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Hometown Happenings
About Hometown Happenings Podcast
Welcome to Hometown Happenings, the ultimate podcast where we bring the heart and soul of North Arkansas straight to your ears! Hosted by a lively set of friends (Angela and Drea!) who know and love their community, we explore the unique stories, events, and happenings that make our hometown special.
What You Can Expect:
🏡 Local Stories: From hilarious realtor horror stories to touching tales of community spirit, we uncover the fascinating narratives behind the people and places that define our town.
🎉 Event Highlights: Stay in the loop with the latest and greatest events in North Arkansas. Whether it's a bustling new business opening, a must-attend festival, or a charity event making a difference, we've got you covered.
👩👩👧👦 Community Focus: We shine a spotlight on the incredible individuals and organizations working to make North Arkansas a better place. Hear from local entrepreneurs, community leaders, and everyday heroes who inspire us.
🌟 Fun and Engaging Conversations: Our episodes are packed with laughter, lively discussions, and plenty of surprises. We keep it real, relatable, and always entertaining.
Why Listen to Hometown Happenings?
- Stay Connected: Whether you're a longtime resident or new to the area, our podcast keeps you informed and connected to your community.
- Feel Good Stories: Enjoy heartwarming and humorous stories that showcase the best of small-town life.
- Exclusive Insights: Get insider tips on the best spots to visit, upcoming events, and hidden gems in North Arkansas.
- Join the Conversation: We love hearing from our listeners! Share your own stories, suggest topics, or just say hello – we're all about building a vibrant community together.
Tune in every other week for a fresh dose of hometown pride and discover why North Arkansas is such a special place to call home. Don’t forget to subscribe, so you never miss an episode of Hometown Happenings!
Hometown Happenings
Boone County Library Unfolds a World of Educational Wonders and Community Spirit
Step into the heart of community and creativity with Ginger and Amy from Boone County Library, as they guide us through a labyrinth of literary delights and innovative programs that cater to every age and interest. Unlock the magic of the young adult department, where interactive games and books await eager minds, and venture into the vibrant children's section, brimming with educational toys and the promise of adventure. Amy unveils the library's secret weapon for learning: literacy kits and homeschooling treasures that nourish the intellect of the younger generation. The episode promises a journey into the library's role as an educational sanctuary, where knowledge leaps from the pages and into the hands of those who seek it.
As the plot thickens in our library narrative, we spotlight the Teen Advisory Board, where the energy of local teens fuels events that transform the library into an arena of escape rooms and collaborative brainstorming. These programs don't discriminate by age, offering everyone from adolescents to adults a chance to indulge in book clubs, culinary explorations, and artisan craft sessions. Meanwhile, the Friends of the Library emerge as the unsung heroes, their book and bake sale fundraisers fortifying the library's mission. And with an eclipse on the horizon, the library ensures no one misses out on the awe-inspiring spectacle, providing special viewing glasses so everyone can gaze skyward together. This episode is an invitation to witness the library's transformation into a nexus of community engagement and lifelong learning.
The Home Team
Angela Ballard & Drea Rogers
870-577-6754 | 870-577-0276
Weichert Market Edge
https://aundrea-rogers.weichertmarketedge.com
www.angelaballardrealtor.com
Hey guys. So it's a new episode of Hometown Happenings with Angela and Drea. So this week we're at the Boone County Library and we have Ginger and Amy with us today and they're going to tell us all the things that the Boone County Library has offered. Did you have any idea all the things they've been telling?
Speaker 2:us Well, no, no. But now I'm thinking those boys need to make more visits to the library.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, I think as an adult, they have so many things for even me.
Speaker 2:You caught me staring at the. We were downstairs staring at the menu for a good couple of minutes before we met you. Yeah, because I didn't realize. I assumed there were things for kids, but there's a lot for adults too, there is.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you have like the whole newsletter down there. Can you get that emailed to you? Yes, you can. Okay, so how do you do?
Speaker 3:that All you have to do is just go downstairs, fill out a paper with your email on there, and then it'll come to me every month.
