There’s another new display in the lobby of the library. Winchester resident Faye Laubert has graciously allowed the library to exhibit some of her crafts.
A lot of patrons know Faye because she volunteers to help genealogists in the library’s Local History room. She’s also a pretty creative woman, with a quirky imagination. The highlight of her display in the lobby is a set of 12 painted bowling pins. Sound kooky? You bet they are, delightfully so.
On the bowling pins, Faye has painted Santa Claus and Mrs. Santa Claus, and to continue the frosty theme, a penguin and a snowman. There are also gourds painted like Uncle Sam, Popeye, pilgrims, a baseball player, a cat and a chef.
Rounding out the display are some gingerbread man-themed boxes and candle holders and painted cut outs and a gourd with pictures of cats. The cat gourd is wonderfully spooky — the cat’s head with large, luminous green eyes, taking up almost the entire gourd. Give yourself and your kids a treat the next you’re in the library by taking a gander at this new display.
The library has received two new books that will be of special interest to Kentuckians. The first is an autobiography of Kentucky’s Journalist Emeritus Al Smith. Mr. Smith was the host of KET’s Kentucky Comment program for 30 years, and he is still a regular commentator on Kentucky news shows.
It’s a fascinating and inspiring memoir. Here’s the way Mr. Smith sums it up in his introduction to the first chapter: “From one extreme to another, my early life went up and down: From a child in a mansion on Sarasota Bay to a teenager in a ramshackle house on a poor farm in Tennessee. From winner of a top national scholarship to Vanderbilt dropout. From dreams of fame as a fiction writer in the French Quarter to copyboy at the Times-Picayune. From a quick rise on two New Orleans dailies to hung-over days on a weekly paper and conflicted nights in a firetrap hotel in Kentucky ... . I saw the highs and lows. I wonder I didn’t die. The next 50 years were different: a lot of sober journalism; talking, writing, always a cause. A lot of gratitude and a family to love.”
This is Kentucky’s best newsman’s most honest report, and reading it you’ll not only learn a lot about Al Smith, but also a lot about modern Kentucky history. The book is titled “Wordsmith: My Life in Journalism,” and it can be found in the new books area near the public access computers or in the Kentucky biography section in the reference area. (Call number: KB Smit).
The second book is a must read for all Kentucky Wildcat fans who, during games, have a sneaking suspicion or know for a fact that the referee is cheating, blind, incompetent or a fraud.
The book is entitled “You’re the Basketball Ref: 101 Questions to Test Your IQ,” by Wayne Stewart. “You’re the Ref” includes basketball foul scenarios and their pertinent rules for games from high school through the NCAA to the pros, both men and women’s basketball. For the basketball trivia junkies, there are also quizzes you can take on your own to learn the answers and then amaze and astound your hardwood fanatic compadres. Read this book now and you can be in top ref reviling form for March Madness. It can be found in the new books section near the computers or in the nonfiction sports section. (Call number 796.323 Stew)
At the library we know that lots of Kentuckians, not just crafters, have Cats on their gourds.
