MARATHON CITY SESQUACENTENIAL

Last Saturday I was a reenactor in the cemetary tour which was a part of the Marathon City Sesquacentenial Celebration. Eight of us impersonated individuals buried in the town cemetary who had been instrumental in the establishment of the community.

I portrayed August Ritger who lived from 1857 to 1927. Mr. Ritger built the first brick building in town as a place to house his general store. He was elected the first mayor of Marathon, was president of the bank which he helped establish, started the first creamery in the community, and in his spare time he fathered 13 children.

The lady in the lower picture is an actual great-grandaughter of August Ritger. She was born in 1920 and was 7 when he died. She remembers him. What a wonderful lady. I was proud to be in the picture with her.

It was a great weekend in Marathon. They organized the event well. The Marathon County Historical Society also did a fine job in arranging for "living history" portions of the celebration.

It should be noted that folks in Marathon are considering arranging funding to find a new location for their very busy branch library. They are part of the Marathon County Public Library organization.

NEW DIRECTOR AT MCPL

The board of the Marathon County Public Library has announced that they have made their selection regarding a Library Director to succeed Mary Bethke. The new director will be Phyllis Christensen. Bethke has been grooming Christensen for several years, with Phyllis getting experience in all phases of operation of this great library. MCPL has nine branches in other communities in Marathon County in addition to the main facility in Wausau.

Ms Christensen is sure to continue the cutting edge library practices put into place by Mary Bethke, but is sure to be adding new "wrinkles" of her own as she establishes herself in the position.

Congratulation Phyllis ....... best of luck in your new position!

SUPER - BIG - LARGE - HUGE - COLLOSAL ------- BOOK SALE

The Friends of the Marathon County Public Library are holding another huge book sale this weekend. Well over 30,000 items are available ..... Books, CDs, DVDs, VHS Tapes, Puzzles, Artwork, LP Records, and other items.

The Special Members Only Preview Sale is Thursday evening, 4/26, 5:00 - 8:00 PM. What a great time to join the Friends and get the advantage of first pick!

Friday, 4/27, the sale runs from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM

Saturday, 4/28, the sale also runs from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM

Sunday, 4/29, there is a Special Bag Sale...All you can get in a grocery bag for $5.00. Bags will be provided.

And per usual, there will be a tip jar. So, if you have any money left in your jeans after you bought all the bags and boxes of books, you are welcome to empty your pockets in the jar.

Home schoolers and Seniors are encouraged to come. We'll treat you with Tender Loving Care. We have people who will help you get your books to your vehicle. See you this weekend at MCPL

WOULD YOU BELIEVE TWO-THOUSAND - EIGHT HUNDRED ???

Today, at the monthly Marathon County Library Board meeting, Director Mary Bethke reported that the official count of attendees at yesterday's 100 Year Birthday Celebration was 2,800 people! She had staffers taking attendance and this was verified in part by the amount of food dispensed.

So in 2 1/2 hours, MCPL greeted, pampered, informed, entertained, and fed nearly three thousand library supporters! Congratulations again, MCPL, for a job well done!

WHAT A BIRTHDAY PARTY !!!

"Schedule a party, and they will come"

That's what happened at the 100th Birthday Celebration for the Marathon County Public Library! Director Mary Bethke and her staff planned an excellent event. Staffers and members of the three boards of the library (including the Friends) performed various functions including acting as greeters. A band played; the barbershoppers sang; a radio station broadcast live from the main floor; a TV station crew wandered all over filming the patrons; drawings were held; stories were told to children; a Trolley carried people around the downtown area; and cake, cookies and punch were consumed. People even searched the stacks and checked out books!

All of this happened because an estimated 1,000 people came to join in on the birthday party! The Mayor was there, senior citizens were there, little children were there, teachers were there, students were there, people of many races and colors were there.

Many thanks to all of you who came to help MCPL celebrate. Those of you who couldn't make it missed one heck of a good party!

BIRTHDAY PARTY !!

The 100 Year Birthday Celebration for the Marathon County Public Library is being held tomorrow, April 15th at MCPL. The party runs from 1:30 - 4:00 PM.

What's happening??