Speaker 1:And so tell me all the things that you guys have going on, absolutely Wow, wow. So you're adults, but you also do a lot for kids and Amy, that's specifically what you work with, right, yes, is the younger kids. So tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 4:So I work with anyone from age of zero to 18. Okay, we have our juvenile section over here, and then the section that we're in right now is our YA department, and so that's anywhere from 12 years old to 18. So we offer a variety of programs specifically for each age group.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, so for people that are just listening and not getting to see the video, we are on the second floor of the library. Yes, so on the second floor is this primarily all children? Yeah, it is.
Speaker 4:And over here we have genealogy too, so we have more than just children up here. But yeah, part of it's dedicated to our juvenile, part of it's dedicated to our teens, okay, but yeah, we have activities every Tuesday for teens at four o'clock. All supplies are always provided. Anyone is welcome, to our ages 12 to 18, of course, and then on Thursdays we have our after school program for ages six to 12.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, yeah, that's fantastic. So in this room we're in, it's pretty cool. We got like couch and chairs. Comfy chairs, yeah, comfy chairs, so kids could just come chill up here and read books. Oh yeah, read books.
Speaker 4:We even have table games underneath here. We have Legos over there, we have coloring books. We have interactive books. We have board games. You can even check out to play while you're here.
Speaker 1:Snow day.
Speaker 2:Yeah. This is where you need to come during a snow day and have some fun, yeah, or rainy day like that, but boys can't play outside Exactly.
Speaker 3:They have computers, but they also have learning computers over there. We have two of them now.
Speaker 4:Yep, and we have tablets, too, that have interactive games for kids, that are for learning and helping to read. We also have kindles to check out. If we don't see anything in here that we have, we can always download it onto a Kindle for you. Oh yeah, oh, a book on a? Okay, they don't have a physical copy, yeah, and even magazines too. We have magazines that you can check out online.
Speaker 2:There is something just about a physical book though. Yeah, yeah, for sure I agree.
Speaker 1:I have a Kindle and I've tried and it's just not the same.
Speaker 2:My audio book oh yeah, this is for all the children that I have, but I still buy the physical copy and it goes on the shelf.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Me too. I like to read it, and then I'll listen to it again later. Oh, yeah, that's kind of my process. Yeah, that's fun. So you brought some pamphlets or different things that you guys have? Yeah, tell us about this.
Speaker 4:This one is a new one. I'm going to talk to you guys about it at Lions Club, but it's my literacy to go kits. I worked pretty hard on these to get these out, and what they are are? They're for struggling readers or readers who are just learning how to sound out words. They're learning how to read. They're phonemic awareness it's really good for that and they're games. So it's not boring, it's not like oh, here's a flash card.
Speaker 2:Or read the same book for the hundredth time. Yes, yeah.
Speaker 4:You can play and you can time yourself while doing it. You can match the sounds to the words and then they have the word fluency strips that go with it, so you're able to practice the word while knowing the sound that it makes.
Speaker 4:And so this is super fun. And then it comes to flash cards too and it has some pretty cool little pictures on there. That way it's not boring and it's something that the kids will actually enjoy to do. I've had these checked out quite a bit of times already and everyone who has brought them back I said this is really cool and that they want more. So I'm gonna be working on making some more kids here in the future pretty soon, but it's really good for anyone like K through even preschool, honestly, because they're starting to learn that sound of the letters and they're starting to learn that alphabet.
Speaker 4:We have to match it up yeah, so anyone from like probably pre-K to second grade is what I'm gonna call it. You know, yeah, but that's really good for them. I have these, too that we've had for a while and they're just like workbooks that you're able to make copies out of and you're able to do like homeschooling with them. It's really good to help with you know something Like a supplement.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it's like a supplemental workbook and it has like the pictures, the sounds, the words, and it's really good for them. I almost would like, if you know what hooked on phonics is, I'd compare it to that, okay oh, yeah, I did that when I was a kid. Yeah, I did too yeah, but yeah, I have these. I really love them. It's a great resource, it's a great supplement, even if you're in public school. Right, yeah, because it's something else that you can be doing if you're child at home.
Speaker 2:Right and doing stuff at home is even way bigger than most parents realize.
