Saturday, October 27. All Day! Vern Taylor Day. Shhhh – it’s a surprise. The Kent Memorial Library is honoring our hero volunteer who is a proud recycler and plant lover. The Town of Suffield will set up two recycling bins for shoe and e-waste (cell phones, computers, etc.) the week before his day. We will have donuts and coffee from Dunkin Donuts – as Vern loves to go there in the mornings. Staff will wear and encourage patrons to wear shorts (or a kilt) and t-shirts with funny sayings – Vern wears shorts year-round and always with a t-shirt that has a message. In the morning, the kids will have a slime craft (really a Halloween craft – but we will honor Vern by making the slime green (green for environmental green)). In the afternoon, there will be an adult program where adults can plant an air plant. Vern will come to the library at 1 p.m. to greet people. Vern’s daughter, Wendy Taylor, works at the library as the Children’s Librarian. His wife Dorian recently retired from the library. They wrote this about Vern:
Meet Vernon Arthur Taylor: pop-pop extraordinaire, fabulous father, loving spouse, loyal friend, caring resident, and compassionate human. Vernon grew up in Wheeling, West Virginia, where he fished with home-made poles, and jokes that due to playing in the hills of West Virginia all day, one leg is longer than the other. In his teen years, his family moved to Middletown, N.Y. before coming to Connecticut. He was the youngest of five and the only one born in a hospital. He is a veteran of Vietnam, serving four years in the Navy. He served 2 years on a radar picket ship in the northern Pacific Ocean and 2 yrs, 8 months as a submariner stationed at Groton, Connecticut.
Having been a sonar-man, he became an electronic technician for Ma Bell (SNET: Southern New England Telephone, aka AT&T). While working full time and raising a family of three with his equally amazing spouse, Dorian (Love), he received an Associate’s degree at the University of Hartford in electronics. Near the end of his 30+ years at SNET/AT&T, he attended Manchester Community College and earned an Occupational Therapy Assistant degree, and spent a lifetime educating himself on the subject of holistic health. In his spare time, Vern is an avid organic gardener and composter, and likes to read science fiction, now that he’s run through all of Zane Grey’s novels. He also volunteers at the Kent Memorial Library. Being a committed steward of the planet, he has taken charge of their recycling needs for over 25 years, and nurtures the plants every week. He has also served on the Friends of Kent Memorial Library board for 8 years. He is often to be seen at the library, lending a helping hand. If you ever run into Vern at the library (or the dump), say hi, for he enjoys meeting people, and exchanging new ideas.