Insights into Mary Todd Lincoln’s pain and triumphs

TOMS RIVER -  Ocean County Library will present “Pass My Imperfections Lightly By-Mary Todd Lincoln’s Journey” in eight branches.

Actor Linda Turash will allow the audience to share an intimate 1876 evening with Mary Lincoln as she reflects on the triumphs and tribulations of Lincoln’s life and demonstrate her resilience in the face of her grief.

Turash, as Mary, will share memories ranging from her courtship with Mr. Lincoln and her support of his political ups and downs, to her bereavement of their sons’ deaths and her husband’s violent assassination.

Mary will also recount the praise and criticism of her First Lady’s role in the White House.

Those reflections will continue with scandals of her life after the assassination, including her involuntary commitment to an asylum and her subsequent release.

The program will provide insight into yet another side of the Lincolns’ extraordinary role in American history.

The programs will be held at the following branches:

Manchester, 21 Colonial Dr., Sat. May 11 at 2 p.m.

Berkeley, 30 Station Rd, Bayville, Tue. June 4 at 7 p.m.

Little Egg Harbor, 290 Mathistown Rd., Wed. June 5 at 7 p.m.

Island Heights, 121 Central Av., Mon. June 10 at 7 p.m.

Plumsted, 119 Evergreen Rd., New Egypt, Wed. June 12 at 7 p.m.

Beachwood,126 Beachwood Blvd., Mon. June 24 at 7 p.m.

Tuckerton, 380 Bay Av., Mon. July 1 at 7 p.m.

Pt. Pleasant Borough, 834 Beaver Dam Rd., Wed. July 17 at 7 p.m.

These programs are free and open to the public. Registration is required. Contact the branch or register online at www.theoceancountylibrary.org .

OCL closed Friday May 17 for Staff Development Day

TOMS RIVER –   All branches of the Ocean County Library will be closed Friday May 17 for its annual Staff Development Day.

The library’s databases and Web site www.theoceancountylibrary.org will be available during that time.

All branches will resume their normal business hours Saturday May 18.

OC Human Relations Commission to present a program about preventing harassment in the workplace

The Ocean County Human Relations Commission will present “Do the Right Thing: Prevent Harassment in Your Workplace” at the Toms River branch of the Ocean County Library, 101 Washington St.,  Wednesday May 15 at 6:30 p.m.

Esther Nevarez, NJ Division of Civil Rights, will explain the state laws about harassment and present real case scenarios to educate people how to avoid many problems, including potential lawsuits. She will also answer participants’ questions.

Nevarez has presented this training throughout New Jersey.

The program is designed to help business owners, managers, and supervisors, educators, paraprofessionals, health service providers, corporate human resources officials, civil servants and nonprofit organizations prevent harassment in the workplace.

The program is cosponsored with the Ocean County College Office of Multicultural Services, Jersey Shore PFLAG, Ocean County Library, and the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.

Professional Development Certificates are available upon request.

The program is free of charge but registration is required. To register contact the library operator at (732) 349-6200 or (609) 971-0514 or go online to www.theoceancountylibrary.org and click on “Events and News.”

The Human Relations Commission is a volunteer group working under the auspices of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office in its effort to reduce and eliminate bias crimes and incidents.  The Commission is proactive in providing programs for the community that helps to increase understanding and respect between groups and individuals in Ocean County.

OCL celebrates its volunteers

Several branches of the Ocean County Library recognized the many people who have volunteered their time to help us connect people and build community.

These events, part of the National Volunteer Week (April 21-27) festivities, were an opportunity for the library branches to thank those people who do such varied tasks a maintain the book shelves, clip newspaper articles, and deliver books and other materials to the county’s homebound residents.

The Toms River branch hosted a social tea for its volunteers April 23 in the Bishop Building.  Ocean County Library Director Susan Quinn and Assistant Director Valerie Bell presented Carol Lange a Bronze Level  Presidential Volunteer Service Medal for providing 126.5 hours of service during the past year.

Carol has assisted the library’s Public Relations department by combing local media for articles about Ocean County Library and maintaining a binder that contains those clippings for more than three years.

National Volunteer Week was established in 1974 to focus national attention on the impact and power of volunteerism and service as an integral part of our civil leadership and responsibility.

