Morgantown/Honey Brook SEPTEMBER 11, 2024
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
Birdsboro library welcomes new director BY FRANCINE FULTON
Community invited to Poole Forge Day BY FRANCINE FULTON
“Preserving Our Heritage Celebrating Our Children and Community” is the theme of this year’s Poole Forge Day, set for Saturday, Sept. 14, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Historic Poole Forge, 1940 Main St., Narvon (Churchtown).
Activities will include children’s crafts, live music, a volleyball tournament, historical craft demonstrations, a pony cart and pet parade and a display of military vehicles, antique brass cars and Gruber wagons. Admission and parking are free. New this year will be a craft area where children will be able See Poole Forge Day pg 4
During the turtle race, green rubber turtles will be dropped into the Conestoga River.
Rachel Stewart is the new director of the Boone Area Library.
I would go to that library rather than wait to have them sent to the Exeter Library to be picked up.” She interviewed for the Birdsboro library position via Zoom in July and walked into the library for the first time in years on Aug. 19, her first day on the job. “Coming in for the first time, I thought the building was a lot larger than I remembered as a teenager. That may have been because I have not been in every nook and cranny of the library,” she noted. “I don’t think I knew the community room existed.” “I immediately recognized that there was new carpet and they painted. They definitely have made some improvements,” she added.
Since her return, she has seen several old friends from the area. “I already have seen two people that were friends from high school and some acquaintances (have) come through and said, ‘I didn’t realize you were back.’ It’s great to see some familiar faces,” said Stewart. One of her first challenges as the new library director is to oversee the installation of a new HVAC system, which provides the library building with heating and air conditioning. “We have some challenges ahead of us, but hopefully we can work through the most pressing issues and work towards some fundraising goals to help make some major building improvements over the See Library director pg 6
POSTMASTER: PLEASE DELIVER SEPT. 11, 2024
PRSRT STD ECRWSS U.S. Postage Paid Engle Printing Co
Postal Patron
MCC
“O
ne of my favor ite aspects of working in a library is getting to know the patrons, even on firstname basis,” said Rachel Stewart, who was recently named the new director of the Boone Area Library, noting that she also has a goal of learning what individual patrons liked to read. “Getting to connect with the kids is (also) really special - getting to see the joy on their faces when you add new items or programs. The ability to see everybody is on a daily basis and get to the know the patrons is really important to me.” Stewar t grew up in Berks County and recently returned to the area with her husband and daughter to be closer to family. “Exeter is where we call home. I lived (in Berks County) through college, and I moved to Illinois in 2017 and that’s where I have been since moving back a couple of weeks ago,” she shared. “We knew we wanted to move back, and I had been applying for different jobs around here and this is where I landed.” Stewart, who has spent the last 10 years working in libraries in Illinois, earned a bachelor’s degree in library science from Kutztown University and earned her master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She recalled visiting the Boone Area Library as a teenager when she was in search of specific books on her reading list. “I was and still am such an avid reader,” she said. “I would get so impatient (waiting for books) during the summer and if I knew my books were available at other libraries,
VOL XXXII • NO 32
Neighbors meetings to focus on fellowship BY FRANCINE FULTON
“We really want to focus on fellowship this year. We have 12 or 13 speakers, but a lot of our programs will be digging deeper into the community and getting to know each other better,” said Madison Petersheim, a member of the planning team for Neighbors, a Christian women’s fellowship group that meets at Conestoga Mennonite Church, 2779 Main St., Morgantown. Meetings, which began on Sept. 10 with a welcome back
brunch, will continue every Tuesday through May 13, 2025, with the exception of a holiday break on Dec. 24 and Jan. 31. Petersheim, who is on the planning team along with Rachel Mast and Rebecca Beam, announced that the group is gathering at the church weekly after meeting every other week last year. The meeting time has also been changed to a later time of 9:30 to 11 a.m. to accommodate women who drop off their children at school. E ach Neig hbors meeting See Neighbors pg 2
R110428
townlively.com