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As explained by Youth Services Librarian Melissa Oxborrow, the theme
was selected to highlight the library’s broad based programs of
engineering and technology, such as the Explorer’s Club and Story
Time.
The Summer Reading Program also has a second fun aspect and that is
the Thursday morning entertainment in the Annex. This summer
Jonathon May from Des Moines, Iowa led off the summer entertainment
with a fast paced show of magic and humor. Lincoln was one of many
stops he had planned for the day in central Illinois. A man who does
over 400 shows a year and intends to hit 50 cities in Iowa,
Illinois, and South Dakota in six weeks really has to move along. He
has been a successful entertainer for most of his life, but has been
doing it full time for six years. He brings his exciting shows to a
mix of kids and adults, crafting each show to his unique audience.
“I plan to do a blast of forty-five minutes in Lincoln and then head
out,” he said. Well, his show was a blast, but his audience was
having such a good time that he went into overtime.
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There were red rubber balls that kept disappearing and then showing
up in the hands of his surprised young helpers. There were card
tricks to do.
There was even a trick with a $100 bill that a member
of the audience loaned the magician. When it disappeared from a
sealed envelope, there was a serious frown from the person who
supplied it. Never fear, Jonathon pulled the lost bill out of the
center of an orange that was in a sealed bag on the side of the
stage the whole time. How did he do that?
He pulled everyone together during his show, kids and adults alike.
When he called for volunteers to help him out, hands shot up from
all of the kids and their parents sitting in the back. It was hard
to tell who was having the most fun, the magician or the audience.
The Lincoln Public Library has another five shows during “Reading by
Design.” Contact the library Youth Services Department to find out
about the summer reading program for children and the Thursday
entertainment always offered at 10 a.m.
[Curtis Fox] |
