First Posted: 9/5/2013

PITTSTON LIBRARY

The Friends of the Library Fall festival will be held on September 14 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be a flea market, book sale and bake sale. From 10 a.m. to noon, there will be a potato chip taste test inside the library. In addition the Reading Therapy dogs will be here for the children from 10 to 11:30 a.m.. JustinCredible will be there at 11 a.m. making balloon figures for the kids. Then at 11:30 a.m. there will be a children’s program “Dig into being Healthy.”

The following regular programing has resumed in September:

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• Teen Advisory Group (TAG) will meet Sept. 12 at 6 p.m. New members welcome.

• Lego Club will be held every Monday at 4 p.m. starting Sept. 16

• Craft Club will be held the second Monday of each month at 6 p.m. The first meet up for the fall is Sept. 16

• Science Club will be held the third Thursday of each month at 4 p.m. The first meet up for the fall will be Sept. 19.

• Movie Nights will be held monthly. The first is Sept. 26 at 5:45 p.m.

• Snacks and Stories is a NEW storytime for kids of all ages! Kids will meet on Wednesdays at 4 p.m. The first storytime will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 18.

• Storytime for kids toddler and preschool age will begin the Week of Sept. 16.

• Toddlers will meet on Tuesdays at 10 and Wednesdays at 11:30 and Preschoolers will meet on Tuesdays at 11:30 and Wednesdays at 10. Call to register 654-9565

• Board Game night will be held the first Monday of each month at 6 p.m.

Fall Raffle continues. Win a weekend of football November 8 to 10, Notre Dame @ Pittsburgh and Steelers vs Bills. The trip is arranged through Paulsen tours and features all transportation, hotel accommodations, game tickets and tail gate party cost $10 a ticket.

Taste of Greater Pittston will be on Sunday, Sept. 8 from 2 to 5 p.m. on the library grounds. A sumptuous sampling of the Greater Pittston area restaurants and artisan wines. Complimentary tasting then voting of your favorite wine made by local award winning artisan wine makers. Raffles and 50/50’s and more. Tickets are $30. Call the library or email lisajoyce67@hotmail.com

Train Ride The Greater Pittston Charity Train Ride will begin at 9 a.m. on Sunday September 15 and it’s going to historic Jim Thorpe. Cost $65 apiece. Tickets are still available. Forms can be picked up at the library or the YMCA. The train is a 1920’s Era Open Coach pulled by a diesel locomotive. A wonderful fun family trip.

Library expansion committee meets on Sept. 11 at 6:30 p.m. Anyone interested please call the library and ask for Howard Grossman, the fundraising director.

WEST PITTSTON

The West Pittston Library announces the following programs:

• Download free e-books

E-books are now available for you to borrow; sign-up for a device specific workshop instructed by Anne Bramblett-Barr and Summer Belles.

Bring your own device and learn to navigate through the library’s e-book collection. Basic knowledge of your mobile device is required.

Ipad instruction September 23 at 6:30 p.m.; Nook HD/HD+ instruction September 17 at 1:00p.m. and October 16 at 6:30 p.m.; Google Nexus 7 instruction October 1 at 1 p.m. and November 11 at 6:30p.m.; Kindle Fire instruction October 28 at 6:30p.m. and November 12 at 1:00p.m.

Registration is required for this free program.

• The Titanic and Its Pennsylvania Passengers

Did you know Milton Hershey was booked to board the Titanic but at the last minute changed his plans? Hear more stories about fate, heroic rescues and personal tragedies from Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commissioner William Lewis, Wilkes-Barre area resident Mae Thomas who has close family ties to the disaster, and veteran area newsman David DeCosmo who will share his story of how he helped to solve a 60 year titanic mystery on September 30 6:30 -7:30 p.m. Registration is required for this free program.

• West Pittston Library Book Club

Grab a cup of coffee and join the WPL Book Club in an informal discussion of member-selected books.

There’s no need to purchase the books; just ask at the circulation desk for an available copy of the month’s selection. The book club meets the first Tuesday of each month at 6:45 p.m.

Registration is recommended for this free program.

• Meet the Author Series: Sharon Saracino

Meet local author Sharon Saracino and join her in a discussion of her newly released novel, Death Benefits.

The novel follows Max Logan who has grown more bitter, sarcastic and solitary since her divorce. She feels she has spent a lifetime getting the short end of the stick through no fault of her own and soon finds herself dead, the victim of a D.I.E. (Death in Error) caused by an overeager Grim Reaper in Training.

