Tis the Season to be Jolly, Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly, and ring your Jingle Bells. Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, and Vixen along with all the toy-making elves have been Dreaming of a White Christmas. ABC Family has begun their 25 days of Christmas which is sure to give everyone at least one Silent Night during the month. The air is more crisp, the breeze is much cooler, and the stores are filled with red and green; it’s Christmas-time in the city! See what I did there?
All puns aside, more and more families are making plans to travel or have their loved ones come to them during the holidays. Unfortunately, there are many families in America who are forced to spend their holidays away from each other due to long-term hospitalization. This year, gracious and giving citizens of Highlands County were given the opportunity to become a light shining through the darkness to some of these families. Because of privately donated materials and utter selflessness of those who took the time to create cards, employees at the library were privileged to privately ship 50 handmade cards to a nonprofit organization that will distribute the cards throughout the nation. These cards will fall into the hands of a young boy or girl spending their holiday season in the hospital. All expenses were privately provided for by employees of the library, including shipping the envelope stuffed full of beautiful holiday cards.
On Friday December 4, Sebring Public Library hosted the card making event. These were no ordinary greeting cards; the creators of the cards thought out special holiday messages and meaningful decorations before closing them and putting them in the envelopes. Many of the card designers were children who came to the library during the day but some were part of an adult coloring group that meets on Friday mornings in the library meeting room. The goal of the event was to show kids that they can change someone’s life, no matter their age. As Lady Galadriel, from Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings,” said, “even the smallest person can change the course of history.” We wanted to make kids smile and I believe we accomplished that.
Sebring Public Library will have a short entertainment program on Saturday December 12 at 1:00 pm — jokes, skits, and crafts with Boo Boo and Homer the clowns, followed by free popcorn and a family movie rated PG; please call the library for movie titles. Throughout the month of December we will continue having weekly storytimes on Wednesday mornings. On December 19 at 2:00 pm we will show a family movie rated PG with free popcorn and toppings provided to movie-goers.
Santa is making visits to all three Highlands County Libraries this year! Tuesday, December 15 at 3:00pm he will be at the Avon Park Public Library; If you visit Santa, be sure to stick around for the Open House and Concert which will begin at 4:30pm. Wednesday, December 16 at 11:00am join us at the Sebring Public Library for a visit with Santa, holiday crafts, and gingerbread cookie decorating! On December 17, join the Lake Placid Memorial Library at 1:00pm for a Christmas story and crafts, visit with Santa, and a take home little treat!
All three Highlands County libraries will be closed Thursday, December 24 (Christmas Eve) and Friday, December 25 (Christmas Day) but will be open regular hours Saturday, December 26. If you have any questions about holiday hours please call your library or visit the Heartland Library Cooperative website at www.myhlc.org. Click on the “Upcoming Events” tab at the top of the page for a calendar chock full of events from all seven cooperative libraries.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kwanzaa, and Season’s Greetings to all!