Hop to the Funny Bunny Festival

            On Saturday, April 9, 2022, the Calhoun County Library held the Funny Bunny Festival from 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM.

As patrons entered the library, they immediately realized that a bunny had snuck in and left his tracks all around the library! They followed tracks through the children’s section of the library to find the Easter bunny ready to take a picture.

While waiting for pictures to print, there were a lot of activities for the children to enjoy. There were multiple tables full of crafts - bunny faces, chicks in eggs, egg painting, bunny bags - which they could make on the spot or take them home. In an adjoining room, there were snacks of ice cream, cupcakes, and pretzels. Our local Farm Bureau organization also had a table with information for parents and candy for the children. We even had room for kittens from For the Love of a Paw and representatives to explain why it is so important to adopt animals. You can go visit at 2610 Cleveland Street in Elloree to find a loveable friend!

Once outside, the kids really had a blast! At 11:00 AM, the Easter egg hunt began between the courthouse and the annex building. Age-appropriate areas were flagged, and no one was left with an empty basket. Once the Easter bunny waved his flag, the kids scattered in all directions within the boundaries. With over 200 eggs hidden, it was exciting to watch the kids scurry around, grab the eggs, throw them in their baskets, and keep searching for more and more!

After the egg hunt, kids enjoyed meeting animals in our little petting area. There were goats, guinea pigs, ducks, chicks, and bunnies just waiting for a friendly pat or some carrots or lettuce to nibble. Parents as well as kids had a wonderful time petting and feeding the animals; some brave kids were even feeding them right out of their hands!

Lastly, the adults could pick up the photo with the Easter bunny and get a very special Easter book to read and to add to their home library.  We had a “bunch of fun” at the Funny Bunny Festival and can’t wait to continue the fun throughout the year!

March Community Baby Shower

            Calhoun County Library held their very first community baby shower for parents and expecting parents on Sunday, March 27, 2022 from 3 PM to 5 PM. Anyone who was pregnant or had a baby under the age of one and was a resident of Calhoun County was invited to join us for a special evening all about babies and parenting.

            At the community baby shower, everyone was very happy with the outcome of beautiful decorations, plethora of people, and three rooms dedicated to all things baby. A few local companies came to give out information about a wide variety of topics. Thank you to all of our speakers who came out, spoke, displayed, and/or gave out resources so that everyone would have what they need to thrive.

            Javonnah Lewis, Cassidy Gleaton, and Quinetta Garner from Calhoun County First Steps work to get children ready for school so they can reach their highest potential and they also sign people up for Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. Dr. Sandra Stephens and LaShayla Venable from Family Health Center who talked about how a baby’s brain develops in such a quick time and that reading to a children helps with the growth process. Jennifer Madonna and Tomas Stephens from O.C.A.B. Head Start spoke about their pre-school program that is for three, four, and five year-olds. Donna Rhame from Regional Medical Center gave tips and tricks on how to breastfeed and why breastmilk is the best food for your baby. Patricia Funderburk from Safe Kids Orangeburg, Bamberg, and Calhoun Counties displayed the proper way to buckle a car seat and how to lay a baby down to sleep. Doctor Rosetta Dingle from SC State University showed how music and movement engage children and assist in their brain development.

            After that, all of the parents had the chance to move around and visit each table. There were toys, books, brochures with even more information, samples, bags, and contacts. At each station, one for each speaker, the parent would get their ‘Baby Shower Passport’ stamped. Once they visited each station and got a stamp, they would bring it to us. In exchange, they got a bag full of goodies! Diapers, wipes, a family literacy activity calendar, and five books to start their very own library!

            We will be having another community baby shower in the month of September this year so be on the lookout for that information coming soon!

            This project is made possible by a Library Services and Technology Act grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the South Carolina State Library.

Standing, from left to right: Javonnah Lewis (Calhoun County First Steps); Dr. Sandra Stephens (Family Health Center); Jennifer Madonna (OCAB Head Start); Donna Rhame (Regional Medical Center); Tomas Stephens (OCAB Head Start); Cassidy Gleaton (Calhoun County First Steps); Quinetta Garner (Calhoun County First Steps) and Janice Baskin (Calhoun County Library)
Kneeling, from left to right: Kristen Simensen and Beth Rast (Calhoun County Library
Not pictured: Patricia Funderburk (Safe Kids of Orangeburg, Bambeg, and Calhoun Counties); LaShayla Venable (Family Health Center)

Purple Martin Parade and Festival

            Calhoun County Library is happy to announce that on Saturday, April 23, 2022, the Purple Martin Parade and Festival will be here in the heart of Calhoun County! The parade will run its usual course through St. Matthews on Bridge Street starting at 10 AM, and the festival will take place on the grounds of the historic Calhoun County Courthouse from 11 AM - 3 PM. 

