T
he Library recently received two beautiful local history books written by sisters Betty
Brodrick and Marilyn Fritz, Wakefield and My Sister’s Story. The authors trace the
fascinating story of the Lease family as they immigrated from Lissberg Germany in 1845 to
Greenville Township. The family was among the founders of the early settlement of
Wakefield. Their homestead was situated where Arby’s Restaurant stands today.
T
he Wakefiled School and the Wakefield Lutheran Church are the only two original
buildings that still remain. The Church was built in 1860 and is owned by Bible
Fellowship Church on Greenville-Celina Road. Wakefield School was built in the 1880’s and
is one of the few one-room schoolhouses still in existence. It sits at the corner of Childrens
Home-Bradford Road and Greenville-Celina Road north of town.
D
arke County Educational History Inc is a
nonprofit that is hoping to move the school to
the former site of the Children’s Home Orphanage
in order to renovate it for educational purposes.
The authors have a third book coming out.
Charlotte’s Bell is an account of the life of their
great-grandmother Charlotte Meir-Leis.
S
een left are genealogist Carolyn Fisher, Betty
Brodrick, Director John Vehre, and Marilyn
Fritz. These interesting books can be found in the
Genealogy Room on the second floor of the
Library. Many thanks to Betty and Marilyn for
their additions to our collection.
The Greenville Public Library
520 Sycamore St.
Greenville OH 45331