Architect Mark Hewitt to Speak at Bernardsville Library

Bernardsville architect Mark Alan Hewitt will talk about his new book, The Vintage House: A Guide to Successful Renovations and Additions at Bernardsville Public Library on Tuesday, September 13 at 7:00 pm. Books will be available for purchase and signing.

Co-written with Gordon Bock, the book provides a blueprint for renovating in a way that upholds the character and integrity of the original house. A must-have primer for historic preservation–minded homeowners, architects, and designers, it is the first comprehensive guide to achieving truly compatible, stylistically resonant additions and renovations.

Mr. Hewitt is nationally recognized architect and Gordon Bock is a preservation consultant. In the book, they carefully explain the preparations that are fundamental to renovation and intelligent rebuilding—how to work within the existing footprint of a home, blend in additions that “stay in tune,” expand heating and cooling systems discreetly, maintain a “face,” or facade, in keeping with a home’s codified style (be it Colonial, Cape Cod, Tudor, etc.), select authentic materials, and much more.

Mr. Hewitt, FAIA, is an architectural historian and preservation architect who teaches at Rutgers University. His books include The Architect and the American Country House and Gustav Stickley’s Craftsman Farms. [Co-author Mr. Bock was the longtime editor of the Old House Journal. He teaches in the preservation program at Drew University.]

There is no charge to attend the program, but advance sign-up is requested. Register online at http://www.bernardsvillelibrary.org/ and follow the link under Adult Programs, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up.

Photographs by Richard Lear on Exhibition

Bernardsville Public Library is pleased to present Objects of Desire: Flowers of the World, an exhibition of photographs by Richard Lear. The exhibition will be on display during the month of September, and the public is invited to meet the artist at a reception on Saturday, September 17 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. [No sign-up is necessary.]

Richard Lear, a resident of Plainfield, New Jersey, has traveled the world looking for extraordinary flowers to photograph. In his lens, he has found beauty as well as abstraction from New Jersey to Fiji. “Since the flower is one of nature’s most perfect and unique gifts,” he says he finds that it makes the ideal subject. “It brings joy and laughter, and brightens the darkest of days. The magnitude of color is always awe-inspiring,” he adds.

Mr. Lear has put himself in some very precarious situations to get just the right shot with his macro lens. Once he had his partner sit on his legs so he could hang over a body of water to reach the perfect water lily; another time he hung upside down over a second story balcony to capture a unique flower he had never seen before. “I never knew life could be joyful, exciting and calm all at once until I picked up my camera for the first time and tried to capture the beauty that had been before me my entire life,” he said.

Growing up in the Ozark National Forest made Mr. Lear aware of the beauty that surrounds us all on a daily basis. He moved from the forests of Arkansas, first to Los Angeles and then to Manhattan before finally settling in New Jersey. Even in those urban environments he has always had the ability to find something extraordinary to observe in his surroundings. Forced to vacate his apartment due to the World Trade Center disaster in 2001, he realized that life was too precious to waste and decided that he shouldn’t wait to do the things he desired.

It was his scuba certification and underwater photography that taught him he had an eye for composition. That and the love of flowers he shared with his father brought him to the collection he has been working on for some time. Letting the wind and his camera take him where they may, Mr. Lear has shot flowers in Fiji, Saba, the Netherlands Antilles, Honduras and Bonaire to name a few of the more exotic locations. He also will present images from New Jersey, New York and Oklahoma as well. “I try so very hard to present something that brings the viewers in and captivates them. At the same time, sharing the joy that I feel while shooting these precious gems brings me tremendous satisfaction.”

The show will be on view in the library’s Community Room during regular library hours unless a meeting is in progress. For further information, please call the library at 908-766-0118.

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PHOTO: Golden Chalice by Richard Lear

Library Summer Reading Club Finale

One World Many Stories, the Summer Reading theme at the Bernardsville Public Library, will come to a close with a finale program on Friday, September 9th at 6:30 pm. Magician Jim Vagais will wow the audience with his magic tricks and entertainment. A magician for over thirty years, Magic Jim has performed numerous times on television and has recently been a magic consultant to a Broadway musical. This amazing show is free for all attendees and is sponsored by the Friends of the Bernardsville Public Library. Seating for Magic Jim’s performance is limited and registration is required. Register online at www.bernardsvillelibrary.org and follow the link under Kid Stuff, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up.

