Friends of the Ashe County Library

September 2010
Newsletter
Friends of the Ashe County Library
Sports in The Carolinas From Death Valley To Tobacco Road
With Author Ed Southern
Friends Meeting
Wednesday, September 15th at 11:00am
Kick-Off Event!
Ed Southern of Winston-Salem will be doing double duty on Wednesday, Sept. 15. He will open On The Same
Page at 10:00 a. m. with a talk on The North Carolina Writers' Network, of which he is executive director. Then,
at 11:00 a.m., he will be the featured speaker of the Friends meeting.
Ed will speak about the 2009 book he edited: Sports in The Carolinas - From Death Valley To Tobacco Road.
This is a collection of sports writing essays, articles, and excerpts covering all kinds of sports.
A sports fan may die and go to heaven, but he or she might prefer going to the Carolinas. Athletes and teams from
the region have won Heisman trophies, Olympic medals, championship belts in pro boxing and pro wrestling, and
national titles in just about every sport people play.
The region is home to famous institutions and personalities both renowned and obscure: stock-car driver Richard
Petty, who won 200 NASCAR races; Shoeless Joe Jackson, who may or may not have thrown the 1919 "Black
Sox" World Series but definitely inspired the movie Field of Dreams; Clemson University, whose campus
becomes the third-largest city in South Carolina every time its team plays a home football game; the Atlantic
Coast Conference's "Big Four" of college basketball, with nine national titles among them; and Ernie Shore, a
Boston Red Sox pitcher who took over a game after his teammate---a Baltimore kid named George Herman Ruth--was ejected for arguing the first pitch, and proceeded to throw a perfect game for which he was never credited.
And as for a basketball player named Michael . . .
Sports in the Carolinas boasts dozens of essays, profiles, and personal reminiscences that celebrate these and other
amazing stories.
Ed Southern is the executive director of the North Carolina Writers' Network and a lifelong Carolinian. In a vain
attempt to find a sport he was good at, Southern played almost every sport there is. He was also a slot writer for
the Winston-Salem Journal's sports department. He is the editor of The Jamestown Adventure and Voices of the
American Revolution in the Carolinas.
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Coming Events!
“Appalachian
Prehistory”
Friday, September 10
at 3:30pm
President's Message
We have just one more “speaker meeting” so please come out to help show Ed
Southern, editor of Sports in The Carolinas – From Death Valley To Tobacco Road,
that mountain folks like good sports writing. As you know, Ed will officially kick off
On The Same Page book festival that same morning with a talk on The North Carolina
Writers’ Network at 10:00 a.m. in the FRIENDS room. Soooooo…what that means is
that you have a choice of hearing Ed for two hours – the first hour if you are a writer
yourself or want to be, and the second hour for his presentation about the book he
edited.
REMEMBER – we meet one week earlier than usual! We will meet Wednesday,
September 15, the THIRD Wednesday of the month (not the fourth as usual).
Big Fish Discussion
September 14
at 10:30am
The library book club will
host a community-wide
discussion of the
Community Read book,
Daniel Wallace's novel Big
Fish, as part of On the
Same Page, Ashe County's
literary festival.
Telling Tales
Out of School
Thursday, September 23
at 10:30am
about the fascinating
history of Salem Academy
in Salemburg, NC
If you have not already checked it out, go to the Friends of the Ashe County website
that can be reached at www.ashelibrary.org or www.ashelibrary.com. Once you get on
the website, you will see the link for the Friends. We will be posting the current and old
newsletters there, membership information, speakers, etc. It is a work in progress, but
thanks to vice president Becky Stragand, and Library Director Jim McQueen for their
work in getting the website up and running.
It is not too early to start Christmas shopping and the best place for book related gifts is
our own library. When Mary Caryl Elmore saw the gift baskets displayed at the Rowan
County Library last November, she saw the potential for duplicating the same idea here
in Ashe. She and her volunteers are packaging donated books, toys, CDs, and DVDs
into donated gift baskets that retail for between $10 and $25. They are mostly targeted
at younger readers. Come by and see them. We have already sold more than $300
worth of gift baskets in addition to our regular monthly book sales. She is also looking
for more baskets, toys, and books so remember to give those items to the library rather
than selling them for pennies at a garage sale.
Speaking of book sales, we are looking for volunteers to help at the library sort and
stock books. This is the heart of our operation; the source of most of our income, so if
you have some spare time, please contact Calla Wallace, our volunteer coordinator, at
384-4382. She will match your time to our needs.
Finally, if you noticed that the newsletter looked different in August and now again in
September, that is because vice president Becky Stragand has taken over as editor. I
will be retaining the job of setting the speakers for next year. The 2011 speaker line-up
may be set by next month.
If you have questions or concerns, please contact me at 982-4456 or
[email protected]
Clint Johnson
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Friends of the As he Co unt y Libra ry
Our August Meeting
Friends of the Library Meeting
August 25, 2010
President Clint Johnson called the meeting to order at 11:00 a.m. and welcomed all members and guests. There
were 52 people present.
Clint announced that the next regular Friends meeting will be on September 15 th, with author Ed Southern as guest
speaker. This meeting will be one of the first events of On the Same Page Literary Festival.
Secretary Pam Tapp read the minutes of the July 23, 2010 meeting. Swift Black made the motion to accept the
minutes as read. Cathy Chefas seconded the motion. The motion carried.
