Current exhibit in the Sorenson Gallery

It's October

It’s October – the trees are starting to display their fall colors, and every squirrel I see seems to have an acorn in its mouth. By the end of the month those trees will probably be bare, and much as I hate to mention it, we’ve had Halloween blizzards before. However, there are plenty of great activities scheduled for the month at the Fosston Community Library Arts Center. Singer/songwriter Sarah Morris will be appearing in concert on Saturday, Oct. 8, at 7 p.m. at the Arts Center theater. Accompanied by her four-piece band (violin, guitar, drums and vocals), Sarah, who has been called a “country-leaning Norah Jones,” will be bringing concertgoers an enjoyable evening. Tickets are available at Nord’s Pharmacy and Gifts or on-line at fclaa.org. The Northwest MN Arts Council traveling exhibit will be on display at the Sorenson Gallery through mid-November. Stop by during library hours to view a variety of art created by talented artists from northwestern Minnesota. Fosston’s Heidi Danos is one of them. If you have a junior high student who is interested in creating art, whether watercolor, acrylics, pastels, sketching, murals, collage, paper mâché or more, the 7th-9th grade art club is a great opportunity. Sessions will be held on Sunday evenings, 7-9 p.m. from Oct. 16-November 20 in the Art Center basement. There is a fee for this, but scholarships are available. Email hello@fclaa.org for an application. The library book club will meet Tuesday, Oct. 11, at 7 p.m. Book for the month is J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. If you’ve never read the Harry Potter series, here’s your chance, and if you’ve already read it, it will be fun to revisit it. Coming to the library on Wednesday, Oct. 12, will be reporter Joe Kimball, author of Secrets of the Congdon Mansion Murders. Kimball covered the story as a reporter for the Star Tribune, so knows all the inside details. The presentation will be at 10 a.m. Later on Oct. 12, there will be Bingo for the kiddos from 3:30 to 4:30. There are prizes, so that is always a popular activity. Also for kids of all ages, there will be two crafternoons, one on Wednesday, Oct. 5, and one on Wednesday, Oct. 26. These are early out days from school, so the time frame for these is from 1-3 p.m. Materials are provided to make a free kids’ craft. For adults (or teenagers) who are interested in something crafty, free materials for making beaded hoop earrings are still available at the library. Tawny Cale of Sister Beads has an instructional video on the LARL Website, and there are written instructions included in the bag. If you are more interested in writing than attempting beadwork, a virtual writing workshop, Creative Writing Sampler, will be available Tuesday, Oct. 25, at 7 p.m. Go to larl.org/writingworkshops to access it. One more little reminder – the library will be closed on Monday, Oct. 10, for staff training.

My apology

Nothing like catching up. While I usually post my monthly newspaper column to this blog shortly after it's been written, I realized this morning that I hadn't done so at all in 2022, If any one is interested, here they are in one fell swoop.

September - can it be here already?

September is here, and the changing season will bring shorter days, colorful leaves, and cooler temperatures. School is back in session and activities at the Fosston Community Library Arts Center are resuming too. Music lessons will continue to be available starting mid-month, or, for guitar and string lessons, beginning in October. Jeff Menten will continue to offer lessons on violin, viola, cello, guitar, and mandolin. If you are interested, contact him at 218-255-0087. I will continue to offer piano lessons. My contact information is 218-435-6710 (home phone), 218-289-3968 (cell), or aagekay@gvtel.com (e-mail). On-line lessons are also available. The display in the Sorensen Gallery for the month of September will be the juried art show. Stop by during library hours and see what is offered. Storytime for preschoolers resumes this month and will be offered every Friday at 10:30 a.m. Storytime introduces young children to books, reading and language with stories, songs, and activities. For the older kids (five and up), there will be Bingo on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. on September 7. There are prizes so this is always a popular activity. On Wednesday, Oct. 5, there will be a crafternoon from 1-3 p.m. giving the same age group the opportunity to make a free craft. Not sure what it will be, but it should be fun. There must be an early out from school that day. The library book club resumes its monthly meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 13, at 7;00 p.m. This month’s book is The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson. Set in Kentucky in the 1930’s, the book is inspired by the blue-skinned people of Kentucky and the Kentucky Pack Horse library service of the 1930s. There is always interesting discussion as well as treats. Everyone is welcome. Stop by the library for a copy of the book or call 218-435-1320. The Red Shoes writers’ retreat, held August 25-27, was a huge success, bringing participants from far and near, who were quite impressed with Fosston. Next event sponsored by the FCLAA will be a concert on Oct. 8 by singer/songwriter Sarah Morris. Tickets will go on sale Sept. 6.