This year, 388 readers (Kindergarten through Grade 12) joined the library’s Reading Club and read more than 317,000 minutes in the course of ten weeks. Over the summer, the library’s Youth Services staff led many activities about different countries and cultures around the world including chop stick relays, international hop scotch, creating Samurai hats, worry dolls, African masks, dream catchers and origami. Participants attended special Friday Explorations where they learned about the cultures of Mexico, Italy and Japan; they met animals from around the world like the Wallaby with the Eyes of the Wild; and many children volunteered to be a book buddy to a younger child. Enjoy Explore India LLC conducted wonderful programs on Indian culture including a Mehndi workshop, for students in Grades 4-6 to learn about the art of Mehndi, or henna, and a Bollywood dancing program where Grades 4 and up learned how to move to the music “Bollywood” style. Bernardsville Library patron Lori Garth, a naturalist, volunteered her time and knowledge to do a wonderful program on worm composting, and she donated two black swallowtail caterpillars to the Youth Services Department so that patrons could observe them in change into butterflies. Bernardsville Library’s Youth Services Department had over sixty student volunteers to assist with programs, help patrons collect prizes and log their reading times.

One World Many Stories brought tales from cultures around the world to the Bernardsville Public Library through story time programs, crafts, games, food, and special family events. For more about Bernardsville Public Library, go to library website: www.bernardsvillelibrary.org.

9/11 Remembrance at Bernardsville Library

Members of the public are invited to attend the tenth anniversary remembrance for the two Bernardsville residents who were lost on September 11, 2001. A short ceremony honoring Allison Horstmann Jones and Thomas Barnes Reinig will take place at the flagpole outside Bernardsville Public Library starting at 6:30 pm on Sunday, September 11. Community members and a United States Marines Corps Color Guard will participate in the ceremony which will also include remarks by Mayor Lee Honecker.

Tea & Conversation with Award-Winning Poet Dorianne Laux

Join us for tea and conversation as Julie Maloney, Director of WOMEN READING ALOUD, conducts an up-close and personal interview with award-winning poet Dorianne Laux at Bernardsville Public Library on Saturday, September 10 at 2:00 pm. At the library, audience members will have a rare opportunity to ask the author questions about her work and her writing process. A short reading of new and selected poems as well as a book signing will follow the interview.

Dorianne Laux is the recipient of two Best American Poetry Prizes, a Pushcart Prize, two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Widely anthologized, her work has appeared in the Best of American Poetry Review, The Norton Anthology of Contemporary Poetry, and The Best of the Net. In 2001, she was invited by the late poet Stanley Kunitz to read at the Library of Congress. Her fifth book of poetry, The Book of Men, (W.W. Norton) was released in February 2011. She teaches poetry at North Carolina State University.

The renowned poet Jane Hirshfield said of Ms. Laux, "Dorianne Laux has created an ever-expanding body of work in which the examined life is the common one, recognizable and shared, yet also transformed—each statement, feeling, fact set down with accuracy, original vision, and an unerring musicality and alertness. Facts about the Moon continually surprises and enriches. In its rhetorical clarity, emotional honesty, lyric beauty, attention to detail, and moral encounter with the world, this volume is a rewarding and powerful achievement."

Interviewer Julie Maloney has worked in the arts as a performer and educator her entire life. She is a poet and writer, photographer and teacher who has taught writing on both the high school and college levels. She is founder and director of Women Reading Aloud (WRA), a not-for-profit organization that promotes women writers in New Jersey and beyond. WRA holds special events, weekend writing retreats, conferences and on-going writing workshops in spring and fall during which women writers of all genres hone their work in a salon type setting. She recently led a writer's retreat in Greece and will return in June 2012 to lead another.

There is no charge to attend the program at the library, but advance sign-up is requested. Register online at http://www.bernardsvillelibrary.org/ and follow the link under Adult Programs, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up.

The Power of Words: Workshop with Andrea Mastrobattista

Inspirational speaker Andrea Mastrobattista will host a new workshop, “The Power of Words,” at Bernardsville Public Library on Wednesday, August 31 at 7:00 pm. “Whether they are said to us or used by us, words have the ability to tear us down or build us up, said Ms. Mastrobattista, “While our tendency is often to speak negatively, using positive, encouraging words is definitely the healthiest option. Come to this workshop to discover how to put a consistently positive tone to what you say about yourself and others.”

There is no charge to attend the library workshop, but advance registration is requested. Register online at http://www.bernardsvillelibrary.org/, and follow the link under Adult Programs, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up.

Move to the Music, Bollywood Style!

Enjoy the sensational cultural mix of the west and east at Bernardsville Public Library when Enjoy Explore India (EEI) puts on a program of Bollywood music and demonstrates some cool dance moves “Bollywood” style. It’s all happening on Thursday, August 4 at 7:00 pm.

Bollywood is the informal term used for the Hindi language film industry based in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay). Think of the music and dance at the end of the movie Slum Dog Millionaire. That’s the kind of beat that participants will experience at the library. Enjoy Explore India is a new cultural learning program for youth and adults focused on India—her history, culture and traditions.

There is no charge to attend the program, but advance sign-up is requested. Register online at www.bernardsvillelibrary.org and follow the link under Adult Programs, or call the library at 908-766-0118 to sign up. This program is appropriate for adults and children over the age of ten.