Gangwise Project: protecting our youth

TOMS RIVER -  Three branches of the Ocean County Library will present “The Gangwise Project: What our Community Needs to Know” during May.

Presented by Edwin Torres, a retired State law enforcement Lieutenant and juvenile gang expert, attendees will learn the general warning signs of gang affiliation. He will also discuss why kids join gangs and offer a brief history of modern gangs.

Torres will give advice to parents and teens about avoiding gangs and reporting on local gang activity. He will also tell where parents can go for help if they know their child is involved with a gang.

The program will be held:

• May 7 at the Brick branch, 301 Chambers Bridge Rd.,  (732) 477-4513
• May 16 at the Little Egg Harbor branch, 290 Mathistown Rd.,  (609) 294-1197
• May 20 at the Lakewood branch, 301 Lexington Av.,  (732) 363-1435.

The program is suitable for teens, ages 12 and up, their parents, and other interested adults such as educators, clergy and people who work with youth. Professional Development Certificates will be provided.

The programs are free and light refreshments will be served. Registration is required. Telephone the branch or go to the library’s Web site www.theoceancountylibrary.org .

Sign-in for each program begins at 6 p.m. and the program will begin promptly at 6:30 p.m.

The programs are funded through a community collaboration of the OC Board of Chosen Freeholders; OC Youth Service Commission; OC Health Department; NJ Superior Court; the Ocean County Library; the Municipal Alliance Project, and the NJ Governor’s Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse.

OCL to celebrate kids & launch new Tween novel

 

 

TOMS RIVER –   For author and Ocean County Librarian Nan Marino the stories heard during one’s middle grade years are the ones people remember most.

Her second novel, “Hiding Out At The Pancake Palace” written for the Tween-aged audience, is one she hopes children will remember for a long, long time.

“It’s a positive story and it’s about New Jersey,” she said.  And though it was written before Hurricane Sandy slammed into the state, she is proud to say it demonstrates the resilient characteristic that so many New Jersey residents have displayed in the storm’s aftermath.

Ocean County Library will host 108 local school children who have been displaced from their schools Tuesday and present its Ocean County launch in Toms River Tuesday April 16 at 10:30 a.m.

Those schools include the Hugh J. Boyd School, Seaside Heights that is now holding classes in Central Regional High School, and Beach Haven Elementary School whose students are attending classes in Eagleswood Township Elementary School.

“Ocean County Library is hosting a party for these school children who still have no school to call their own,” said Marino. “It is allowing them to have some fun during this stressful time of recovery, rebuilding and relocation.”

Each of those students will be given a copy of the book, compliments of Roaring Book Press (a subsidiary of Macmillan,) Nan Marino and the Ocean County Library, and a pin commemorating the event. Marino will discuss her book, and the library will host different activity stations.

In the book, 11-year old musical prodigy Elvis Ruby was supposed to win the most-coveted reality show on television, “Tween Star.”  But in the middle of the biggest night, with millions of people watching, Elvis panicked and froze on national TV.

Elvis flees to spend the summer working with his aunt and cousin at Piney Pete’s Pancake Palace, the perfect place to be anonymous. That is, until he meets Cecilia, a girl who can’t seem to help blurting out whatever’s on her mind.

The book is an iBookstores Best of the Month book for April.

Marino has also written “Neil Armstrong is my Uncle, and Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me (2009).”  It was awarded the Society of Children’s Bookwriters and Illustrators “Golden Kite Honor” and made the NJ Garden State Children’s Book List.

A program to launch “Hiding Out At The Pancake Palace” will also be held 7 p.m. Tuesday in Toms River for families. Everyone is invited to attend the evening event. 

Russian romantic concert coming to 2 branches

Flutist Inna Gilmore and pianist Elizaveta Kopelman will present Russian romantic musical concerts at two Ocean County Library branches.

The concerts, to be presented at the Little Egg Harbor branch (290 Mathistown Rd.) Tuesday April 20 and the Barnegat branch (112 Burr St.) Tuesday May 28, will feature the music of Rachmaninov, Valisenk and Lyadov.  Both concerts begin at 7 p.m.

The concerts are free and open to the public.

Both musicians were born and raised in Russia.

