Preview Shelf :July 26, 2007

To celebrate an annual commemoration August 1 - August 7, WIC representative Kristie Cox will furnished books for an exhibit at the Crawfordsville District Public Library that ties in with World Breastfeeding Week from adults' and children's points of view. From Jared Fogle in Indianapolis comes "Jared the Subway Guy, winning through losing (guide): 13 lessons for turning your life around". From Mary Hunt comes "Debt-Proof Living, Live Your Life for Half the Price Without Sacrificing the Life You Love". Other guides are Brian Kilcommons and Sarah Wilson's training manual "My Smart Puppy", Teresa Tapp's "Fit and Fabulous in 15 Minutes" physical workout, Dave Ramsey's "The Total Money Makeover" and Ilchi Lee's "Human Technology" toolkit of principles for a well-lived life. Two helps in the field of music are "How to Have Your Hit Song Published" by Jay Warner and "All You Need to Know About the Music Business" by Donald Passman. "The Beach Boys Anthology" offers sheet music to 44 of their classic songs. "The Beat Book" combines writings from that generation edited by Anne Waldman (forward by Allen Ginsberg). Two new books remember the Hungarian revolution of 1956: the small one is Michael Korda's "Journey to a Revolution" and the large photography album is "Revolution in Hungary" by Erich Lessing. "Return to the Hiding Place" by Hans Poley tells the inside story of how Corrie ten Boom's family sheltered him and many others from the Nazis. "The Lucifer Effect" by Philip Zimbardo is about understanding how good people turn evil. "The End of the World as We Know It" by Robert Goolrick is a personal story as the member of a family looking good but hiding evil. "What Paul Meant" discusses how early Christian followers faced divisive issues, and how especially Paul galvanized a movement based on Jesus' teachings. "Retrieving Bones" is a collection of 12 stories and many poems of the Korean War edited by Ehrhart and Jason. Barbara Kingsolver's "Another America" contains her poems that touch important aspects of our lives. "Daddy's Girl" by Colette Huxford shows her childhood innocence told in the narrative style of the poetic novel. Three collections about the 1860s are Suzanne Alexander's "Battle Cry of Freedom" poetry and verse of the Civil War, Paul Negri's "Civil War Poetry: An Anthology", and "The Poetry of the American Civil War" which contains many poets' works about aspects of the period all edited by Lee Steinmetz. Essays about country life make up "The Pond Lovers" by Contrary Farmer Gene Logsdon. "How to Set Up Your Motorcycle Workshop" is offered by C. G. Masi. There is also the very practical Haynes and "Motorcycle Maintenance Techbook" by Keith Weighillare. "Building Without Borders" offers sustainable construction for the global village written by several experts and edited by Joseph F. Kennedy. "Natural Remodeling for the Not-So-Green House" by Carol Venolia and Kelly Lerner is designed to bring a home more into harmony with nature. "The Berry Grower's Companion" by Barbara Bowling includes general principles as well as separate sections on strawberries, blueberries, grapes, minor crops and brambles. "Chasing Wildflowers" is Scott Calhoun's mad search for wild gardens. "One-Skein Wonders" pictures 101 yarn-shop favorites to knit. "The Solar Food Dryer" by Eben Fodor explains how to make and use a high-performance sun-powered flood dehydrator.