Speaker 4:Oh, yeah, for sure, reading to your child at least 20 minutes a day. I know they drill that into kids when they go into school, but reading to them or having them help you read the book is so crucial and it's so, so important. And we have great beginner books to help with that too.
Speaker 2:And I know that you don't have kids, so you don't understand how miserable that can be as a parent to have to sit there when you know how to read and have your six-year-old, but it's so vital to his learning that you man it out. Man it out, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3:Do you know what? And I know we're just gearing this towards the little older kids. Yeah, but tell me what little baby wouldn't be just in awe of the bright color of them, Right?
Speaker 1:yeah, I saw it see by Jake and you could already start training them.
Speaker 3:And I have a brand new great grandson and he's already learned how to pat a cake. And the thing is, you do this and by the time he's a couple years old, he's gonna be already have some of these words and down and know what they are. So this isn't just. I don't think this is just for that.
Speaker 2:No, you see it, a gauge.
Speaker 3:And we do have some older adults that might need this type of help as well.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, well yeah, there's no shame in that. No, there is not, no, because education has come a long ways and many years ago they didn't have near the technology to learn.
Speaker 3:And Well, what about those people that are English learners now?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, perfect.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a good starting point. Absolutely yeah.
Speaker 1:Supplemental yes, so tell us about some of the classes that you guys have here. Like you said, at 10 o'clock you have a group coming in.
Speaker 4:Oh, yeah, so today is total time and it's structured for babies zero to three years old, and Miss Irene is so great with them. You should see them, a bunch of little babies running around, clapping, singing, dancing. They go through their alphabet, and not only do they say their alphabet, most of them can sign their alphabet. What so? Miss Irene helps teach them how to sign and they do certain words in sign language. They go through colors, shapes, they read books, they do songs. It's so much fun. And same thing for story time on Wednesday. They do go through the same thing, but it's geared towards three to five years old, so it's for a little bit older age group and they're just so much fun, right?
Speaker 1:Maybe Jake needs to come to town on Wednesdays. That's what some seniors like. On.
Speaker 2:Wednesdays needs to be our thing. Oh yeah, I know that, as when I had my first kid, I was so nervous about getting him out and I always thought, well, as long as he's with me, I need to keep him with me, and I'm you know that's the best for him. But I think we undervalued being around other kids. Oh yeah, for sure so by the time I got to like now, my third one goes to daycare and he's way more Sentences and you know I mean he's able to talk more than he was with the older ones.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, so I. The value in that is crucial.
Speaker 4:Yeah for sure. And getting them around other little ones their age too, that way they can start learning social awareness, how to interact with one another. That is super important to you. Know, siblings? How do you learn to share?
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, especially for people who can't afford to put their kids in daycare, this is the library's offering activities where your kids could get some social interaction at the young age.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and another program that we have is our homeschooling day program.
Speaker 1:Oh, we do that. I didn't even know we offered anything for homeschooling, oh yeah.
Speaker 4:I saw a need for it back in last year whenever we started having, like, the preschools come and their private preschools and they would come during the day and they wanted an activity to do, and so I was like, well, this is great for them, but they still go back to school and they learn. But what if we did this for homeschool? Because they don't have a whole lot of interaction right in the community and sometimes their co-ops, they cost to be in it. So why not have a free resource for our homeschooling community to come and do something loosely education based?
Speaker 4:Mm-hmm and still have fun while interacting with others, and a lot of the people that I see coming in they don't even know each other, they're not from the same co-op, and so they're interacting with each other and they're learning. We do it every other Tuesday and I try to have a theme for them, and so, like this month, it was kind of messed up because we had all the snow and the eyes, but it was a mixture of steam and science, and so steam is science, technology, engineering, arts and math, and so, yes, not yesterday, tuesday, we did an experiment called the gummy bear experiment, and we put little Gups of water out and we put salt, vinegar, baking soda and regular water in each cup, and then we put the gummy bears in, and I had a little worksheet for them and they observed what happened with the gummy bear and each thing, and they loved it, and then they got to eat gummy bears too.
