Natural Connections May
Join us for Natural Connections on Saturday, May 18th at the Sandpoint Library. Come for the full event or just stop in for the portions that interest you, including the full-day Plant Swap in the Garden.
Here is our schedule for the day:
10 AM: Pedal Power: Spring Bike Maintenance in The Library Garden
Ride into Spring: Gear Up & Roll On with Confidence! Get interactive with tools for basic repairs. Learn the basics of what is needed to get your bike ready for Spring and Summer riding. Inspection techniques to make sure your bike is ready to ride will be shared. Explore the tools for basic repairs. Practice changing a tire. Learn how to inspect or repair your chain.
About the presenter:
Marty Andrews, cyclist, instructor, bike whisperer. A cycling enthusiast excited about outdoor adventures.
12 PM: Gardening for Everyone in The Library Garden
Learn to garden in the space you have. Work on your green thumb in almost any living situation with a culinary herb garden, container planters, raised beds, or an elevated raised bed. We’ll discuss these different options and how to choose the one that best suits your needs. Watch a demonstration on transplanting and direct seeding. Participants will be able to plant an herb planter to take home.
About the presenter:
Kelli Burt has called Sandpoint her home for 13 years. She moved here as an aspiring farmer and ran with that idea and passion for 4 years. Kelli sold produce at the farmers’ market for 3 of those years and found a wonderful network of friends and colleagues. After stepping back from farming and starting a family she became the Farmers’ Market at Sandpoint manager. She managed the market for 5 years while deepening her roots in the gardening community.
Kelli has a productive home garden where she is constantly trying new methods of growing and season extension techniques. The library has been her source of information since the first month of moving to Sandpoint where she realized how amazing our gardening/farming community is by how in-depth our gardening collection was. Kelli is excited to join the library as the Garden Coordinator & Seed Librarian where she can apply her passion for gardening along with her network of community members that she has amassed.
1 PM: Creative ReUse for the Artist Within in the Community Rooms
Explore the art of creative reuse by making a unique 3D collage from cast-off materials. Get ready to stretch your idea of Art and make something meaningful to you. Remember, there is beauty in all things and the act of creating is Beauty itself. All materials will be provided.
Creative reuse is a unique form of art. We throw away broken and used items far too often in our daily lives that can be used to create unique and meaningful art. There is beauty to be found in unwanted objects: corrugated cardboard, broken toys, old newspapers, vintage magazines, and peanut butter lids. These are just a few things we will use as we create our Mini-Assemblages. Sometimes all we need is a tiny inspiration from found objects to create Art. Together, we will peruse found, discarded, and thrifted items for inspiration and build upon that tiny spark to create something gallery-worthy. Get ready to stretch your idea of Art and make something meaningful to you. Remember, there is beauty in all things and the act of creating is Beauty itself. All supplies & materials will be provided to create your unique art piece to take home.
About the presenter:
Molly Gentry is a wife, mother of 4, and grandmother to 3. Molly has been a teacher of English, History, and Art. Being a teacher of art, you get really good at learning a little bit about a lot of things. She has always been creating something, from homemade treats fresh from the oven, character birthday cakes for the kids and now grandkids, to giant pen and ink drawings, and tiny watercolors for friends. Her newest passion has been for Creative Reuse as she loves to repurpose old and forgotten things into interesting Collage and Assemblages. There is nothing more inspiring than a pile of old book pages, tossed toys and old doll parts. She has found her calling with this medium and hopes you enjoy her creations as much as she enjoys creating them.
3 PM: Hinging on a Story in the Community Rooms
The purpose of this workshop is to offer the community a more complex repair than previously provided: hinge diagnosis and hinge replacement! Little to no knowledge is welcomed. We will cover basic book anatomy, recommended repair materials, and provide our participants hands-on experience replacing a book hinge using single-stitched binder tape.
To avoid confusion, please note that this workshop is not the same tier as bookbinding or book conservation/restoration.
All supplies will be provided and prepared in advance. If you desire to bring a personal book, please do so at your own risk. The instructor will not be handling personal books due to time limitations.
About the presenter:
Rhela (ree-luh) is a staff member who was raised here in Sandpoint. In fact, she used to come to this library after school as a kid. Rhela was working here for a year before our previous book mender retired. She applied for the job, and the rest is history!
Rhela cares a lot about the integrity of our collections because they belong to her community. So, in essence, she is taking care of your books! When people think about libraries, the symbol that often comes to mind is a book. Not to mention, it is very satisfying to take something broken or worn and put some life back into it.
When not at work, she is a university student, snowboarder, guitarist, painter, reader, video gamer, and nature enthusiast!
Plant Swap in The Library Garden:
Rain or shine we’ll be in the garden sharing plants throughout the event. If the weather is bad, we’ll have the greenhouse open and some easy-ups for cover. Come take a plant(s) even if you don’t have anything to share. The library will have vegetables, herbs, fruit, and flowers grown in the garden and greenhouse available.
If you bring plants to share, please make sure they are labeled. House and garden plants at any stage are welcome!