New Items at CDPL

Over 400 young readers have enrolled in the "Read-A-Lot" schedule at the Crawfordsville District Public library. Enchanted rewards have been furnished by the Crawfordsville Park and Rec Department, Applebees, Dairy Queen, McDonald's, and Pizza Hut. More than a few parents have remarked how highly the event has motivated their children. The big display of children's photographs, the castle, and the aura of dragons and knights and dress-up accessories have enhanced the popular attraction. Random House is furnishing a book to each student who completes the program that continues until July 31st. The whole project is underwritten by the Friends of the Library from their monthly Second Saturday book sales. The Friends generosity is enabling the Youth Department to offer 100 teenage participants reading opportunities for final drawings of an IPOD Nano, an IPOD Shuffle, and "The Princess Bride" and "The Prestige" movie DVDs. Congratulations are due! The Youth Department circulated a record 10,000 items in June, many to the 500 participating youngsters. Pleasant new offerings begin with "Shirley Temple: A Pictorial History of the World's Greatest Child Star" by Rita Dubas. Another large book presentation called "Strike Beyond Top Gun" by Rick Llinares shows the Navy Flyer's creed and facilities at Fallon, Nevada where high-performance jet aircraft training is centered. The third is Phil Bergerson's atmospheric "Shards of America" a folio of photographs depicting small town living. Indiana is represented by a living room in Richmond from 1998, and the Spiceland, Indiana senior class picture from 1968. Autobiographical books are Zac Unger's "Working Fire" with the details of his life as a Berkeley, CA fireman, Pat Conroy's "My Losing Season" (The Citadel basketball squad 1966-7), Emily Wu's story of her spellbinding childhood during China's Cultural Revolution titled "Feather in the Storm", and "Born in the Rains" Fadumo Korn's brutal treatment in Somalia as a seven-year-old who survived only because she was sent to Germany. Elizabeth Edwards (wife of John) tells her story "Saving Graces" about how she survived loss and disease, and how she credits the power of community to make our lives better and richer. Geoffrey Canada's shattering story of his sidewalk childhood in the middle of the 1960s Bronx drug scene is "Fist Stick Knife Gun". "Fried Eggs with Chopsticks" is Polly Evans' trip through China observing the culture torn between modern architecture and ancient mysteries. "Adventures in the City" by Ian Frazier "makes us fall in love with New York all over again". "Stick Figure" is Lori Gottlieb's childhood story of being obsessed with Beverly Hills thinness, told as a cautionary tale about the dangers of living up to society's expectations. "The Cowboy and His Elephant" is Malcolm MacPherson's look at Bob Norris (the Marlboro Man) as he adopted a female orphan to raise and return to Africa. "Rabble-Rouser for Peace" is John Allen's biography of Desmond Tutu, Nobel laureate and spiritual father of a democratic South Africa. Poems from the 1950s by Lawrence Ferlinghetti are entitled "A Coney Island of the Mind". An anthology of sacred prose from the B.C. E. era to the mid 20th century as poetry of fulfillment is "The Enlightened Mind" edited by Stephen Mitchell.

Genealogy Club "After Hours" Program

The Genealogy Club of Montgomery County will hold its next "After Hours Genealogy Research" Program on Friday, July 27, from 5:00-9:00pm at CDPL. This is a pizza supper and genealogy research program that takes place in the library...after it is closed for the day. There is no charge, but donations for the pizza are accepted!

5:00pm -- pizza in the Donnelly Room (lower lever)
5:45pm -- research in local history and reference area (2nd level)
9:00pm -- final closing

Advanced arrival (before 5:00pm) is required because the library is locked at 5:00pm.

Visitors are always welcome!

Please confirm your expected attendance by Wednesday, July 25, by calling 765-362-2242 (ext 118) or e-mailing gen@cdpl.lib.in.us

Genealogy Club upcoming program

The Genealogy Club of Montgomery County will have a presentation at its next meeting: July 10, 2007 at 7:00pm, in the library's Donnelly Room. Presenting will by Karen Zach, teacher and genealogist. She will be speaking on "Writing Family Memoirs." The public is invited! Call 765-362-2242 (ext 4) for more information.

In the Gallery this month!

Creative Restoration Expressed in Acrylic, Mixed Media and Wood

The impassioned RESTORATION creativity of two unique and unusual Crawfordsville artists will be exhibited in the cool comfort of the Library's Mary Bishop Memorial Art Gallery during the hot and humid days of July. These imaginative expressions of Nina Smith, acrylic and mixed media artist, and Mike Abney, wood working artist, quietly await visitors who will have the opportunity to merge with energetic works and enjoy the artist's vision.

RESTORATION: Acrylic/Mixed Media works by Nina J. Smith depicting a Recovered Past, Answered Prayers and Hope

In 1965, Nina (pronounced 9-ah) Smith was born in a rural area surrounded by dairy cows, rolling hills and rivers in Rome, New York.

