Archive: Around Town

There was a lot of excitement when the winning raffle ticket was picked.  The prize was a 1988 Saab Convertible, Turbo in excellent condition that has been displayed around town all summer.  While 200 $50 tickets were available, only 121 had been sold, so the odds had improved.  175 $50 tickets had also been sold for a second raffle with a $2,500 prize.  And a third raffle promised 50/50 - half for the winner and half for the Lansing Community Library Center (LCLC).


The library is in the final phase of a $350,000 fund raising campaign to expand the library.  Last Saturday's "Block Party" was an effort to raise some of the remaining $25,000.  If all the tickets had been sold for the car and the cash the library would have gained $175,000.  But the $12,300 they did raise wasn't too disappointing.  "If this turned out to be a bust we already had what we were cutting out of the construction," says LCLC Chairwoman Marlaine Darfler.  "We had picked pieces that could easily be  removed and done later.  But we're not going to have to do that.  We're going to make it."  The library made about $20,000 from the event.


In addition to the raffles, LCLC held a sale of books donated from the personal libraries of board members and volunteers.  They also invited the public to sponsor books, paying a minimum of $10 to help the library purchase titles.  Sponsors names will appear in a book plate inside the book.  And what Lansing event would be complete without a chicken barbecue?  Between adult softball on the nearby ball fields and the block party, Darfler said she hoped to sell a lot of chicken.

Finally, the library is hoping to attract donations of any size.  Having raised the first $300,000 or so from businesses and large organizations, the hope is to raise the rest from smaller donations from the public.  The block party replaced the usual Twilight Magic dinner dance fund raiser that LCLC traditionally holds at the end of summer.  This year they asked the people who would have attended that event to buy a raffle ticket or donate to the library.


The block party wasn't all business.  Elephant Sound DJ provided music for the three hour event, the Field School House was open for display, and the Lansing Fire Department brought a fire truck for kids to tour.  There were tours of the partially finished library addition, and "Library Daisies," mugs and t-shirts were on sale at a couple of locations in the town square.


"It feels very community, which is really what we wanted," says Darfler.  "We want the money, but there's also something about understanding that the library is a central part of the community.  And you can see how it can build into that and solidify the Town Hall and the schoolhouse."


There was a steady flow of people throughout the event until the moment everyone was waiting for.  The tickets for each raffle were placed in a container and drawn out by friends of the library.  Lou Emmick won the 50/50 raffle, and Sandi Dhimitri won the cash.  Though winners did not have to be present to win, there was much excitement when Pricilla Quirk's winning ticket was picked for the car.  She literally jumped for joy as her husband called their son with the good news.  The Quirks had bought four tickets for the raffle.


Darfler reports that the construction is on schedule.  "They're moving right along, which is amazing considering all the rain that we've had," she says.  The improvements will add two wings to the back of the building, and make a new main entrance facing the Town Hall. A children’s reading room, better facilities for processing books, administrative space and handicapped access to both floors are planned. The project will about double the space available for stacks.  The library closed July 23 while the construction affects the interior as well as the exterior, but library officials hope it will reopen after about six weeks and that the project will be completed by Fall.

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