Andy Z and the Spankin' Monkeys Band

The Golden Glow Barbershop Quartet

Free Trolley rides through downtown Wausau

Storybook characters, stories & activities for kids

Treats and birthday cake

Basket Silent Auction

100th birthday items to buy

Historical displays

WIFC 95.5 live remote

EVERYONE IS WELCOME

Note: Please do not come in your birthday suit!

100 YEAR ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

Mark April 15th on your calendar. No...your taxes don't have to be in the mail on that day...its a Sunday, so you have an extra day to get started on doing that! April 15th is the day of the official celebration of the Marathon County Public Library's 100 Year Anniversary. That afternoon there will be all sorts of activities going on at the Library. The members of the Friends Board, the Foundation Board, and the Library Board will be acting as greeters and guides to show you around the library. Displays will range from the library of the past to the library of the future. There will be a trolley running to take you from your parking area to the library. There will be refreshments. There will be something of interest for everyone.

So, if you're in the area be sure to stop in. If you're not in the area....make a special trip....it will be worth it.

VISIT TO STRATFORD BRANCH LIBRARY

One of my duties with the Friends of the Marathon County Public Library is to act as an "Ambassador". Each month I am to make a trip to one of the MCPL branches (or to another library), talk to the staff, view the facility, and report back to the Friends group.

This month I visited the Stratford Branch Library and talked with Janice Pankratz, the Branch Coordinator. Stratford is located on the Western side of Marathon County. The library is located in a very smart new building, right across the street from a park, on the North side of town.

Stratford established it's first library in 1930. The present library building was erected in 1995. Stratford is very proud of its library as 50% of the cost was paid for by MCPL and the other 50% was paid for by the community. There is a display on the wall of their nice meeting room which highlights all people who contributed at least $250 towards the building project. The Stratford branch has approximately 17,000 items in its collection, but has access to over 1 million items through MCPL & Wisconsin Valley Library Service's V-CAT system.

Ms Pankratz keeps her library neat, clean, and well organized. While there I saw a couple people going over newspapers and magazines in the reading area. A mom came in with a little girl who immediately rushed over to the play area in the children's section. I'd guess the children's area, which is very well stocked with books, covers 30% of the library's square footage. I saw some of the toys which the MCPL Friends had purchased. The library has 2 Internet terminals and 2 Catalog terminals. Janice indicated that joining V-CAT this past summer has been a big boon to "Home Schoolers" in her area. While there I saw a lady walk out with a huge stack of books which had just come in by courier.

The Stratford branch has a book discussion group, children's programs, and hosts various meetings in their facility. They will be doing their part in the MCPL 100 year celebration in November. Right now they are preparing for a Used Book Sale which will be held on March 7-8-9. Some of their inventory for the sale comes from local donations and some comes from the inventory of the MCPL Friends.

The Stratford Branch Library would be a nice place for you to visit. Janice is a very pleasant lady to talk to, and she'd be happy to show you around her facility.

400 N. Fourth Avenue
Stratford, WI 54484

Phone: (715) 687-4420
Email: Janice.Pankratz@mail.co.marathon.wi.us

DRACULA

Last October the Classics Book Club of the Marathon County Public Library read Bram Stoker's DRACULA as the month's selection. Our meeting was scheduled to be held within a couple days of Halloween and it seemed appropriate. I've never been a big Vampire fan but I confess to having enjoyed Stoker's book.

However, I realize that there are a lot of Vampire fans out there as evidenced by the success of Anne Rice's books as well as those of several other writers. I have a couple of alerts for such fans. Sunday evening on PBS there is going to be a newly filmed version of Stoker's DRACULA. It will star David Suchet who has been the star of countless POIROT mysteries.

Also, BookLetters Daily is featuring TODAY as a "notable title" a book called FANGLAND by John Marks. Marks is an acclaimed novelist and is a former producer for CBS's "60 Minutes". He reinvents the DRACULA epic in the halls of a television newsmagazine. The book is written in the form of diary entries, e-mails, therapy journals, and other artifacts of early 21st-century American professional-class life. "This vampire novel is a biting commentary on the way we live and work now."

The review written by Tasha Alexander of this, John Marks' third novel is entitled, "A Novel To Sink Your Teeth Into"

So OK, I'll give up the tooth commentary. Both the PBS broadcast and the book sound interesting. Tune in and check out the book on Amazon or whatever.

The picture at the top of this post troubles me. He looks like one of my wife's relatives!