Treasurer Gary Wolfe reported that we have $4,696.28 in checking, $13,676.12 in savings and $20,000 in our CD
account. The total of all accounts as of August 15, 2010 is $38,372.40. The amount of book sales for the month of
July was $2047.00 and $268.00 in basket sales. The treasurers’ report was approved.
Beth Morrison, Publicity Chairman, announced that volunteers are needed to help set-up on September 14th and
15th for the On the Same Page events at the library. A sign-up sheet was available for anyone interested in helping.
On the Same Page brochures were also available for everyone.
New Business:
Mary Caryl Elmore, Book Sales Chairman, announced that volunteers are needed in the book sales area of the
library. One person is needed on Mondays, two people are needed on Fridays and one person is needed on
Saturdays. Anyone interested in volunteering should call Mary Caryl at 246-7567.
Clint introduced our guest speaker, Chris Hartley, author of Stoneman’s Raid - 1865. Mr. Hartley’s informative
presentation revealed the complete story of how this raid devastated western North Carolina for decades.
The meeting adjourned at 12:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Pam Tapp, Secretary
Chris Hartley describes Stoneman's Raid at
the August 2010 Friends meeting
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From the Bookstore
FRIENDS OF ASHE COUNTY LIBRARY NOW SELLING BOOK GIFT BASKETS AT LIBRARY
Last year when the Ashe Friends attended the Friends of the North Carolina Public Library annual meeting in the
Salisbury library, Mary Caryl Elmore of West Jefferson noticed the gift baskets sitting atop the shelves. They were
filled with age-appropriate books and toys. She came home, spent nearly year thinking about it, and then duplicated
the idea at the Ashe County Library. So far, it has been a rousing success as more than $350 worth of gift baskets
have been purchased. One teenaged boy noticed a basket filled with DVDs of the second season of The Simpsons
cartoon show and plunked down $45.
As Mary Caryl told the board of the Friends at a recent meeting: “I have been thrilled with the response from the
public. What it means, however, is that we need more toys, books, CDs, and DVDs to create more baskets!”
If you are stumped for a new kind of gift for that child or grandchild, stop by the Ashe County Library and look over
the baskets that are on display now. Come again in a week or two to see what new baskets have been created. If you
are looking for a gift for an adult, browse the Friends section at the front of the Library. Most of the books are
recently published and sell for much less than in far away book stores. All Friends sales go directly into programs to
help the Ashe County Public Library.
The FOL Book Sales in September will feature Halloween-themed baskets as well as special baskets featuring Harry
Potter books and collectibles.
We will, as usual, have a variety of books, VHS, DVD, magazines and other material on sale in our special section
of the Ashe County Library. Please come in regularly to browse and buy!
For more information, call Mary Caryl Elmore at 246-7567.
Roy and Mary Caryl
You know the importance of libraries in the
lives of people. Just how important is
illustrated in a fascinating report, "How
Libraries Stack Up" from OCLC, a nonprofit library cooperative. Thanks to Jim
McQueen for sharing this information with us.
Check it out at the end of this newsletter!
LIBRARIES IN OUR LIVES
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See You at "ON THE SAME PAGE"!
A Celebration of Reading and Writing
ON THE SAME PAGE 2010, Ashe County's Literary Festival, will take place over four days in September. During the
festival, the Ashe County Public Library and the Ashe County Arts Council will present twelve events in and around
West Jefferson, North Carolina. More than a month of related events, including the 2010 Community Read, will precede
and follow the festival proper.
Most festival events are free and open to the public; a few require tickets and/or advance registration, and fewer still
carry an admission charge. Check out the website at http://onthesamepagefestival.com/ for more information. This is a
not-to-be-missed event. See you there!
"My books are very
few, but then the
world is before me a library open to all
- from which poverty
of purse cannot
exclude me - in
which the meanest
and most paltry
volume is sure to
furnish something to
amuse, if not to
instruct and
improve." ~Joseph
Howe, 1824
Officers
Friends of the Ashe County Library
President – Clint Johnson 982-4456 [email protected]
V.P/Newsletter-Becky Stragand 846-3031 [email protected]
Secretary-Pam Tapp 982-2021 [email protected]
Treasurer – Gary Wolfe 877-5243 [email protected]
Committee Chairs
Archivist – Bart Bartholomew 982-4382 [email protected]
Book Sales – Mary Caryl Elmore 246-7567 [email protected]
Hospitality – Iris Morphew 846-1045 [email protected]
Membership - Betty Schuette 877-2842 [email protected]
Projects – Kathy Chefas 384-4887 [email protected]
Publicity – Beth Morrison 877-8795 [email protected]
Special Events – Jeanette Sharp 877-5802 [email protected]
Volunteers – Calla Wallace 384-4382 [email protected]
The Friends of the Ashe County Public Library normally meets at 11:00 a.m. on the
4th Wednesday of each month in the meeting room at the Library at 148 Library
Drive (on the hill looking down on West Jefferson near the intersection of Back
Street and West Main Street). Membership is $5 per year for individuals; $50 for
businesses; $100 for lifetime individuals. The Friends is a 501(c)(3) organization so
any donations above membership dues are tax deductible for members itemizing
their tax returns.
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