The Month at a Glance

Sunday, July 10 – Harry Potter Party and Raffle

Sunday, July 10 – Start of Summer Reading Program

Sunday, July 17 – Annual Book Sale Begins

Saturday, July 23 – Comedy Night at the Jordan Small Middle School

Wednesday, July 27 – Reading Group

Harry Potter Party

The Party of the Year!! The first Harry Potter Night will be held on July 10 at the Center for Performing Arts (what was Christ Chapel Church) from 6:30-8:30 p.m. This will be a night filled with Harry Potter-themed activities ranging from making Slime to a game of Nerf Quidditch and much, much more. There will be great prizes, a performance by the Magical Karen Seymour, and a drawing for the quilt, book and wand. Be sure to mark your calendars and be there. It is a party you don’t want to miss.

Summer Reading Program

Treasure Your Library, is the theme of the summer reading program, which begins on July 10. Pirates and Treasure is what it is all about. There will be fun and interesting things to learn and fun stuff to do. See the sign up sheet in this Roadrunner.

Annual Book Sale

This is it! The sale you’ve been waiting for! Forget Amazon.com, Borders, and all the others. At this book sale, the price is right and the selection wonderful. It begins on July 17 at 9 a.m. The sale will continue on through August, but come early for the best selection. We do continue getting in new books so be sure to return often and build up your personal library. We are always accepting book donations. We do have to refuse Reader Digest condensed books and textbooks, due to our limited space.

Comedy Night

According to the latest research, laughter is the very best medicine for whatever ails you. Now we have the ultimate cure, An Evening of Laughter. On July 23 at the Jordan Small Middle School Gym, we will be entertained by Comedian George Hamm and Friends, including Karen Morgan and Chris Mac.

George Hamm is Maine’s fastest rising comedian and comes to the stage with his sarcastic look on life and all it has to offer. Karen Morgan, from Cumberland was a finalist in the Nick at Night’s Search for America’s Funniest Mom.

General Admission tickets are $15 per person and are available at the Raymond Village Library, The Good Life Market, K&K Video and Aubuchon Hardware. All proceeds go to the Raymond Village Library. So come to support a good cause and have a great evening all at the same time. The doors open at 7 p.m. Refreshments and raffles will be available until the show begins at 8 p.m.

Reading Group

The author featured for July is Dan Brown. His popular “DaVinci Code” is the primary book to be discussed, but participants are encouraged to read any of his books for discussion and perhaps do some research into the author’s sources for his books, if thus inclined. It will prove to be a most enjoyable evening and all interested persons are invited to come and participate. This will be at the Raymond Village Library on Wednesday, July 27, beginning at 7 p.m. For more information, please call 655-4283.

Art Exhibit

When you are in the Raymond Village Library, please notice the beautiful art work adorning the walls. Phil Metcalf Jr. who is the artist and photographer has studied at Famous Artists Schools in Westport, CT, is self-taught in various media and is currently enrolled in USM. Mr. Metcalf uses many different media: Oils, Acrylics, Watercolor, Egg Tempera, Pencil, Colored Pencil and Pastels. His paintings include Realism, Impressionism, Ala Prima, and Outsider Art. He has won awards at the Maine Wildlife Art show and Maine Waterfowl Art Contest. His art shows our beautiful landscapes, seascapes and wildlife of Maine. This is an exhibit not to be missed.

Book Review, “Blink”, written by Malcolm Gladwell – Reviewed by Claudia Trend

“Blink, The Power of Thinking without Thinking.”

My first brush with BLINK was when I found it on the new non-fiction table at our library. I briefly held it, read its cover and title, looked at the author’s photo and did not “get it.” My rule is if I can’t figure out what a book is about in 10 seconds or less, I move on. My second exposure to BLINK was when my brother asked me if I had read it and I said no, but that I had tampered with the idea. He suggested that I give it another try as according to him, “it’s really good.” Twice after that when I looked for it, it was checked out. Obviously other people were “getting it!” When finally my turn came around I was glad to attempt this book review.

What’s BLINK about? It’s about those split second decisions we all make in the heat of the moment – for good or bad. The author takes you through carefully constructed research results that have been done on the subject. Carefully is the word because the subject is so subtle that it is hard to grasp. Studies show that we are all making micro-second decisions on a subconscious level; some of these decisions are brilliant and some are, sadly, deadly.

These BLINK moments are so automatic and undetected that I was halfway through the book before I realized that I had been doing it myself…about the book! BLINK requires and deserves careful reading and even some re-reading of parts (especially pages 221-229, “Arguing with a Dog”). If you can drag your conscious mind to a meeting with your subconscious, no matter how briefly, it’s worth the effort, if only for the advantage you will have over everyone else who is content to leave their BLINK moments unexplored.