The Circus in Winter

Saturday Samplers book group will discuss Cathy Day's novel, The Circus in Winter, on Saturday, October 5, at 3:30 p.m. in the library.  Ms. Day currently teaches in the English Department of Ball State University, but at one time was an instructor at The College of New Jersey.  

A native of Indiana, she set her first book, The Circus in Winter, in her hometown of Peru (fictionalized as Lima, Indiana) which had an interesting history as the winter home of a travelling circus.  Ms. Day's book tells the fascinating stories of circus people, townsfolk and the town itself over a timeline of many decades.  

As the Chicago Tribune notes, "Day moves back and forth in time, from the 1880s to the 1960s to the 1930s to the near present, in a story-cycle form similar to the work of Louise Erdrich and Sherwood Anderson."  For more information about Cathy Day and the book, please refer to a posting on the blog of this book group, Saturday Samplers.

Blankets for Preemies from Saturday Crafters

Saturday Crafters, a Bernardsville Library crafting group, has just completed another charity project, this one to be donated to a local hospital.  Forty beautiful blankets for premature babies were knitted or crocheted by participating crafters who volunteered their time and materials for this project.  

Participants chose their own patterns and yarns, so each blanket is truly one of a kind.  Hospitals are happy to receive these donations which they distribute to premature infants remaining in hospital for a period of time, often weeks.  The blankets not only help the babies regulate their body heat, but also add a cheerful note to the neonatal nursery setting.  When the infants are finally able to go home, the blankets are given to the departing families as a gift.  

In addition to these preemie blankets, Saturday Crafters has produced a large quantity of woolen clothing for the Dulaan Project in Mongolia and has assembled knitted washcloth/soap sets for The Community Soup Kitchen of Morristown.  Members of Saturday Crafters also enjoy creating outfits for the holiday teddy bears given annually to needy children. New members are invited to attend monthly meetings of this group where they can make progress on their own handwork projects while enjoying the camaraderie of others.  All kinds of handcrafts are encouraged and welcomed.  The next meeting of Saturday Crafters will be October 19th at 3 p.m.

From the South Bronx to the Supreme Court

My Beloved World, the 2013 memoir by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, will be discussed by Memoirs and Coffee book group on Tuesday, September 24, at 10:30 a.m. in the Community Room.  The public is welcome to attend this library book group discussion, and extra copies of the book are available at the circulation desk.  Bernardsville Library also has a copy of the memoir in Spanish, Mi Mundo Adorado, which may be borrowed.  Whether you read it in Spanish or English, My Beloved World will give you a clear sense of the determination, patience, and intelligence of a young Sotomayor who grew up in the Spanish-speaking projects of the South Bronx, yet attained admission to Princeton University and Yale Law School.  Along the way she had to deal with personal and family health issues and a failed marriage, still her spirited quest for a meaningful life eventually brought her to the bench of the U.S. Supreme Court in the service of justice.  

Go Green This Halloween

What a great idea!!  Donate your gently used Halloween costumes so that others can purchase them at the upcoming Halloween Costume Sale hosted by Bernardsville Library's Teen Group. Recycling a costume makes perfect sense these days and is in keeping with the Teen Group's interest in the "green" movement. Your slightly used Halloween costumes for children or adults are now being accepted in the donation box located in our lobby.  Costume accessories are also welcome.  The fun part starts on these sale days when great costumes will be available to buy, and the proceeds will benefit future Teen Group activities.  The sale will take place on two separate days as seen in the poster.