She brokers a deal to be sent back to Earth as a temporary substitute for the Superintendent of Spiritual Impediment. Can a woman who won’t recognize her own problems rectify the issues of the living impaired? Or will she discover that concentrating on their issues gives her a new perspective on her own? Stop into the library to check out a copy of her novel before the event and come prepared to ask questions and share your reactions.

The event is November 5 at 6:30p.m. and is sponsored by the Friends of the West Pittston Library. Registration is recommended for this free program.

• Make Your Own Pasta

The dynamic duo are back! You loved their bread making class, now join Art Valli and Mary Agolino on October 2 6:00 to 9:00p.m.to learn the traditional way to make homemade pasta dough that you can use to make a variety of pasta like ravioli and lasagna.

You’ll mix, roll, cook and eat in this class so come prepared to work hard to work up an appetite. The fee is $20 and will meet at Assembly Room in the First United Methodist Church, 408 Wyoming Avenue. Registration is required.

• Friends of the Library Meeting & Fundraisers:

– Join the Friends: The Friends of the Library will be meeting at 12:30p.m. on 9/9, 10/7 & 11/4 at the library.

– BonTon Community Day: For $5, enjoy a $10 off coupon, a 20% coupon and many more discounts all day on Nov. 15th & 16th. Booklets are available at the front desk of the Library desk.

• Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Throughout the month of October, raise awareness and celebrate survivors! During the month of October, the library will be selling pink Breast Cancer Awareness bracelets and all money raised will benefit Candy’s Place, Forty Fort, PA, a non-profit, donation-funded wellness center, providing cancer education, services and therapy for all cancer patients.

• Beginner Crochet Class

Want to learn how to crochet? In this three-week beginner crochet class, new West Pittston Library Circulation Assistant Nikki Sunday will teach you how to chain stitch and single crochet stitch. The class will meet October 8, October 15, and October 22 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.

The best part is that you’ll leave the class with your own beautiful handmade scarf just in time for the chilly season! Crochet hooks and yarn will be available to borrow for the first class. The fee for this class is $20 which benefits the library.

Registration is required.

• Removing Computer Viruses

Tired of viruses slowing your computer down or, worse, making it crash? Tired of paying someone to remove a virus every time your computer catches one?

Jim Luft of Iron-Tech Computer and Network Services will teach you to take matters into your own hands and remove common computer viruses yourself September 25 at 6:30 p.m.

Registration is required for this free program.

• Local History & Genealogy Workshop

Mary Portelli and Sandra Panzitta of the West Pittston Historical Society will host a program that will feature sources of local history and genealogy that can be accessed online: newspapers, courthouse resources, census records, local city directories, cemetery records and other resources.

They will also look at the West Pittston Library’s collection of local historical books and references that could be used for historical or genealogical research.

This program will be of interest to local genealogists, historians and those researching the history of their West Pittston home October 19 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Registration is required for this free program.

• Create It! Fall Paper Floral Arrangements

You’ve seen them on Pinterest, now is your opportunity to try your hand in the DIY craze of the year! Bridget Giunta Husted, owner of Knot Just Any Day Photography & Design, will teach you how to make a beautiful paper flower arrangement that will decorate your home for the autumn season on October 17 at 6:30p.m. Look for an example in the Library this fall.

The fee is $10; please bring your own scissors. Registration is required.

• 140th Anniversary Celebration

The Board of Trustees cordially invites you to join them in celebrating the 140th Anniversary of the founding of the West Pittston Library on November 16 from 6:00-11:00 p.m. at Fox Hill Country Club.

Commemorate this special occasion by mingling with your friends and neighbors during a two-hour open bar, choosing from a variety of dinner options from the available stations, and dancing to live music for $60 per person. Contact the Library for more information.

• Wine Tasting Event

The Friends of the West Pittston Library are excited to announce their Second Annual Wine Tasting Fundraiser September 8 at 5:00 p.m. Join everyone for an evening of wine tasting, light hors d’oeuvres and mingling. Tickets are $20 each or $35 for two.

Ray Bartolai from Bartolai Winery in Harding will be hosting the event. Registration is required.

• Cigar & Scotch Pairing at El Humidor

Cigars and scotch go together like politicians and bad behavior. Zing!

