Atlanta Library celebrates National Paul Bunyan Day at Summer Reading event

 

[June 29, 2023] 

The Atlanta Public Library hosted an event commemorating National Paul Bunyan Day Wednesday, June 28 at Atlanta's Union Hall.

Julianna Nordman, Atlanta Public Library's Program Director, said this year is the first time they have had the special event on Paul Bunyan Day.In the previous two years, Nordman said they had hoped to do something, but the day snuck up on them.

Part of American Folklore, giant lumberjack Paul Bunyan and his companion Babe the Blue Ox are said to have created the Grand Canyon, Mississippi River, Great Lakes as well as other landmarks. Paul Bunyan was “63 axe handles high.” He began cutting timber as a young man. As Bunyan headed west, he chopped down many trees.

There were Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox coloring pages available. In addition, children could color and decoratePaul Bunyan's beard and put it on a stick.

One youngster attending loves Paul Bunyan. His mom said he asks her to drive past the Paul Bunyon statue (aka the Hot Dog guy) and new giant by the American Giants Museum every time they are out and about.

As attendees munched on popcorn and drank from juice boxes, they watched the movie Disney's American Legends. This 2001 movie compiled four music shorts based on American Tall Tales previously released by Disney Animation Studios.

Narrated by James Earl Jones, American Legends includes a Paul Bunyan short from 1958. Other stories in the movie include the2000 short film John Henry,1948 short film Johnny Appleseed and 1950 short The Brave Engineer about railroad engineer John Luther “Casey” Jones’ exploits.

Once the movie was over, the children had a chance to try out their axe throwing skills. The foam axe had Velcro on it and was thrown at a Velcro target attached to a door with suction cups. Though no one got a bullseye, a few came close.

Next Wednesday, the Atlanta Public Library will host a Whiz Bang Show about the circus at 2 p.m. and a movie night at 6 p.m. at Union Hall. Other events in July include craft days from 2 to 6 p.m. on Fridays and the summer reading program on Saturdays at 2 p.m. Monday, July 10 and Monday, July 24 the library will host an outside play time at 2 p.m.

For more information, call the Atlanta Public Library District at 217-648-2112. All events are for all ages and free to the public, but the summer reading program requires registration.

[Angela Reiners]