Library News!

Greenville Public Library, 520 Sycamore Street, Greenville OH 45331937-548-3915 www.greenville-publiclibrary.org February 2016

John Vehre Longtown: The History Director onnor Keiser returns with an encore presentation on Longtown, Ohio, Susi Halley CSaturday February 20th at 1:00 p.m. in the Library’s upstairs meeting room. Assistant We are honored to host Connor again and to celebrate Black History Month by Director, learning more about this important community and our rich local history.

Editor, he original “Greenville Negro Settlement,” later renamed Longtown, was Fiscal Officer T founded by Connor’s fifth great-grandparents James & Sophia Clemens in 1822. Situated in Liberty Township it was established as a strongly abolitionist Board farming settlement. Many people have heard of Longtown but most are unaware Members: of its significance as the first free black settlement and one of only two tri-racial communities in the state of Ohio. President he Clemens Family arrived in Ohio from Virginia with slave-owner Adam Bill Frazer T Sellers who freed his people and provided them with land. Other free blacks joined them and as the town grew, a school and several churches and cemeteries Vice- were established. It was an important station on the Underground Railroad. President Eunice he height of its population was around 900 people in the 1940’s. Many Steinbrecher T descendants live in the Muncie, Richmond, Indianapolis, and Dayton areas. A well-known tavern was opened in 1956 where Connor’s grandparents first met. Its baseball teams from the 1930’s onward, the Longtown Tigers and Longtown Secretary Giants, were legendary! Jean McLear oday the Union Literary Institute Preservation Society is raising money and Suzanne T awareness for the above named school which was founded by Connor’s Brown grandfather in 1914. It was a manual labor school for all races and provided room & board. One church from 1856 is still very active, the Bethel Long Wesleyan Anne Church, holding services every Sunday. The Community Center also hosts an Brumbaugh annual “homecoming.“ onnor is proud to continue the research his

Cgrandfather Maze Clemens started and in the Ryan Carpe past year has uncovered even more interesting facts and pictures which he will share on the big Alex Warner screen TV. Please join us to learn more about our fascinating heritage.

Author’s Night Presents Cyndi Pauwels

he next Friends of the Library’s Author’s Night will feature author Cyndi Pauwels on T Friday February 12th at 7:00 p.m. at Montage Cafe in downtown Greenville. Doors open at 6:00 so come early for dinner and to enjoy the live music provided by virtuosos R.J. Price and Bill Westfall.

riting under C.L. Pauwels, Cyndi recently published an exciting debut novel titled 40 & W OUT which will be available for purchase at Author’s Night as well at Deadly Writes Publishing , Barnes & Noble , and Amazon . “ Someone is targeting Toledo’s single women when they turn forty, tucking them into bed and turning birthday greetings into obituaries. Newly-assigned Homicide Detective Veronica Jadzinski vows to prevent the body count from increasing and to prove her transfer from Narcotics wasn’t a fluke — departmental regulations, disparaging lieutenants, and a rigid new partner be damned.” Wow!

yndi is not new to writing! She holds an MA in creative writing from Antioch University CMcGregor in Yellow Springs and her short fiction has appeared in Mock Turtle ‘zine, Over My Dead Body!, The View from Here (UK), and other journals. In 2009, she published the award-winning non-fiction Historic Warren County: An Illustrated History . Sugati Publications has selected two of her essays for their Reflections from Women anthology series, and Sinclair Community College’s literary journal Flights has published several of her pieces over the past few years.

n addition to writing, Cyndi’s portfolio career includes book editing (The Enduring Legacy Iof Kahlil Gibran and The Essential Rihani), teaching freshman composition as an adjunct at Clark State Community College, and serving as assistant director for the Antioch Writers’ Workshop. She lives in Yellow Springs with her husband of thirty-seven years, three spoiled dogs, and six chickens. See http://clpauwels.com for more info.