The flat countryside and fields of corn and soybeans in Indiana, was a real surprise for Nina when she moved here from New York in 1997. As quoted by Georgia O'Keeffe, "Where I was born and where and how I have lived is unimportant. It is what I have done with where I have been that should be of interest",

In her early years, she often doodled in a notebook or on poster board with a ball point pen. Her maternal grandfather encouraged her to develop these talents and suggested college. Nina paid attention, began her education in advertising and design at a Community College and then transferred to Buffalo, New York where she majored in Graphic Arts. In 1989, she received a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Design and was ready to support herself with her skills.

Nina's design style developed while working as a graphic designer, currently working for a local screen printing company. Yearning for more on a personal level, Nina was drawn to fine art. She picked up a brush and began painting in acrylic. In this medium she could express personal feelings and emotions, not just paint a piece for sale. Her painting became therapy and a path to her own free expression.

In the realm of acrylics and the technical side of the fine arts, Nina is self-taught, but found herself greatly influenced by pop artist James Rosenquist and surreal artists Rene Magritte and Frida Kahlo while wandering the galleries of the Albright-Knox Contemporary Museum in Buffalo, New York.

Some of her paintings have a surreal quality, but she tries not to limit herself to one type or style. She prefers experimenting with texture, color, found objects and several different mediums to convey a personal story. With only a title as explanation, Nina asks the viewer to interpret the piece for themselves, and then join her on her journey.

Nina's drive and over-ambition to achieve a sense of self-worth through art, has often contributed to her downfall as an artist. To avoid this pitfall, Nina began embracing the Gift Giver (God) and now finds her art inspired with honesty.

"Art and life are often distorted by logic", Nina says, "just as faith and emotion are warped by over-analyzation and a human filter wanting to explain everything by science, politics, or law, rather than a simple trust in our own inherent beliefs".

The paintings and mixed media pieces in this exhibit are a representation of Nina's restoration. Some pieces represent a past no longer dwelt upon, others a present filled with determination and a will to change and be changed. Still others look toward a future filled with hope on a journey toward wholeness in testimony to the ultimate artist, God.

SHEKINAH WOOD TURNING: by Mike Abney

And a light broke through . . .

Mike Abney was born in Crawfordsville, Indiana. As a boy, he played along the banks of Sugar Creek and spent many nights in the woods, hunting 'coon. He knows "the hills and the hollers" like the back of his hand and can share exciting stories as he walks through the countryside.

Because of Mike's dyslexia, school was very difficult for him. He was unable to complete 7th grade, and to this day, struggles in a world of signs, numbers and letters. Soon after Mike accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior, new opportunities began to emerge. He met and was discipled by Pastor George Markey. Through the fellowship of the church, he became friends with Rick Payne. It was Rick who taught him the basics of reading. Later Mike worked with Bill Prescott of the CARA reading program to learn more.

Mike still rejoices when he remembers the first Bible verse he was able to read:
Preserve me, O God; for in You, I put my trust. (Psalm 16:1)

The Abney's home-gallery contains lovely wood pieces made from apricot, eucalyptus, oak, walnut, curly maple, cherry, sycamore, beech and other hard woods. As an amateur lathe turner, Mike likes to season his own wood and make many of his own tools. He often uses knots, burls, spalted woods and crotch pieces to create unique forms of art.

Mike has displayed his wooden bowls, vases and art pieces during several of Indiana's festivals and art shows. His work is also available in the Susie Gibbs Art Gallery in Lafayette and at the Lew Wallace Study in Crawfordsville. Most recently he was invited to display his work at the Frankfort Library. His "Termite Vase" was selected as part of the permanent art collection at Ivy Technical College in Lafayette. He is the 2004 Crawfordsville Art League, Downtown Art Fair Merit Award Winner.

His lathe-turned pieces can be found in homes and businesses throughout the United States and in private collections in Tibet, England and the Ukraine. He has enjoyed the times when an interpreter has called asking to bring a foreign visitor to Mike's shop. He demonstrates for school shop-classes and is available for private tutoring. Upon request, Mike makes special personalized pieces such as trophies and gifts for weddings, births, retirements and other special occasions.

For all of these accomplishments and more, Mike gives glory to the Lord.

Come often and stay long enjoying the work in this reflective, refreshing exhibit. You will be so happy you did.