Inna Gilmore holds degrees with honors from Tchaikovsky Moscow Conservatory. She is a Haynes flute artist and has won awards and international competitions in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Boston and New York City. Her debut at Carnegie Hall in 2008 was highly praised.

Gilmore came to the US to pursue an advanced degree with a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Elizaveta Kopelman studied at the Central School of Music in Moscow with Dina Parachina and with Arnaldo Cohen at the Royal Northern College of Music, where she won numerous prizes and awards.

She has appeared at major venues and festivals throughout the UK and Europe including critically acclaimed debut recitals at the Purcell Room (1996) and Wigmore Hall (1998).

In February 2002 Elizaveta performed Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the New York Chamber Symphony at the Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center.  She has given live broadcasts for both BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM.  

Dia!

Ocean County Library will join in the fun of “Dia!”, a national American Library Association program, that celebrates diversity, children and literacy, and presents it to families through books, stories and programs during April and March.

Outstanding storytellers, dancers and musicians will bring to life tales and tunes from around the world.

“Books and stories have the inexhaustible potential for the enrichment of life and the human spirit,” said Valerie Bell, Ocean County Library Assistant Director. “Literature is universal and the desire to prepare children for a happy, successful life is also universal.”

“All Ocean County children deserve books in which they can see themselves and the world in which they live reflected in their stories and literature,” said Supervising Librarian Glynis Wray, who is coordinating the Dia! events.

“Each branch will present programs to honor and embrace a child’s home language and culture and nurture their cognitive and literacy development,” she said.

Those programs will include:

Queen Nur, who celebrates the storyteller’s ability to speak of values, history and universal truths, entertains families with stories told in the African oral tradition.

She will appear at these branches:

Stafford, 129 N. Main St., Manahawkin, Mon. April 15 at 4 p.m.

Tuckerton, 380 Bay Av. Mon. April 15 at 7 p.m.

Pt. Pleasant Boro, 834 Beaver Dam Rd., Tue. April 16 at 11 a.m.

Pt. Pleasant Beach, 710 McLean Av. Tue. April 16 at 4 p.m.

Berkeley, 30 Station Dr., Bayville, Tue. April 16 at 7 p.m.

Ocean County troubadour Valerie Vaughn will present music and characterizations of New Jersey’s unsung heroes at:

Jackson, 2 Jackson Dr. Mon. April 22 at 7 p.m.

Beachwood at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Thur. April 25 at 7 p.m.

Long Beach Island, 217 S. Central Av., Surf City, Wed. May 1 at 7 p.m.

Island Heights, 121 Central Av., Sat. May 4 at 11:30 a.m.

Manchester, 21 Colonial Dr. Sat. May 4 at 2:30 p.m.

Tap Team Two will present “Hoofing in America” and showcase Irish, African, hip-hop and house rhythms. Students will learn how to dance practicing the basic steps at Barnegat, 112 Burr St. Thur. May 2 at 6:30 p.m.

International storyteller Julie Pasqual will perform her African-American “Loud and Rowdy Folk Tales” and share her love of world languages and cultures through her interactive stories.

She will perform at:

Little Egg Harbor, 290 Mathistown Rd. Wed. May 1 at 4 p.m.

Lacey, 10 E. Lacey Rd., Forked River, Wed. May 1 at 7 p.m.

Plumsted, 119 Evergreen Rd., New Egypt, Sat. May 4 at 10:30 a.m.

Lakewood, 301 Lexington Av., Sat. May 4 at 1 p.m.

Brick, 301 Chambers Bridge Rd., Sat. May 4 at 3:30 p.m.

Maria LoBiondo brings her love of fairy, folk and wisdom tales to listeners where they are able to create a place they can feel the spirit of “happily ever after.”

She will perform Sat. May 4 at the Waretown branch, 112 Main St. at 10:30 a.m. and the Toms River branch at noon.

All of these programs are free and open to the public. For more information about the performances visit the library’s Web site: www.theoceancountylibrary.org/dia .

Governor’s tax assistance programs a success in Ocean County

For the homeowners, renters and business owners who endured damage from Superstorm Sandy in October, there is a lot of information out there, and much of it is wrong, said Hedy Falcetta, Little Egg Harbor.

