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‘The Final Hooray’ next EL book club series [UPDATED]
Published 9:01am Tuesday, December 18, 2012 Updated 11:02am Tuesday, December 18, 2012The Elbow Lake Public Library will be kicking off its new adult programming series this week with a discussion of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” at 7 p.m. tonight in the loft at the library.
“Ebenezer Scrooge had a huge end of life transformation,” said Elbow Lake Public Library Assistant Susan Sanford, designer and facilitator of the series. “What better way to start us all thinking about ‘The Final Hoorah: Aging and the End-of-Life.’”
Community members that miss tonight’s session are still invited to join in reading “A Christmas Carol,” and other books in the series, as well as attend discussion groups.
“We usually have about a dozen people who come to the book discussions and they range in age from in their twenties to their eighties,” said Sanford. “About 30 people request the books each month and we could see as many as 50 people attend a workshop.”
As part of “The Final Hoorah” series, four workshops will be held throughout this winter and early spring.
Attorney Justin Anderson will discuss The Very Basics of Estate Planning from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Jan. 26. Funeral director and middle school English teacher John Zdrazil will discuss Memorial, Funeral and Burial Planning with participants being able to choose between attending from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, March 2, or from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, March 5. Dr. Holmes from Prairie Ridge Hospital and Health Services will be leading a workshop on Advance Medical Directives from 10 to noon on Saturday, March 23. Susan Sanford will be hosting a workshop on Writing a Last Letter or Ethical Will from 10 to noon on Saturday, April 27.
All workshops are free and will be held in the Sanford Room, just below the library in the Elbow Lake Community Building.
“Usually the topic for one series will naturally emerge out of the previous series via themes and thoughts that come up for the group,” said Sanford. “During the last year while we’ve been studying compassion, civility and community, issues of aging have come up.
Plus the aging of the overall population is definitely a big topic for all of us politically, socially and personally.”
Fourteen books will be discussed during the upcoming year, including: “The Longevity Revolution: The Benefits and Challenges of Living a Long Life” by Robert Butler, M.D.; “Everyman” by Philip Roth; “The Good Death: The New American Search to Reshape the End of Life” by Marilyn Webb; “Gilead” by Marilynne Robinson; “The Mature Mind: The Positive Power of the Aging Brain” by Gene D. Cohen, and “Crossing to Safety” by Wallace Stegner.
Discussions are at the Elbow Lake library at 7 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of each month and at noon on the Wednesday following the fourth Tuesday of the month.
If you would like more information about this series, you can call the library at 218-685-6850, stop in at 117 N. Central Avenue in Elbow Lake.
All events are open to the public and free of charge.
