March to Your Local Library

Eccles-Lesher Memorial Library is starting Spring cleaning early with a full overhaul on our shelves! We recruited several volunteers to help us pull books, rebarcode most of them and apply label protectors, and straighten shelves while putting the items back. One of our most amazing volunteers, Kaci Mudd of Rimersburg, reshelved over 5,000 books this week! She was a machine! “Insane,” she replies with a smile and a shake of her head when I ask her what she thought about this labor intensive project. I agree with her as do our other staff and volunteers. Among the amazing helpers this week were Susie Crick, one of our Board of Trustees Members, Karen Jordan, also a Trustee Member, Joyce Kennedy, a wonderful volunteer who has helped us with other fund drive projects, Tom and Pam Curry, our Board of Trustees President and his wife, Sherry Billman, an avid user of the library, Diana Hilles along with John Whitney and Michael Abbey, Matt McClelland, our Clarion County System Administrator, and Mindy Carnathan, employee, patron, and volunteer. The library greatly appreciates all of your back breaking efforts and hopes you consider it a cause worth investing your time in.

Coming up in April we have another Adult Book Discussion Group scheduled. The selection for this month is The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs. A brief synopsis: “Georgia Walker is a single mom and successful New York City entrepreneur whose yarn shop, Walker and Daughter, has become something of a mecca for knitters of all skill levels and dispositions. What begins as a disorganized Friday night gathering of her most loyal customers turns into a regular meeting of minds and hearts, as each woman discovers there's much more to be found at Walker and Daughter than tips on knitting technique.” (http://www.fridaynightknittingclub.com) Soon the library will have copies of this novel for a small donation of $11. The book discussion group will meet up on Monday, April 20th at 7 p.m. right here at the Eccles-Lesher Memorial Library. Any question just call Rachel at 473-3800!

MAGIC THE GATHERING TOURNAMENT!!! Friday, March 27th starting at 5 p.m. there will be a Magic The Gathering Tournament at Eccles-Lesher Memorial Library. This tournament will be using Highlander All Creatures (One of each Creature, One of each Non-Basic Land, and as many Basic Lands as you want!). There will be door prizes as well as place prices for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place! To register for this event call 473-3800 by March 25th. If you have any questions called Bob MacKinlay at 473-8494. This is a free program but Donations to Eccles-Lesher Memorial Library would be greatly appreciated!

St. Patrick’s Day is next week! Do you know your facts? Impress some of your friends with your vast knowledge base of this incredibly popular holiday at your next get together:

• St. Patrick’s Day is observed on March 17 because that is the feast day of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. It is believed that he died on March 17 in the year 461 AD. It is also a worldwide celebration of Irish culture and history. St. Patrick’s Day is a national holiday in Ireland, and a provincial holiday in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

• In Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day, people traditionally wear a small bunch of shamrocks on their jackets or caps. Children wear orange, white and green badges, and women and girls wear green ribbons in their hair.

• Many cities have a St. Patrick’s Day parade. Dublin, the capital of Ireland, has a huge St. Patrick’s Day festival from March 15-19, that features a parade, family carnivals, treasure hunt, dance, theatre and more. In North American, parades are often held on the Sunday before March 17. Some paint the yellow street lines green for the day! In Chicago, the Chicago River is dyed green with a special dye that only lasts a few hours. There has been a St. Patrick’s Day parade in Boston, Massachusetts since 1737. Montreal is home to Canada’s longest running St. Patrick’s Day parade, which began in 1824.

• St. Patrick was born in 385 AD somewhere along the west coast of Britain, possibly in the Welsh town of Banwen. At age 16, he was captured and sold into slavery to a sheep farmer. He escaped when he was 22 and spent the next 12 years in a monastery. In his 30s he returned to Ireland as a Christian missionary. He died at Saul in 461 AD and is buried at Downpatrick.

• According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the highest number of leaves found on a clover is 14!

• One estimate suggests that there are about 10 000 regular three-leaf clovers for every lucky four-leaf clover.

• Legend says that each leaf of the clover means something: the first is for hope, the second for faith, the third for love and the fourth for luck.

Find out more fun fact by visiting the library and checking out our materials on St. Patricks Day!