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Paint the sky with colors of freedom and independence

Friends, sometimes you just need to get things off your chest, and today is one of those times for me. You are fortunate (or perhaps unfortunate, depending on how you see it) to be on the receiving end of my current unpacking. This year’s fundraising efforts for the fireworks were particularly challenging. Not only did the funds come in slowly and below the required amount within the usual timeframe, but the Chamber also faced significant criticism on social media. Many of the negative comments stemmed from a lack of understanding about how the event is organized and funded. We heard ...

Nature is not a place to visit, it is home

For years, I wondered what drew so many to the Finger Lakes Region. Friends often spoke of their return trips there, and I was curious to find out what kept drawing them back. Of course, I had heard of the great wine trails but had no concept of its incredible beauty. Last weekend, on a whim, I decided to find out what all the excitement was about. My husband Blain and I stocked the backpack with all the essentials, jumped in the car and headed north. Our first stop was Watkins Glen State Park. At the entrance we faced a choice: take the easy route via shuttle to the top of the trail ...

Renovation progress being made at MCL

For the last couple of weeks I’ve been writing about some of the crazy stuff that’s been going on at the library while we’re renovating. Stuff like the removal of the dumbwaiter knocking out the fax line and the crazy placement of our laptops so that we can check out your books since the electricity to the circulation desk is off. But, you know, it will be so worth it in the end. It’s a temporary inconvenience for a more permanent solution. (That’s our new mantra!) As you know from reading my columns, the children’s library being in the basement was never meant to be. ...

Youth summer reading programs offered at JCL

Summer Reading 2024 is here and we have some fun youth programs being offered from June 10-Aug. 2. Register your child age birth - age 18 for the reading/prize part of the program on our website or by following this link: https://forms.gle/owzovne4qT7NAtp26”https://forms.gle/owzovne4qT7NAtp26. Visit the Summer Reading page of our website (https://www.juniatalibrary.org/youth/sr2) for more info and to register for some of the other programs we have offered this summer. Youth in Grades 4 and up - Join our book club for June. Grades 4-6 are reading The Vanderbeekers of 141st ...

Don’t worry, be happy, seek God’s kingdom

A passage in the book of Job reads, “Man is born for trouble, as sparks fly upward.” Trouble is certain and trouble is relentless. Life is dangerous. The only certain thing about life is that we are all going to die. Life is a terminal illness. Life is a fatal disease. Life is a deadly disease. One hundred years from now, none of us will be around; that’s inevitable. But there are other things beside impending death that can frighten us in life, such as terrorist attacks, mass shootings and escalating tensions. Do you know that over a billion people have died in wars? Sixty ...

Proper, God-glorifying worship is important

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord Colossians 3:16 The apostle Paul tells us to sing and encourage other Christians through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Now if you have read many of the psalms, you know they can be weighty, full of substance, doctrine, and revelation about the Creator God of the Universe. Psalm 33 is full of praise and adoration as it informs us that “by the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the ...