June 6 and 7 are NH Gives! The Friends of the Greenfield Meetinghouse and Greenfield Historical Society are both taking part in this statewide online fundraising event; please go to nhgives.org and search “Greenfield” to find their individual links. Every donation helps keep our nonprofits running for another year.

Library news

Calling all Greenfield parents! Do you want your young teens out of the house and off the relentless scroll of social media? Do you wish there was a safe environment where they could hang out with other real, live kids in town for a couple hours? Do they need a quiet place to study away from home?

You’re in luck. Under the leadership of Children’s Librarian Ella Cademartori, Greenfield’s Stephenson Memorial Library has been hard at work developing teen programs, including game nights, movies, a teen book and pizza group and teen study times.

Director David Bridgewater has also acquired a bumper pool table and a foosball table for the downstairs meeting room. Cademartori, who joined Stephenson Memorial Library last July, has worked at many small local libraries, including in Dublin, Warner and Fitzwilliam. Cademartori and her family—which is about to expand by one in September — live in Antrim. She brings years of experience in children’s and teen programming to Stephenson Memorial Library.

“Ella bring a wealth of new ideas to the library,” Bridgewater said. “She really knows what kids and teens are interested in and what their needs might be.”

Stephenson Memorial Library’s next big event is the Summer Reading Kickoff Carnival, which will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on June 25 at Oak Park during the Greenfield Farmers and Crafters Market. This year’s summer reading theme is “All Together Now.” Stephenson Memorial Library is partnering with Francestown’s Bixby Library for the kickoff carnival.

“Every year there is a different summer reading theme, and each library kind of has their own take on it,” Cademartori said. “Since this year’s theme is about community, it’s a perfect that we are partnering with Francestown for the kickoff carnival.”

I asked Cademartori where the themes come from, and she explained that the summer reading theme is set every year by an organization called the Collaborative Summer Library program, which includes representatives from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., American Samoa, Guam and other islands and U.S. territories.

The Summer Reading Kickoff Carnival will feature Flying High Dogs, the “No. 1 Professional K-9 Frisbee performer in the world!” Mike Piazza, a “world record holder in K-9 Frisbee competitions,” will demonstrate his dogs’ amazing abilities in catching, leaping and flying high after Frisbees. This will be an amazing show which children in particular will love; do not miss it if you are in town!

And if you’ve never been in Stephenson Memorial Library, be sure stop in sometime, or check out their Facebook page. Our library is probably the best community resource in our town.

July 4

In other town news, July 4 is right around the corner. The Oak Park Committee and Friends of the Greenfield Meetinghouse are organizing a reading of the Declaration of Independence at 10 a.m. at the Meetinghouse to kick off the July 4 festivities at Oak Park.

Various people in town have been talking about organizing a reading for a few years, and last year, I attended the wonderful reading at the Jaffrey Meetinghouse and came away very inspired. The Jaffrey event is highly choreographed and well-organized, with dozens of readers representing all walks of life in town – young and old, new and longtime residents – and is followed by an ice cream social.

Greenfield’s event will start out much simpler, with a reading by a dozen or so residents in front of the Meetinghouse, weather permitting (or inside in case of rain), to kick off the July 4 barbecue at Oak Park. We are still looking for a few readers. If you’re interested, please email me at jesstimm17@gmail.com.

Email me at jesstimm17@gmail.com with ideas for the Greenfield Beat.

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