Nesbitt Memorial Library Columbus, Texas |
Last Updatedd
May 06, 2014 | |||
News from Past Events | ||||
Live Oaks and Dead Folks 2013 Jayme Lynn Blascke, Ghosts of the Chicken Ranch Preschool Storytime |
James C. Kearney,
Friedrichsburg Amanda Danning, Imagining C. Barange |
News from 2010-2011 |
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Summer Reading Program 2013 |
Roger and Marilyn
Wade, Around Columbus |
News from 2006-2009 | ||
Live Oaks and Dead Folks 2012 | Alvin Thompson, Local Poet | News from 2002-2005 | ||
Trick or Treat!! Marjie Crip, River of Contrasts: The Texas Colorado Bruce Glasrud, Tracking the Texas Rangers |
Donaly E. Brice and The
Governor's Hounds Joe R. Lansdale Book Signing Blumberg and Kuntz Film: Live Oaks, Dead Folks |
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Live Oaks and Dead Folks Cemetery Tour 2013 | ||||
The 11th Annual Live Oaks and Dead Folks Cemetery Tour was held on November 1 & 2 at the Columbus City Cemetery. There were 12 "haints" which included William B. Dewees, the founder of Columbus. Photos from the event are linked below. One Two |
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Jayme Lynn Blaschke, Ghosts of the Chicken Ranch | ||||
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Author Jayme Lynn Blaschke presented his new book Ghosts of the Chicken Ranch. His presentation included a slide show of pictures from the book that were photographed by Lisa Elliot Blaschke, as well as, photographs that he had taken that were never before seen by the public eye. Jayme squashed some rumors surrounding the brothel and re-told memories the brothel’s last madam, Miss Edna, shared with him at their meeting two years before her death. Jayme also read excerpts from two chapters of his work in progress. More information about Ghosts of the Chicken Ranch can be viewed here. |
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Preschool Storytime 2013 | ||||
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More photographs August September October November December January February March April |
August 6 kick started our year round Preschool storytime and no better way
than with Puppeteer and Storyteller, Nitsana Lazerus! She performed two
shows. A morning show for Storytime and afternoon show about bullying for
school aged kids. Together she entertained 85 viewers in all! Now every
Tuesday at 10 am the library hosts storytime for preschoolers.* * December 24 and 31 there will be no Storytime. |
More photographs! |
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Summer Reading Program 2013 | ||||
These are some of the 35children that completed the goal of reading 70 books or 1750 pages.. |
Dig Into Reading was the 2013 Summer Reading Program theme. We truly appreciate our volunteer storytellers that came each Tuesday: Glenda Lambert, Jacob Truchard, Erin Koehl, Jessica Neath, Mary Mattingly, Danette Cantu, Shana Neisner and Deborah Mitchell. Of the 162 children that signed up for the reading program, 115 received certificates for reading at least 10 books or 250 pages. Thirty-five children completed the goal to read at least 70 books, or 1750 pages by July 29. After every 10 books logged, each child entered his or her name in a box for a drawing for one of eight $25 gift cards. The names were drawn at the closing program on July 30. Magician/Storyteller Julian Franklin was the headliner for the closing program for the 112th year in a row and got oohs and ahhs from the crowd of 94 children and 39 adults. Overall, at least 508 children and 156 adults attended the Tuesday programs. |
More Summer Reading Photos |
Live Oaks and Dead Folks 2012Live Oaks and Dead Folks 2012 | |||
The 10th annual Live Oaks and Dead Folks event was held on the evenings of
November 2 and 3, 2012 at the Columbus Odd Fellows Rest Cemetery. Eleven "haints" were portrayed by local actors for two hundred guests each night. This
year the tour was also part of the first
annual Columbus Folk Fest. Live Oaks and Dead Folks Photo Spread: One Two Three Four |
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Trick or Treat! | |||
Trick or Treat! One hundred seventy Kindergarteners, teachers and parents
came in for treats on October 31, 2012. Some kids will never be too old for
costumes. More Trick or Treat Photos One Two |
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Marjie Crisp, River of Contrasts: The Texas Colorado | |||
More event photos | Author and illustrator Marjie Crisp presented a slide show of her trip on the Colorado River from its headwaters near Lubbock down to Matagorda Bay, to 25 guests. She sold copies of her book, River of Contrasts: The Texas Colorado, as well as shirts and posters. | ||
Bruce Glasrud, Tracking the Texas Rangers | |||
Tracking the Texas Rangers is an anthology of sixteen previously published articles and chapter excerpts, arranged in chronological history, covering key topics of the intrepid and sometimes controversial law officers named the Texas Rangers. The book is intended for students, teachers, scholars, and the general reading public. Bruce A. Glasrud was Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences and Professor of History at Sul Ross State University. He is a Fellow of the Texas State Historical Association and of the East Texas Historical Association. His nineteen books include Buffalo Soldiers in the West and Brothers to the Buffalo Soldiers. | |||
Maudine Brubaker, Do I Dare? | |||
James C. Kearney, Friedrichsburg | |||
Local historian
James C. Kearney returned to the Nesbitt Memorial Library to present
FRIEDRICHSBURG, which he translated from the 1847 German
novel by Friedrich Armand Strubberg. He also annotated and drew
illustrations for the novel portion of the book, and included images from
other collections to support what really happened as Fredericksburg, Texas
was being settled. The novel's author Strubberg (or Dr. Schubbert, as he
was known at the time) was the first colonial director of Fredericksburg and
was fired from the position. He was then involved in a gun battle in
northern Fayette County, in which two people were killed, as referenced in
Kearney's first book Nassau Plantation: The Evolution of a Texas German
Slave Plantation. Proceeds from the initial sales of FRIEDRICHSBURG were shared with the Nesbitt Memorial Library Foundation. Check these other sites for more information about the book: The Colorado County Citizen, The Texas Monthly, and various internet book sellers. |
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Amanda Danning, Imagining C. Barange | |||
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The Nesbitt Memorial Library was fortunate to have forensic artist and local
resident
Amanda Danning present "Imagining C. Barange" on May 22, 2012. Danning
displayed the head she reconstructed from the skull of a possible sailor,
whose name might have been C. Barange. The skull was from the 1686
LaBelle shipwreck off Matagorda Bay, and "C. Barange" was the name engraved
on a cup found near the skull.. She presented highlights of the
reconstruction process that she used in this and numerous other projects.