Speaker 2:Right win-win.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so I tried doing something like that for them. You know, at least twice a month and they get to come in, they get to have fun, and then most of time afterward they're so intrigued with what they learn, they go and try finding books on it, right. And so not only are they learning something from me, but they're going out in there Trying to learn more, yeah, so.
Speaker 2:I think that's pretty cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's insane, yeah that is, I had no idea. Yeah, I just know a few people that homeschool and talk about how they have to go to Branson to do a lot of homeschooling things, so it's cool to know that we offer something here locally.
Speaker 3:Oh, yeah, she also has a tab group. Yeah, that she started as well. So what is?
Speaker 4:that teen advisory board. Okay, and so it's a group of teens who they're from different schools or they might. Some of them are homeschooled too. They come together and they plan programs for teens their age. So this Friday we're having an escape room five nights at Freddy's. I don't know if you guys know what that is? Yeah, the scary little animatronics. So we are doing an escape room in our meeting room and they planned it. And so me and my clerk, brian, we we got all the materials together and they're gonna help us put it all together Friday afternoon and they're gonna escape from this creepy room. Hey, and I'm kind of scared.
Speaker 2:That's cool, cuz it's lying them to be creative. And oh yeah, if it's coming from the mind of a teen, then surely it's relatable to other teams.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, so what age group is 12 to 18?
Speaker 4:Okay, and so you have to be selected to be so you just apply and like, we just kind of go through, see if you're right fit, and you can even just try it out for a couple weeks and inside, well, maybe this is for me, maybe it's not for me, but we have tons of fun. We meet every Tuesday After our teen program. We meet in here. I'll have snacks and we talk about things that are relevant, like what's going on at school, or we'll even sit and we'll do like a craft together, yeah, and we'll plan like our upcoming month and you know it. Just, it gives them an opportunity to have their voices be heard for their community and it gives them something to do and it's better than them wandering around outside.
Speaker 3:Yeah, getting into stuff that they shouldn't be getting into, yeah, that's really cool, yeah so she offers a lot of different programs for every age, and but we don't forget about the parents as well. We also offer the parents different programs. We have two different book clubs they're going on. One is on a Thursday night, the first of the month, and then we have a book club for a noon time lunchtime.
Speaker 3:Here we go Wednesdays it's actually the third Wednesday at noon and we offer a book club for that as well, and that's a group of ladies to get together and just read a specific book. Yeah, and it could be any genre that they pick at the beginning of the year and then they discuss that and Just get together, and sometimes they go out to lunch afterward. Sometimes they don't. Just depends nice, nice to get people and it's nice to get people. And then we also have do a crocheting Every week on Tuesday, isn't it? Yes, it's Tuesday. Every Tuesday, I think, is it two o'clock and we do crocheting and if you're just getting into it, they'll help you with that and do that. And then they have other programs on Tuesday evenings and Thursday evenings as well. It could be painting, it could be a cooking class, it could be that he was gonna ask you.
Speaker 1:I thought you had told us before that you had cooking classes here.
Speaker 3:Yes, yes, we have a nurse. She used to be a nurse, I think she's retired now, and her name is Mary Ann Kaffenberger and Very educated in nutrition, okay, and she usually does like nutritional items. Oh, or, if you have issues with diabetes or some type of other issues, she will do a program on how should you eat and how should you, how can you cook to be able to stay, you know, healthy and that's what you need.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you're always talking about experimenting with new recipes and yeah, yeah, yeah, she's pretty wonderful.
Speaker 3:Yeah, she's like. I've just been doing it with us for several years.
Speaker 2:I had no idea all this was offered at the library, me either, me there.
Speaker 1:I'm excited about getting the newsletter. I'm gonna go sign up when we get done here because I want to get the newsletter and join a book club and, yeah, yeah, you can bring your kids.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah do they have library cards? Well, yeah, because my mother. That's a huge thing is when they hit three years old, everybody gets to go get a library card. And Jake hasn't gotten his because he's two and a half, but we go get a library card when they turn three. That is wonderful.
