Gardening and marshmallow peeps will figure in to a couple of upcoming programs at the Escalon Library, with a number of events on the schedule during March.
On Friday, March 10 at 3:30 p.m., the program is Protect your Peeps, open to those ages 12 and up. The idea is to construct barricades and catapults to protect your line of peeps; with participants then taking part in an ‘all out marshmallow war’ to determine whose peeps last the longest.
Scheduled on Saturday, March 11 at 1:30 p.m., kids of all ages are welcome to attend a special Science Saturday Seedling Garden program, sponsored by Friends of the Escalon Library. Join in planting various vegetable and flower seeds, including tomatoes, summer squash, cucumbers, marigolds, sunflowers, and more. Attendees will be able to take some home and watch them grow. The rest will stay at the Escalon library and, when they have grown enough, will become part of the library’s community garden.
Prior to that Science Saturday program for youngsters, adults are encouraged to attend the Gardening to Enhance Your Memory program, offered at 11 a.m.
Representatives of New Mettle Farms will be on hand to present for this informative program on gardening formations and strategies to assist with memory enhancement.
Meanwhile, Librarian Amanda Clifford said the branch recently hosted its first ever ‘Coffee with a Cop’ gathering, on Thursday, Feb. 23 and were pleasantly surprised.
“For the first one, we had a good turnout, we estimated it at about 45 people,” Clifford explained, noting they likely will schedule another one at a later date since the first one was so well received.
The library, at 1540 Second St., also has regularly scheduled programs during the month, such as a weekly Pop-In Craft, which can be done at the library or taken home; Tech Help Wednesdays each Wednesday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.; an English Conversation Club on Thursdays from 3:30 pm. to 4:30 p.m., and more.
There is also a bilingual story time a couple of Tuesdays a month, Legos and Listen programs, a weekly preschool storytime on Thursdays and, on the third Thursday of the month, the Paws 4 Friends R.E.A.D. program. That effort, from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., gives youngsters the chance to meet and read a book to a therapy dog.
R.E.A.D. companions are registered therapy animals who volunteer with their owner/handlers as reading companions. Children and teens can practice and improve their reading and communication skills in a unique environment. The next Paws 4 Friends will be on March 16.
For more information about any of these programs, or other offerings at the library, visit the website at https://ssjcpl.org and click on the Escalon branch.
Hours for the Escalon Library are Mondays and Wednesdays, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesdays, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Fridays, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; closed Sundays.
