For more information or to register for programs, stop by the library, call 860-668-3896, check our website at www.suffield-library.org, or follow us on Facebook. All of our programs are free! Most of our programs are funded by The Friends of the Kent Memorial Library.
Mommy and Me Merengue
Starts Monday, May 1 for 4 weeks, 10:30-11 a.m., Senior Center. Dance together with your little one using the rhythm and movement of merengue. It is a fun class taught by Christine Kjellquist, a local ballroom dance professional from Ballroom Fever in Enfield. For parents/caregivers with children from birth to 5 years of age.
Ask George!
Saturdays, May 6 & 20 – Please make an appointment for 10, 10:45 or 11:30 a.m. George, a whiz at solving computer problems, is a Middle School student in Suffield. George can answer questions for adults and kids on viruses, gaming issues, email, browsers and downloading e-books.
U.S. Coin and Paper Money for Collectors
Tuesday, May 2 at 7 p.m. at 61 Ffyler Place, delve into the fascinating world of U.S. coins and paper money. Thomas Modzelesky, Jr. from Gemini Coin Investments will discuss what to look for when collecting U.S. money. The talk is ideal for the amateur collector. Attendees can bring a coin or paper money to the program and get a free appraisal of it after the presentation. Mr. Modzelesky, a Suffield resident, attends numerous coin shows and auctions. Since the start of his business in 1981, he has bought and sold tens of millions of dollars in coins.
Cellobop: Gideon Freudmann on Electric Cello
Thursday, May 4, 6:30-7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church. He is wonderful! You don’t want to miss his performance. Composer and electric cellist Gideon Freudmann enjoys an international reputation for his innovative compositions and unique style of playing. His art is inspired by the best of classical, modern, jazz, and blues traditions, and his music is both immediately accessible and richly detailed in its nuance and complexity. His music is heard on television soundtracks, he is a regular contributor to NPR’s All Things Considered, and he has produced 19 CDs. The Boston Globe said of him, “Taking a modern artist’s approach to the four-stringed instrument, Gideon Freudmann has brought the cello to a new realm.” His music has appeared in several episodes of TV’s popular Weeds and he has given a TEDtalk.
Promoting our own… Barbara Conibear Art Reception
May 6 at 1 p.m. at Phelps Hatheway Visitor Center. Barbara Conibear, a Suffield resident, Kent Memorial Library staff member and an avid flower photographer displays her photographs of sumptuous flowers. Come and greet her.
Welcoming New Americans: U.S. History & Policy on Immigration
Monday, May 8 at 7 p.m. at the Senior Center. Abigail Fisher Williamson will discuss how today’s immigrants differ from and are similar to immigrants of the early 20th century, and explain various proposals for immigration reform. She is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and Public Policy & Law at Trinity College in Hartford. Beginning roughly a century ago, U.S. lawmakers passed a series of restrictive laws that greatly curtailed immigration up until 1965. Today, immigration is an increasingly polarizing political issue with calls for greater restriction from some political leaders. Ms. Williamson holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy from Harvard University, an MPP from Harvard’s Kennedy School, and a BA from Williams College. Funding for her research has been provided by the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Ruth Landes Memorial Fund, and Time-Sharing Experiments in the Social Sciences (TESS). She is the author of articles, chapters, and reports, and the co-editor of the forthcoming volume, The Politics of New Immigrant Destinations: Transatlantic Perspectives (Temple University Press). Her current book project, Welcoming New Americans? Local Government and Immigrant Incorporation, focuses on municipal responses to immigrant populations and how they shape social and political incorporation.
Show Your Arrowheads and Artifacts with Jason Cromack
May 11 at 7 p.m. at 61 Ffyler Place. Jason Cromack is an Indian artifact enthusiast and a Suffield resident. He scours the ground for Indian arrowheads and artifacts. He found some of his treasures in Suffield. If you are an Indian artifact enthusiast too, come and share your collection with him.
Brides and Bouquets
Tuesday, May 16 at 7 p.m. at 61 Ffyler Place. Deborah Long Smith will present an overview of wedding flowers from the past century. This walk through history includes a lexicon of bouquet styles and is accented with photographs of brides and their flowers with an emphasis on the daughters of presidents. Participants will make a small ribbon-tied bouquet of fresh flowers.
Local Author: R.C. Goodwin Discusses His Book The Stephen Hawking Death Row Fan Club.
Wednesday, May 24 at 7 p.m. at 61 Ffyler Place. R.C. Goodwin spent most of his career as a psychiatrist working in prisons, so his powerful book, The Stephen Hawking Death Row Fan Club. set in a prison, rings true. In 2015, the book was listed on Kirkus Reviews’ Best Indie Books. It is a collection of seven stories concerning inmates, staff, victims and families connected to a maximum security prison with a death row. Taken together, the stories illuminate some of society’s darkest corners with doses of gallows humor.
Astronomy Inside and Out!
Thursday, May 25 at 7:30 p.m. Location to be arranged. Before observing the skies outside, we will be looking at the sky in StarLab, a portable planetarium which will be set up in the Great Room at the Senior Center. The StarLab is the property of the Suffield High School. This program will be limited to 20 agile people, as to view the StarLab, one has to crawl through a small opening. Afterwards, the group will move outside to view the real sky. For the outside part of the program bring flashlights with red filters (a few layers of red plastic wrap will work), binoculars, a pad or pillow to sit or lie on, tissues and your imagination.
Book Discussions
At 61 Ffyler Place
Tuesday, May 9 at 2 p.m. Cookbook Club
Thursday, May 11 at 12:30 p.m. Thursday Book Group discusses Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich.
Thursday, May 18 at 7 p.m. World Book Group discusses Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton.
Books in the Parlor: Tuesday, May 23 at 2 p.m. discusses Fever, 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson. Meeting is at the Phelps Hatheway House.