Speaker 3:Okay, well, so don't forget, we have a couple of organizations that do help the library in numerous ways, and one of those organizations is our friends of the library, and they sponsor book sales for children, and then book sales for children and adults, and then book sales for adults. Okay, and so they have like three book sales a year one for the children, one for a holiday, and then I guess it's two other ones, and we have one for spring and one for fall.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:So we have those and they are actually going to put together a bake sale for February the 14th. Okay, yes, and that's Valentine's Day. So, they're going to be selling some really goodies for us. The 14th She'll come eat those yes. Yes, and they're very reasonably priced. I mean, sometimes you're basically just basically giving them away.
Speaker 2:But it's for your purpose.
Speaker 3:But yes, and what they do is they support the library in programming or materials or whatever the case may be that we need. Okay, and so don't forget the bake sale on the 14th.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, bake sale on the 14th. Guys, we got to come buy all the goodies and then we have one more big thing I'd like to talk to you about. Yeah, go ahead, yeah.
Speaker 3:We have the eclipse, as everybody already knows, yes, yes Okay. And, if you'll remind me before you leave, I'll give you some glasses for your families. Okay, and we also have telescopes, but, however, they're not retrofitted to view the eclipse. Okay, but we will have an eclipse. He's bringing his telescope, isn't he, our gentleman friend A tech.
Speaker 4:Handle yeah tech? I believe he is yes, so we're going to have a telescope here.
Speaker 3:We're going to close off the street on that day. It's in April, right, okay? And we're going to close off the street and have, just like a little street party, like a view oh. An eclipse party and we're going to have a bank that's going to give us give away some food and all that Awesome.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that's in April. Yeah, yes, yes.
Speaker 1:Okay. So in April we got to come here for the eclipse party.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think my kids would enjoy, because learning what the eclipse is, yes, yes, yes, and Tuck Campbell is very knowledgeable about that and, like I said, he has a made a lens that we can view it with. Okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Cause I know that when I photograph it I have to have my special cover.
Speaker 3:Yes, yes, definitely special lens It'll cook my you have that.
Speaker 1:Yes, putting the last one. Good, that's awesome, that's awesome.
Speaker 2:Yeah, cause it'll cook the internals of the camera.
Speaker 3:Yes, so don't forget to stop, don't let me forget to give you your glasses.
Speaker 1:No, we won't forget that, okay, and we will, we.
Speaker 3:The state library has given us over 25,000. Yeah, yeah, so we're, we're, we're giving those out to some of the area schools that need them. Right, okay, we're gonna save several to give to our patrons that come in. But, yeah, yeah, so I have some glasses to give to you today Glasses for the eclipse, cool.
Speaker 1:Any other things you want to talk about.
Speaker 4:I just have a bunch of stuff planned prior, before the eclipse, so we can learn. So be sure to subscribe to our newsletter, grab a calendar and, of course, check our Facebook out. Yeah, I always post our events on there and I'm going to have a ton of fun stuff coming up pretty soon, okay, so just be sure to be keeping up with us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, cause I'd like for the boys to understand what's occurring before it occurs.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I know you guys probably get this a lot, but your Facebook was hacked a few months ago, yes. So if you're looking out there, there is one that's not the right one, and you'll know that very quickly that it's not the right one. Make sure you're following the right one. So make sure you're following the right one. Yes, exactly. We would love you, to friend us, that would be wonderful.
Speaker 3:Thank you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's probably really stinks that you had to do that and can't get the other one to go away. We can't yeah, that's yeah.
Speaker 3:We have called them, we have done everything that we possibly can do and they will not take it down, yeah. Because somebody already took it over. Yeah, yeah, that's so but you'll see. Amy and I and a couple of other ladies on on the real one, and it's got the tree of knowledge on there. Actually, it almost looks like that.
Speaker 1:Okay, yes, please, yes, okay, cool. Well, thank you guys. So much for being with us today and we may be back and when there's more things going on, just call us if you want us to come back and talk about some more things so. I appreciate it. Yeah, we want to make sure the community knows about all the things they can do here at the library.
Speaker 3:Yes, please Thank you. Yeah, thank you so much for asking us to come. Yeah, we really appreciate it. We appreciate it. Well, remember, we're not a community without a library.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Well, thank you guys for being on our episode today and we'll see you next week. See you, yeah.
