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“It was old-fashioned dessert and old-fashioned entertainment,” she said. “And you didn’t have to send text messages because your best friend was sitting right next to you.”
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Virgie Severson of Nelson, Wis., works on a jigsaw puzzle with granddaughters Tabitha Steger, 13, middle, and Morgan Severson, 6, both of Prescott, Wis., during the Friends of the Library’s Pie & Puzzles fundraiser event Sunday at the American Legion in Alma, Wis. (Photo by Andrew Link/Winona Daily News) |
Johnson shared her favorite pastime with the Alma community during a “Pie and Puzzles” fundraiser for the Friends of the Library on Sunday at Alma’s American Legion.
Johnson and other volunteers served up 228 slices of pie, including plum, peach, three kinds of rhubarb, sour cream raisin and sugar-free Dutch apple, at $2.50 per slice.
More than 100 adults and children tested their puzzle-ability, playing games from Battleship and Pick Up Sticks to chess and Concentration.
Many of the 56 puzzles and games were borrowed, bought or donated. Others Johnson made from scratch.
Sprawled across one table was a giant, homemade wooden United States puzzle. Johnson had glued a U.S. map across a 3 feet by 4 feet board. Her friend, Irv Stone, cut the pieces.
Johnson, who is president of the Friends of the Library in Alma, said she hoped to raise at least $500 to help fund the group’s many programs.
Johnson formed the Friends of the Library five years ago with eight students and a $40 budget. Last year, 117 students from across the county participated in the summer reading program alone.
The Friends’ outreach has grown to include literacy programs for adults, people who speak English as a second language and even inmates who reside at the Buffalo County Jail. Minimum operating costs now top $1,000.
One program brings library materials to those who are unable to get to the library. “It’s meals-on-wheels, for the intellect,” she said.
This summer’s reading program, in three Buffalo County locations, will explore stamp collecting. The kids will be able to design and paint their own stamps, which will go on display at Alma’s Art and Soul gallery.
Johnson said including artwork is important because of the recent downsizing of school art programs.
“Literacy is more than just reading,” she said.
Summer reading program
What: “Catch the Reading Bug” summer reading program in Buffalo County
When: Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the month of July
Where: Cochrane, Gilmanton and Nelson
Call: Alma Public Library at (608) 685-3823.