Spend a crisp fall evening sampling the blue peat smoke essence of Laphroaig in contrast to the elegant, floral spirit of Glenmorangie and learn which cigars bring out the flavors of both. Jonathan Walsh, owner of cigar store El Humidor, will indulge your taste buds and mind in this event that promises to bring more entertainment than our jokes.

The event will be held at El Humidor, located at 1116 Hwy 315 in Plains Township October 9 6:00 to 8:00p.m. Register at the Library or at El Humidor.

• I Want My Mummy

Why was the mummy so tense? He was all wound up! Mummy jokes, movies and books…why do mummies hold such a fascination in popular culture?

Join favorite Egyptologist, Dr. Steve, from the UPenn Museum of Archeology & Anthropology as he explores this question and teaches us the science behind Egyptian mummy-making on October 24 at 6:00 p.m. at the Trinity Episcopal Church, 220 Montgomery Avenue.

This program is made possible by the Alice Judge Costello Lecture Series. Registration is required for this free program.

• Flood Stories

For many of those affected, time will always be marked “before” the 2011 flood and “after.” What are your memories of the historic flood?

What are those of your friends and neighbors? Wilkes University freshmen enrolled in “The Power of Story” class collected oral histories of Wyoming Valley residents’ experiences in the flood.

Join them as they present excerpts from the stories at a special Library presentation on November 13 at 6:30p.m. Registration is recommended for this free program.

• Banned: To Kill a Mockingbird

Celebrate Banned Books Week (9/22-28) by joining our new Adult Services Coordinator Jen Moran on September 25 at 6:00 p.m. in a discussion of Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, which holds the title of the fourth most challenged novel of all time. Copies are available at the front desk of the Library.

Registration is required for this free program.

• Edgar Allan Poe: Tales of Mystery and the Macabre

Celebrate all things spooky by joining our new Adult Services Coordinator Jen Moran in a discussion featuring the classic Edgar Allan Poe stories “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” and “The Pit and the Pendulum” on October 23 at 6:00 p.m.

Copies of the stories are available at the front desk of the Library. Registration is required for this free program.

Chil

• Story Time is at 1:00 p.m. every Friday. Each Story Time includes books, songs and crafts related to that week’s fun, kid-friendly theme. Sign up each week by Wednesday. Topics this fall include: Back To School, Grandparents Day, Flying High, Fall, Cooking, Zoo Animals, Halloween, Arthur, Little Critters, Bears, and Thanksgiving.

LibLab is held at 6 p.m. on Tuesdays. Library Laboratory is back to engage kids ages 9 and up in science-based, hands-on learning activities. Measure, mix, compare, experiment and test in a fun environment where failure is not only possible, it’s welcomed. Class size is extremely small so call the library to pre-register.

– Session 1 – Balance will be on September 10. Learn how center of gravity effects balance with Swirly Snakes and Bendy Balancer. See how a piece of paper uses physics to balance a book. Hypothesize how twelve nails can balance on the head of just one nail. Participants must bring the following items from home: a ruler and a small bowl or mug.

– Session 2 – Candy Science will be on October 8. Try to separate the colors of a Gobstopper, figure out the popping secret behind the famous Pop Rocks and remove the M from M & M’s. Participants must bring the following items from home: a small clear glass mixing bowl, liquid measuring cup, a shallow dish able to hold water, funnel, and a 12-16 oz bottle of soda. ALLERGY ALERT: we will be working with latex balloons.

– Session 3 – Sound will be on November 5 at 6:00 p.m. What’s that sound? Is it a Water Whistle, a Musical Straw, a Talking Cup, Screaming Balloon or a Buzzing Noise Maker? Learn about air movement, vibration, sound waves, aerodynamics, and even centripetal force. Participants must bring the following items from home: a drinking glass. ALLERGY ALERT: we will be working with latex balloons.

• Halloween Bash

The ever-popular Halloween Bash is being held on Oct. 25 at 6:30 p.m. Activities include story time and an array of games and crafts. Wear your best costume, have a ghoul ol’ time and leave with a bag of goodies. Please call the library to pre-register.

• Zombie Zelebration

The library is holding a Zombie Zelebration modeled after the Halloween Bash. This zelebration wouldn’t be complete without gorey games, a zombie walk that will surely have you Zombified and Zombie dancing that will give you a “thrill.” The Zombie Zelebration is on Nov. 14 at 6:30 p.m. Please call the library to pre-register.

• Stop by the circulation desk or call the library at 570-654-9847 to sign up for programs.

If a cost is associated with the program, the fee will be required at the time of sign-up to reserve your spot.