The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts

in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest.

www.neabigread.org

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 5:00pm – 6:00pm

Peruvian Art Workshop

Location: Oneida Public Library, Oneida, NY 13421-2820
Children 6-12 years old can create their own colorfully designed arpilleras, folk tapestries made from fabric pieces.

Tue, Mar 2, Wed, Mar 3, Thu, Mar 4, 2010 10:00am – 11:00am

Lots and Lots of Llamas

Location: Oneida Public Library, Oneida, NY 13421-2820
Preschoolers and their parents can discover the strange animals of South America.

Sat, Mar 6, 2010 7:00pm – 9:00pm

Donna Woolfolk Cross on Empowerment

Location: Oneida Community Mansion House, Oneida, NY 13421-2820

Writer and teacher Donna Woolfolk Cross, author of the bestseller “Pope Joan,” will kick off The Big Read by sharing the research, writing and themes of her popular novel.  During this inspiring presentation on the power of reading and writing to enlighten, enrich, and change our lives, Cross will also discuss the influence of Thornton Wilder on her own writing.  Attendees will be the first to see the two-minute trailer of the movie version of “Pope Joan” that was released overseas last year.  The author’s talk will be followed by a reception when she will sign copies of “Pope Joan,” on sale that evening from the Colgate University Bookstore.

Mon, Mar 8, 2010 6:00pm – 7:30pm

To Build a Bridge

Location: Oneida Public Library, Oneida, NY 13421-2820
Be prepared! Children 9-12 years old can team up with the Boy Scouts of Seneca-Tuscarora District of the Revolutionary Trails Council to build model foot bridges out of rope and test their strength. Which will collapse first?

Tue, Mar 9, Wed, Mar 10,Thu, Mar 11, 2010 10:00am – 11:00am

Bridges

Location: Oneida Public Library, Oneida, NY 13421-2820
Librarian Michele Ryan celebrates bridges in story, song and games for preschoolers.

Wed, Mar 10, 2010 6:30pm – 7:30pm

Book Discussion - The Bridge of San Luis Rey

Location: Oneida Community Mansion House, Oneida, NY 13421-2820
Sherrill Kenwood Library Book Club

Thu, Mar 11, 2010 7:00pm – 8:00pm

The Bridge is Love

Location: Oneida Public Library, Oneida, NY 13421-2820
"There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the is love, the only survival, the only meaning," Wilder concludes in The Bridge. Explore the novel philosophically with Prof. John Schuster of Morrisville State College and discover the big questions of life and love, death and fate.

Tue, Mar 16, 2010 11:00am – 12:00pm

Paddington Bear from Peru

Location: Sherrill Kenwood Free Library, Sherrill, NY 13461
That troublemaking bear, Paddington, comes from "darkest Peru" to entertain preschoolers and their parents.

Fri, Mar 19, 2010 8:00 pm

Living and Dying in Our Town

Location: Oneida Community Mansion House, Oneida, NY 13421-2820

Broadcast originally on PBS's Character Studies series, "Living and Dying in Our Town" digs deep and reveals who "the boy and the girl next door" really are in Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize winning play. Come and see the special documentary writer and executive producer, as he discusses why Our Town shouldn't be considered from "the usual Norman Rockwell painting, Hallmark card approach at all."  The special features Eli Wallach, Frances Conroy, Eric Stoltz, James Naughton and Paul Newman. Tony Vellela has been a theater critic for four decades and is an award winning playwright.

Sat, Mar 20, 2010 10:30am – 11:30am

Inca Art Workshop

Location: Sherrill Kenwood Free Library, Sherrill, NY 13461

Children in grades K-2 learn about the wonderful art of the native Peruvians and create their own versions of this ancient art.

Tue, Mar 23, 2010 – Thu, Mar 25, 2010 10:00am – 11:00am

Inca Art

Location: Oneida Public Library, Oneida, NY 13421-2820
Preschoolers get a chance to make simple crafts in the style of the Incas.

Tue, Mar 23, 2010 11:00am – 12:00pm

Llamas and Friends in Peru

Location: Sherrill Kenwood Free Library, Sherrill, NY 13461
Preschoolers and their parents learn about Peru's exotic animals and the work they do.

Thu, Mar 25, 2010 7:00pm – 8:00pm

Bridging the Gap

Between the Novel and the Play

Location: Oneida Public Library, Oneida, NY 13421-2820
How can such dissimilar works as The Bridge of San Luis Rey and Our Town be by the same author? Dr. Roxanna Pisiak of Morrisville State College reveals strikingly similar themes-notably the effect of mortality on the living and the profound influence people have on each other.

Sat, Mar 27, 2010 10:30am – 11:30am

Foot Bridge Building Workshop

Location: Sherrill Kenwood Free Library, Oneida, NY 13461

Children in grades 3-6 learn to build a footbridge in the fashion of the Bridge of San Luis Rey.

Sat, Mar 27, 2010 6:00pm – 10:00pm

"Our Town"

Adults $10, Students $5, Children under 12 free

Location: Oneida Community Mansion House, Oneida, NY 13421-2820

Experience the perennial stage favorite Our Town as performed by the best of our community's young actors. Victoria Buda's Academy of Theatrical Arts will present Wilder's most popular play in the Big Hall of the Mansion House. (Tickets $10 each, $5 for students and children 12 and under are free.)

And Dinner Too

Location: Zabroso Restaurant, Oneida Community Mansion House, Oneida, NY 13421-2820

For a full night's entertainment come early to the Mansion House's Zabroso Restaurant for cocktail hour (5:30-6:30 pm)and a special South American dinner (6:30-8 pm) prepared by Zabroso's haute chef Ruben Lopez.  Tickets are $60, $75, and $100.  Call for information.

Tue, Mar 30, 2010 11:00am – 12:30pm

Alpacas of Ironwood Farms

Location: Sherrill Kenwood Free Library, Oneida, NY 13461

Peggy Berndt of Ironwood Farms in Verona is the special guest at the Family Story Hour and tells the real story of the alpaca of the Andes.