Hub Staff

The Port Elgin Library held its sixth annual Stories for the Season event, where holiday and seasonal stories were read to a captivated audience November 18.

The story time session was hosted by Friends of the Library (FOTL), a group that supports programs and services within the building and its new chairperson Liz Dimand – Buczek was excited to hear The Hockey Sweater story prior to the event.

“This is one of our most popular events of the year, I’m really excited,” Dimand – Buczek said. “We have a variety of stories in terms of themes, there’s not just Christmas, but also Hanukkah and winter stories.”

Readers were introduced by Mini Jacques, with readings by six Saugeen Shores residents, a novelist, a journalist and a dignitary, to name a few.

David Mason read first. Mason read poetry related to snow from many different Canadian poets including stopping by woods on a snowy evening, which almost every member of the audience could recite, by Englishman Robert Frost.

The Power of Light, by author Laura Robinson, is filled with stories of Hanukkah. One story read by Robinson had a pertinent meaning relating to Jewish refugees escaping the Warsaw Ghetto during the reign of Hitler during World War II.

Robinson, filled with emotion and a few tears, paused during her reading to bring focus and draw a parallel to the current situation with Syrian refugees and their struggles in their home country of Syria. She stressed that, “it is really, really important that we welcome all the refugees that we can,” Robinson said before finishing her reading.

The story of The Christmas Card, a more upbeat reading, read by Michael O’Neill, drew the first half to a close.

During intermission there were a few treats available that had been handmade by members of FOTL, and also a silent auction that featured artwork by Peter Sheeler.

After intermission perennial readers Joan Harrison, Deputy Mayor Luke Charbonneau and journalist Sandy Lindsay got those in attendance right back into the holiday spirit with reading of: The Hockey Sweater, Ethan Frome, and Flowing Gold, to end another successful event.

The Friends of the Library are now on Facebook, and will post upcoming events for both the Port Elgin and Southampton branches.

On November 28, before the Port Elgin Santa Claus Parade, the library will be opening its doors and welcoming everyone to check out the 'Gingerbread Library', a way to keep warm before Santa Clause arrives.