            Look for Representative Russell Ott atop one of Calhoun County's shiny fire engines as the Grand Marshall of the parade! The Calhoun County High School marching band will be featured in the parade as well as elected officials and county emergency and utility services. 

            During the festival, babies and toddlers can enjoy storytime in the Library and also "A Tangle of Tales" puppet show by internationally-acclaimed puppet theatre company Grey Seal Puppets to be performed on the front steps of the Courthouse at 12 PM, 1 PM, and 2 PM. Teens will enjoy learning with a great hands-on demonstration of drug and alcohol awareness by Vincent Sanders with the Edisto Health Coalition. All youth will enjoy the inflatable play space featuring obstacle courses, climbing walls, and slides. Everyone is encouraged to take a stroll through the Gressette Children's Garden for Pollinator Education to see what's buzzing and blooming! 

            There will be some great food and treats from numerous food vendors including such local favorites as B&H Family, Calhoun Country Market, G&G Catering, Harmony Ice Cream, L&R Grilling & Catering Service, and O'Henry's Catering. Everyone can shop around for purple martin houses and other interesting vendor items as well as county and state service.

            Purple Martin Sanctuary level sponsors for this year's festival are Dominion Energy, The Fitts Company, Inc., and Russell Ott for House of Representatives. Purple Martin Colony level sponsors this year are Calhoun AutoWorks, Paragon Advisory Services, Spires Heating & Air, Tri-County Electric Cooperative, and TriCoLink. Their and the contributions of other generous organizations help make this year’s Purple Martin Festival possible. 

            We hope to see everyone sitting on the sidewalk watching the parade and later at the Courthouse grounds for the festivities. Let’s celebrate Calhoun County together and welcome the purple martins home!

Mother Goose on the Loose with Dr. Seuss

             In 2009, the Mother Goose on the Loose program was introduced at the Calhoun County Library. It is a structured learning program for early child development that brings literature to babies, toddlers, and kids. This program is loved by many because of its focus on engagement through music, movement, stories, singing, dancing, and puppetry. It’s very exciting, energetic, educational, and enjoyable.

    Dr. Betsy Diamant-Cohen, developer of this program, was fascinated when she took her young son to multiple “Your Baby Needs Music” classes run by Barbara Cass-Beggs in the late 1980s. Her very first Mother Goose on the Loose program was in 1998 and it has been running strong ever since. With its engaging nature, it is understandable why! The Mother Goose on the Loose website states,“It helps young children develop and strengthen early literacy and school readiness skills in a nurturing environment through engaging activities.”

    Our teacher, Mary Jo Springs, has been conducting this program for 13 years! She is a wonderful teacher who loves to interact with everyone and encourages kids to be themselves by having fun. The kids get to sing along, dance around, bang drums, shake shakers, and enjoy their perpetual favorite, popping bubbles.

     This program is free to attend and is meant for children aged 0 - 3, but older siblings are more than welcome to attend and take part in the fun! It is every Wednesday at 10:30 AM. Every program includes ten activities performed in an expected routine. It is repetitive in nature because repetition helps children this age learn best. Sometimes the songs or a particular activity will be replaced with a new one, but there can be only one activity change from week to week. The Mother Goose on the Loose program does not aim to confuse the children who have memorized the activities because that is all a part of the special learning tools used to educate them. 

            The kids learn the order of activities, and it’s so lovely to hear them announce what’s coming up next. This energy created by the children, their caretakers, and Mary Jo make this a wonderful and adorable environment. One of the ten activities is always a storytime with a book or two. The books get changed out every week, but storytime is never skipped or omitted and always falls in the same place in the schedule.

    On Wednesday, March 2, 2022, one of the books Mary Jo read was Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss. Not only do children love his silly rhymes, but March 2 was National Read Across America Day and Dr. Seuss’s birthday, as well. Reading one of his books to the children at Mother Goose on the Loose was a perfect way to celebrate him!

    So, we hope to see you and your little ones next Wednesday at 10:30 AM to have fun at the library. If you cannot come to a program here at the Calhoun County Library, don’t worry, you and your child do not have to miss out on the fun. There are more than one thousand short videos on Mother Goose on the Loose’s YouTube channel! (Follow this link to go take a gander for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/c/MotherGooseontheLoose)

            Also, on April 30, 2022, we are having a very special event here at the Calhoun County Library to celebrate Día de los Niños and one of the activities will include a presentation of the Mother Goose on the Loose program en Español.

            Es tan emocionante! (It’s so exciting!)

(Photo by Rachel B. Ficek)