Over 150 patrons of the Old Forge Library attended the Centennial Celebration of the library’s founding, on Sunday, July 13th.
The event also honored regional artist Gerda Wikander who celebrated her 100th birthday at the opening reception of her library art exhibit, A Blessed Journey.
Also in attendance were Ellen Rocco and Todd Moe of North Country Public Radio, and Matthew Pennello, a representative of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office who delivered a special proclamation from the governor.
A highlight of the celebration was the reading of the poem, Wide Branches and Deep Roots, by its writer, Joseph Bruchac.
Wide Branches, Deep Roots
by Joseph Bruchac
When a seed is planted
and a century has passed.
how wide are its branches,
how deep are its roots?
When its boughs have been spread,
for all those decades
to protect, to encourage
those who’ve sought shelter
beneath its shade,
who can measure best
how far its shadow has been cast?
And when what we picture
is not merely a tree,
but a meeting place, a library,
a crossroads, a haven
where traditions are stored,
sung, and made new again,
a site where anyone can come
to learn, to work, or simply seek
the simple joy of that endless journey,
to be found in the sharing of a story,
when we realize this,
we may start to see,
how far those hidden roots have reached.
Here in our north country
where that old white season
sometimes seems as if it will never end,
this is the place you can find a friend,
whether written, or spoken, or
shone from the glowing face of a screen,
to bring back light in those moons of long nights.
And then when the warm rain
urges forth the new growth
and the loon calls again
from the flowing Moose River,
we are joined again by those,
who like the bright birds
that flew to the south,
return every spring to our green Adirondacks,
and walk through these doors,
knowing they will always be greeted
and wlecomed again as friends.
So, perhaps, there is,
like imagination
no limit to how far
those branches may reach,
how deep and how wide
those nurturing roots may spread
in the years and seasons to come.