Recs and ReadsBy Anne McKay GarrisThe Friends of the Clearwater Beach Library and Recreation Center want to apologize to the library and Rec Center patrons. We worked for three months to get some free parking reserved for our patrons in the dirt parking lot across from the Center. Now, somehow, the city has decided to set aside our parking to be reserved for the use of the construction crew, building the docks for the Sandpearl Resort. Although this is supposed to last only until January, we are trying to make arrangements for our people to have their parking restored, or replaced. Stay tuned! At the meeting, last week, of the "Friends," a number of ideas for more programs, and for fundraising events were discussed. Both are difficult to do with a limited number of people working on them. Won't you volunteer to be a part of the effort to keep our Library and Recreation Center useful, vibrant and a great place to be? Call our leader, Pat Power, at 446-0929, and gladden her heart by saying the magic words, "I'd like to volunteer!" Meantime, our Rec Center offers you all sorts of pleasant ways to "get moving again." I can remember, way back when, the exercise room was a dark hole with hand-me-down equipment. Not now! Now it is big and airy, with a fabulous view of Clearwater Bay as you work out on state-of-the-art equipment. We offer you all sorts of kinds of dancing, including a new kind of Line Dancing, taught by a vivacious lady, named Jewels. Or, you can enjoy what we used to call ballroom dancing, which the next generation refers to as "swing." (That term amuses me. It reminds me of the time a young people's group offered to sing some modern Christian music for us. After a rousing introduction on a lively guitar, they began the chorus, "Amazing Grace," they sang, "how sweet the sound . . .,"reminding me of my Grandmother who sang it with great gusto, back in 1930, and before.) But, if it's your brain you want to exercise, check out our little jewel of a library, right there in the Rec Center. You can scan the books and DVDs for possible Christmas gift ideas, research web pages for gift ideas on the library computers, or even write your Christmas letter. Better yet, you can pick out a good book (with help from our librarian, if you like) and snuggle down in one of our comfortable chairs beside the big picture windows, for a pleasant adventure on paper, free of interruptions or distractions. So, come on down! The parking meters aren't all that expensive, and we're working on getting the free ones back.
|