July!

July – the midpoint of summer? My husband used to say that once the Fourth of July was over, school started the next week. A bit exaggerated, but our summers are fleeting. We need to enjoy them while we can. One way we can do that is to attend the Music on the Porch concerts, sponsored by the Aurora Center for the Arts. Held on the back porch of the Larson House on the East Polk Heritage grounds, the concerts are free, held each Thursday evening at 7 p.m. July 11 through August 1. If you enjoy Americana/folk-type music, it’s a pleasant way to spend an evening. Performers on the schedule include Jordan Messorole from Iowa on July 11, Scott Jasmin from Park Rapids on July 18, Doyle Turner, originally from Naytahwaush, on July 25, and Accoustofiddle (Paul Nye and Jeff Menten) on August 1. Featured artist for July in the Sorenson Gallery is Carol Danielson of Fosston. Here’s what has been written about her: “Encouraged at a young age by her teacher to continue her drawings, by a friend who introduced her to a watercolor class, and by her family to transform the chicken coop of their farm into an art studio, Carol has continued throughout her life in her passion for art.” Stop by during library hours to view her paintings. Speaking of the Fosston Library, the summer reading experience, Explore!, continues through the month. There is still timefor children and teens to pick up a reading log and do enough reading to qualify for the prize drawings at the end of the month. There are also a couple of related activities. During the week of July 8-13, children and teens are invited to pick up a free take-and-make Minne-Mural poster. Then on Thursday, July 18, award-winning cartoonist Rick Stromoski will be live-streamed at the library for an outer space drawing class and watch party from 2:00-3:00 p.m. If you are looking for bargains, the library continues to have an on-going book sale. Nothing is over a dollar, and we can all agree, there isn’t much we can buy at those prices anymore. Of course, the library itself is the biggest bargain of all. With a library card, which is free, you can have access to thousands of books and DVDs for no charge (unless you fail to return them, of course.)