ur Author’s Nights are a unique event for the area. Be sure to join us for another Ostimulating, fun evening - and a chance to enjoy Cyndi’s sense of humor and to ask her how she came to know about detective work! Her answer may surprise you.

wo other events of interest involve two of our Greenville Poets whom we always feature T in April. Poet Cathy Essinger will be giving a reading at the Hayner Cultural Center in Troy on February 25th at 7:30 p.m. and poet Lianne Spidel and artist Ann Loveland will be there on March 24th with Ann’s original art and Lianne’s matching poems from their book Pairings . Seeds 4 All: Seed Swap by Rachel Brock

he Growing Harvest Seed Library will host its annual “Seeds 4 All: Seed Swap” on T Thursday February 11th at 6:00 p.m. in the upstairs meeting room at the Library. Prior to the Seed Swap Janell Weiss from the Darke County Soil & Water District will provide a short presentation about starting seeds.

ring your extra seeds and trade them for something you need or have been wanting to Btry. Remember, these are heirloom, open-pollinated seeds that grow year after year. The idea is to borrow seeds, plant them, and return a few from your harvest to the Library for next year.

veryone is welcome to attend this free event. EReservations are not required but helpful for set- up. As always refreshments will be served.

f you bring seeds, tubers, or starts, please have Ithem labeled with the seed name, variety, harvest date, and any additional growing or harvesting information that is pertinent.

or more information please call 548-3915 or visit Fthe Library’s Facebook Event Page. This is a fun and informal event so be sure to come and have a good time getting ready for spring planting!

Film Series Screens Man on a Tightrope by David Nilsen n February GPL's Third Floor Film Series will be a screening Man on a Tightrope . This 1953 Ifilm is an under-appreciated entry in director's 's filmography, living in the shadow of films like A Streetcar Named Desire and , but carrying the same level of dramatic tension and emotional depth as his most popular titles. an on a Tightrope stars as Karel M Cernic, the leader of the circus his family has owned for generations but which is now under the ownership--and watchful eye--of the communist state of Czechoslovakia. Cernic has grown increasingly disillusioned with his government and begins developing a plan to escape across the border into American-occupied Bavaria, but he refuses to leave any of his performers behind. He and his trusted cohorts must act quickly while dealing with increased scrutiny from the state and trying to ferret out a spy in their midst. Man on a Tightrope is tense and richly felt, equal to the best of Kazan's films. lease make plans to join us on Thursday, February P18, at 7:00 p.m. as we watch this underseen classic. Coffee, soft drinks, candy, and popcorn will be available free of charge, and I will be leading a brief discussion after the film. I look forward to seeing you there. The History of Wakefield

he Library recently received two beautiful local history books written by sisters Betty T Brodrick and Marilyn Fritz, Wakefield and My Sister’s Story . The authors trace the fascinating story of the Lease family as they immigrated from Lissberg Germany in 1845 to Greenville Township. The family was among the founders of the early settlement of Wakefield. Their homestead was situated where Arby’s Restaurant stands today.

he Wakefiled School and the Wakefield Lutheran Church are the only two original T buildings that still remain. The Church was built in 1860 and is owned by Bible Fellowship Church on Greenville-Celina Road. Wakefield School was built in the 1880’s and is one of the few one-room schoolhouses still in existence. It sits at the corner of Childrens Home-Bradford Road and Greenville-Celina Road north of town.

arke County Educational History Inc is a Dnonprofit that is hoping to move the school to the former site of the Children’s Home Orphanage in order to renovate it for educational purposes. The authors have a third book coming out. Charlotte’s Bell is an account of the life of their great-grandmother Charlotte Meir-Leis.

een left are genealogist Carolyn Fisher, Betty SBrodrick, Director John Vehre, and Marilyn Fritz. These interesting books can be found in the Genealogy Room on the second floor of the Library. Many thanks to Betty and Marilyn for their additions to our collection.

The Greenville Public Library 520 Sycamore St. Greenville OH 45331