Along with husband Jim Brasher, Danning has been very active in the Columbus area. Danning is Chair of the Columbus Folk Fest Committee that is planning the first annual Columbus Folk Fest at the courthouse square, to be held November 2 & 3 of this year. |
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Roger and Marilyn Wade, AROUND COLUMBUS | |||
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Alleyton residents Roger and Marilyn Wade presented their book AROUND
COLUMBUS to a crowded meeting room on the evening of May 8, 2012. The
book contains over 200 vintage photographs from the Nesbitt Memorial Library
Archives. The Wades highlighted some of the photos used in the book, and
audience members identified their ancestors. Roger further tested their
Columbus knowledge with close-up views of local landmarks. A detailed
article about the Wades and this book project was published in
The Colorado County Citizen. Proceeds from the initial sales of AROUND COLUMBUS were shared with the Nesbitt Memorial Library Foundation. For additional copies check with the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, The Silver Barn gift shop, Arcadia Publishing or other internet book sellers. |
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Alvin Thompson, Local Poet | |||
Local poet Alvin Thompson began the evening of March 13, 2012, with several impromptu poems on topics brought up by the audience of twenty. He read selections from two of his books and reminisced about the teachers that encouraged him. When he was eight years old he started writing down the poetry that comes to him so easily. As a young man he spent a year in New York City in training for a church organization. Thompson has worked at Keyser Meat Market, Schobel's Restaurant, and Walmart. He is currently active in national and international poetry societies. In the photo with Alvin are his brother Ollie Thompson, Jr., sister Sadie Moore, niece Deborah Mitchell, brother Virgil Thompson, sister Judy Robinson, and nephew Johnny R. Thompson. | |||
Donaly E. Brice and The Governor's Hounds Book Signing | |||
Donaly E. Brice and The Governor's Hounds Book Signing | |||
Donaly E. Brice, who co-authored The Governor's Hounds: The Texas State Police, 1870–1873 with Barry A. Crouch, spoke to Texas history buffs on February 21, 2012 about the tumultuous Reconstruction period in which Governor Edmund J. Davis created the Texas State Police. Brice and Crouch, friends of the late Nesbitt Memorial Library director and archivist Bill Stein, did much of the primary research for the book at the library and at the Colorado County courthouse. Brice also wrote The Great Comanche Raid: The Boldest Indian Attack of the Texas Republic which became a classic. A well-known historian and lecturer, Brice continues his work at the Texas State Archives as Senior Research Assistant. Proceeds from the evening's books sales benefitted the Nesbitt Memorial Library Foundation. Brice is shown in the photo (right) with library director Nancy Koehl, and foundation officer Jim Kearney. | |||
Joe R. Lansdale Book Signing | |||
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Award-winning and internationally known Texas author Joe R. Lansdale gave a lively presentation at the Nesbitt Memorial Library on January 24, 2012. Lansdale recounted growing up with parents who survived the Great Depression, and living in a house with a great view of a drive-in theater screen and a beer joint in East Texas. His fiction is flavored with history, pop culture, horror and fantasy, such as the "Hap Collins and Leonard Pine" mysteries of which Devil Red is the latest title. One of his stories was made into the 2002 film Bubba Ho-Tep starring Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis and gained a cult following. His latest title, Edge of Dark Water, will be added to the library collection as soon as it is released. | ||
Blumberg and Kuntz Film: Live Oaks, Dead Folks: Bill Stein and the History of Columbus | |||
Caleb Kuntz and Mark Blumberg, University of Texas Film Institute graduate students, presented their short film: "Live Oaks, Dead Folks: Bill Stein and the History of Columbus" to 66 attendees on January 10, 2012. Blumberg researched and directed, and Kuntz filmed 17 hours of footage which they edited down to 15 minutes. The film was well received by the audience and the scenes included Stein's friends at Becky's Cafe, the county fair parade, and the Live Oaks and Dead Folks tour, with comments from the community including Jim Kearney, Virgil Thompson, Tracey Wegenhoft, and Roger Wade. The film focused on the former Nesbitt Memorial Library director/archivist's demand for accuracy in historical research. Blumberg and Kuntz will present a 27 minute version of the film to festivals. |