Foley Happenings

February and March 2011 are BUSY times at your FOLEY PUBLIC LIBRARY!

Check out the great events coming up!

The Foley Public Library’s Upcoming Events:

1.  Everyone is invited to check out our 2011 Annual Friends of the Library Book Sale at the Foley Civic Center on Friday, Feb. 18, 9 a.m.  - 5 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 19, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.  Also, members of the Friends of the Library will gather for a special wine and cheese preview party on Thursday, Feb. 17, 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.  Anyone can become a member for only $10.00 annual dues and attend the party.  Thousands of new and gently used books and CDs are available at great bargain prices. Dealers and collectors are welcome!

2.      On Feb. 24 from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m., The Alabama Humanities Foundation’s Road Scholars 2011 program and the Foley Public Library will present “Through the Back Door: The Music that Bridged the Bayou” by Delores Hydock.  This fascinating one woman show  includes stories and anecdotes collected from more than 50 Cajun and Creole musicians as they talked about the importance of music in their own lives and the lives of their families. The stories are funny, touching, sometimes irreverent, and often deeply moving. The program includes samples of the music itself, both in its early style and its modern-day sound.  The program is free and everyone is invited!  Please pre-register as we are serving refreshments…just call 943-1032 or 943-7665 and leave your name and the number in your party.

3.      On March 18 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. local author Laurence A. Lyons, Ph.D., will discuss his new book “Missed Signals on the Western Front:  How the Slow Adoption of Wireless Restricted British Strategy and Operations in World War I.”  A must for World War I and amateur radio buffs, Lyons and his coauthor, Mike Bullock, outline how wireless technology could have made a profound impact on tactical operations and on the entire strategic conduct of the war, but British bias hampered its effective use.Please PRE-REGISTER as we are serving refreshments…just call 943-1032 or 943-7665 and leave your name and the number in your party.

4.      The Eastern Shore Institute of Lifelong Learning is partnering with the Foley Public Library to offer five courses in the Foley Public Library’s Meeting Room.  They are:

a.      On February 7-28, 2011 - Mondays from 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. - The Dark Side of Literature - A survey of murder, mayhem, and all things twisted in the works of several authors.  We will look with particular interest at two:  Edgar Allen Poe, well known as the creator of tales of mystery and the macabre, but less known as the inventor of the detective-fiction genre; and Robert Browning.  Browning’s fame today rests mainly on his dramatic monologues, and so we will take a look at My Last Duchess, written about a true story of the late Renaissance, in which the diabolical fifth Duke of Ferrara brags about killing his teenage bride. - Call Jessica Jones, Instructor, 377-9936.  Tuition, $36.

b.      February 26 - Saturday from 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. - Reel Life:  History To Film -  In this course, students will participate in an interactive lecture/discussion on the way history is depicted in a variety of motion pictures— including Birth of a Nation, Gone with Wind, Braveheart, Elizabeth and Essex, Becket, The Patriot, Cinderella Man, and the recently released The King’s Speech -  and the way such films affect the course of history.  Tuition $14, Call Donna Esslinger, 923-6220.

c.      March 2-23 - Wednesdays from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. -  British Sitcoms!  - Laugh yourself sick participating in the study of early British sitcoms.  We will view and discuss such classics as “Rising Damp”, “Red Dwarf”, “Blackadder”, “Monty Python”, “Benny Hill”, “Jeeves & Wooster” and others if we have time.  Note taking is permitted - but we will not have a final exam, just weekly quizzes (Naw!  we are “The School For the Fun of It!”)  Tuition $36, Call Gene Sellier,  597-7543.

d.      March 7-28 - Mondays from 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. The Shake and the Speare - A deeper look at Shakespeare's insane and violent characters, among them poor Ophelia, whose unrequited love for Hamlet presages her descent into madness, and Regan, daughter of the mad King Lear, who claws out of the eyes of Gloucester.  Readings will be amplified by film viewings.  We will be reading Hamlet and King Lear, using the text, Four Great Tragedies:  Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth (Signet Classics, available at Amazon.com for $7.95).   - Call Jessica Jones, Instructor, 377-9936. Tuition, $36.

e.      March 19 - Saturday from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. - Introduction to Life Writing -  In this one-day workshop you’ll explore various aspects of life writing, with tips on getting started, accessing your memories, adding detail to your stories, and more.  With fun exercises in writing, listening, and exploring the past, you will hone necessary skills to start writing your life stories now.  Bring a sack lunch.  Class size will be limited.  Tuition $27, Call Fran Morley, 928-0987.