It's that last month of summer

August is here – the last month of summer. We have escaped most of the excessive heat much of the country has suffered through, and these last days of July have been cool and kind of fall like. However, given our changeable weather, it might be 90 degrees again when you are reading this. Whatever the weather, exciting events sponsored by the Fosston Community Library Arts Association continue. The No Rest for the Pickers concert that rained out on July 14 has been rescheduled for Thursday, Aug. 4. Playing fiddle, bass, banjo, mandolin, and guitar, this group should be fun to hear. The free concert will take place at 7 p.m. at the Heritage Center Park. During August, the Sorensen Gallery will feature the Fosston Youth Art students. More than eighty young people participated in the program. Be sure to take a look when you are at the library. (Or come to see the display and then check out a book while you are there.) The Red Shoes Writers’ Retreat will be held August 25-27. Postponed from April, the event will feature five authors sharing their expertise through panel discussions, workshops, and programs. The Friday evening dinner is open to the public with entertainment by Elisa Korene. Proceeds from the tickets will go to FCLAA programing Tickets for the dinner are available online or by calling Bonnie Stewart at 218-280-9176. At the library, the summer library experience is over, with prizes to awarded this first week of August. Thanks to Nord’s and to Fosston Family Dental for their sponsorship. After a busy summer, the library will be quieter during August. There will be no storytime but it will resume in August. Thanks to the FCLAA for donating carpet squares to be used for storytime and for the donation of a Cricut (look it up.) Looking ahead to September, the library book club will resume with the book The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Michelle Richardson. New members are always welcome. Contract the library for more information. And did I mention there are also treats? Also, remember that the library will be closed on Monday, September 5, in observance of Labor Day.

Summertime

It’s July, “and the livin’ is easy,” because if it isn’t summertime now in the north country, it’s never coming. There are plenty of summertime activities at the Fosston Community Library Arts Center (although some of them are off-site). The summer Thursday night Music on the Porch concert series is sponsored by the FCLAA, but it takes place at Melland Park on the porch and lawn of the Heritage Center. All concerts are on Thursday evenings at 7 with free admission. I’ve been to the first two and the weather has cooperated. Coming up are four more concerts: July 7 – Sydney Melby will be performing 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s folk and rock music. July 14 – No Rest for the Pickers is made up of Sawyer Corcoran on fiddle, Johnny Pfaff on bass, Aiden Larson on mandolin, Joel Verschay on guitar and Corey Compbell on banjo. July 21 – Caleigh, an all-woman ensemble consisting of Dee Furfano, Lenore Siems, Deb Steinbar and April Lawson, all from Bemidji, have been playing Celtic music together since 1998. July 28 – The Occasionals, a rotating selection of Bemidji-based musicians will play tunes from many genres. They are a spinoff group of The Seasonals. Starting mid-July, there will be a display of Summer Youth Art in the Sorensen Gallery. With some cleaning, decluttering and painting (a really blue floor), space in the library basement has been transformed into a space for the summer art classes taught by Kirby Vossler. Stop by take a look. “Frozen, Jr.” directed by Abby Pearson was a huge success. With a cast of thousands (well, 40 or so) and sellout audiences, I think everyone had a good time. I certainly enjoyed watching it. The summer reading experience, “Explore! Underwater” continues at the library through the month of July so there is still time to pick up a reading log and qualify for the chances at some great prizes. There will be two more special programs: On Wednesday July 13, at 2 p.m. a naturalist from Itasca State Park will present “Underwater Exploration – Fish Sense. Apparently, fish have a special sixth sense. Who knew? On Friday, July 22, at 2 p.m. as the grand finale of the summer reading experience, there will be a pool party at the Fosston Civic Center. Participants are asked to come directly to the civic center for an hour of free swimming. Children under eight should be accompanied by an adult.

Perfect days in June

As the poet James Russel Lowell once said, “What is so rare as a day in June? Then if ever come perfect days.” After a long cold winter and a long cold spring, we are all ready for some perfect days. As a bonus to those perfect days, there are some perfect events scheduled at the Fosston Community Library Arts Center. The Fosston Library writers’ group has not met since before the pandemic. It’s coming back, with a reunion meeting on Tuesday, June 7, 6:30-8 pm. Participants are asked to bring something they have written to share or are welcome to just come and listen. New members are always welcome. “Explore! Underwater,” the summer library experience, will run from June 1 to July 31. Readers are invited to pick up a reading log and track their reading to be eligible for some great prizes. In conjunction with the summer reading program, there will be several free programs, the first one on Wednesday, June 8, at 2 p.m. Staff from the Bemidji Headwaters Science center will be at the library to present Animal Menagerie. Come learn about animals’ habitats, adaptations, defenses and more. On Wednesday, June 15, also at 2 p.m., there will be a watch party for a drawing class with cartoonist Rick Stromoski livestreamed at the library. Drawing materials will be provided. Then on Tuesday, June 21, at 10:30 a.m., Siama & Dallas will present an interactive music and storytelling experience. Come and hear music from Africa and traditional African instruments like Balafon and Mbira (I have no idea what they are.) This program should be ideal for young children and their families. The FCLAA is again sponsoring the “Music on the Porch” summer concert series at the Heritage Center grounds in Melland Park. The series will run each Thursday for six weeks and all concerts are free. The first concert, featuring Jeff Menten and Paul Nye (Acoustofiddle) will be June 23 at 7 p.m. What a great way to spend on summer evening! Rehearsals are underway for “Frozen, Jr.”, this year’s summer theater performance. Forty children are in the production, which is directed by Abby Pearson. Dates are June 28 through June 1. Tickets will soon be available at Nord’s Pharmacy and Gifts. If you haven’t yet seen the Nordic Threads exhibit in the Sorenson Gallery, it’s not too late, as it will be there through the month of June. Come and enjoy the Norwegian bunads, Swedish folk costume, Hardanger embroidery, and Norwegian klokkestrenge. The gallery is open during library hours.