To get the correct information into residents hands, NJ Governor Chris Christie organized a series of tax assistance events in areas that were hardest hit by the Superstorm. The Toms River library branch hosted the second of three such events held in Ocean County Monday, March 18.

“The events have been held in Bergen, Monmouth and Ocean counties,” said Jennifer D’Autrechy, Deputy Chief of Staff in the State Treasurer’s Office. “We have reached hundreds of people through these events.”

Marita Sciarrotta, Assistant Chief of the State Division of Taxation’s Collection and Enforcement Activity, said nearly 100 people preregistered for the Toms River session but more than 140 people attended.

“This is the largest turnout we have had at any of the events in the state,” she said. “Knowing we’d have so many people, we beefed up our staff, bringing in about 20 representatives from the Governor’s office, the local and state taxation offices, and the IRS.”

“We are thankful for Ocean County Library making their facilities available to help us to help others,” said Michael Bryan, Director of the State Division of Taxation. “It’s a valuable resource and it allows us to talk directly with people who were hit the hardest.”

Stations with representatives were set up around Mancini Hall and The Green Room. Using laptops they were able to access information and address people’s unique situations.

The session also included a Q&A portion with IRS representatives presenting an overview of how to claim a casualty loss on one’s Federal tax return.

It starts with contacting FEMA to establish an account, said Ann Dowie. As a follow up, people may then be given a SBA contact. People must also contact their insurance companies.

Glenn Gizzi and Bryan Coffey then explained tax form 4684, the casualty and loss form, and discussed tax strategies to maximize their tax deductions.

“This program was great,” said Heddy Falcetta. “They told us so much and I have confidence in what they said. After all, they’re from the IRS.”

She also said she appreciated the pamphlets the representatives gave attendees.

“If I have any questions when I get home I have reference material with phone numbers that I can call to get the right answers,” she said.

“The reps gave us a lot of information covering a wide-range of topics,” said Pat Silva, a 38-year resident of Toms River. “They gave everyone clear answers to their questions and pointed you in the right direction.”

The 75-minute Q&A session was also valuable, said her husband Bob.

“It prompted me to consider questions I hadn’t thought about before,” he said.

“This was certainly worthwhile for people who need help,” said Pat, “and it would be worthwhile having it again.”

Marita Sciarrotta was happy with the turnout and all that the session accomplished.

“The purpose of this was to bring government to the people,” she said after the program.  “We were able to connect with people, to look into their eyes and share in their pain. We provided guidance through a direct and compassionate dialog.”

The session will be repeated in the Brick branch Tuesday March 26 beginning at 6 p.m. Registration is requested but walk-ins will be welcomed. Telephone the branch at (732) 477-4513.

Baseball & a movie at the Manchester branch

MANCHESTER BRANCH LIBRARY TO SHOW

“ROBOT AND FRANK”

MANCHESTER – The Manchester Branch Library will screen the film, “Robot and Frank” on Wednesday March 27 at 2 p.m. and again at 6 pm. See this popular comedy/drama on a large screen without paying the admission fee of a movie theater!  

Set in the near future, Frank (Frank Langella) is a retired cat burglar living alone. His adult son, Hunter, is concerned about him continuing to live alone. Instead of putting him in a nursing home, Hunter gets him a robot caretaker, which Frank soon learns is useful as a burglary aide.

This PG13-rated movie is part of the library’s Feature Film Series. It is 89 minutes long. Although registration is not required, early arrival is recommended.

The Manchester branch of the Ocean County Library is located at 21 Colonial. For more information telephone (732) 657-7600 or go online to http://www.theoceancountylibrary.org. 

 

MANCHESTER BRANCH GETS SET FOR

THE 2013 BASEBALL SEASON

 

 MANCHESTER – Connect with other baseball fans at the Manchester branch Thursday March 28 at 2 p.m. and share memories and your predictions for the 2013Major League Baseball season.

 Join us as we discuss burning questions like: Are the Angels the new “Murderer’s Row?” Are the Mets stronger without R.A. Dickey? Will Mariano rescue those aging Yankees on his farewell tour? And will the Blue Jays and the Orioles shift the power in the AL East? There will be prizes for all attendees!

This program is open to teens and adults, free of charge. To register go online to www.theoceancountylibrary.org or telephone (732) 657-7600.