Lane Ragsdale to perform Christmas cabaret at Asheboro library

Put your worries away and focus on the joys of Christmas 2009 with “Christmas Present: A Holiday Evening with Lane Ragsdale and Friends” at 7 p.m. Thursday, December 17, at the Asheboro Public Library.

The show, sponsored by the Friends of the Library, is free and the public is invited. All attendees are encouraged to bring canned goods for local food pantries.

Ragsdale’s latest cabaret will focus on all we have to celebrate today, and will include sacred and secular musical selections as well as Lane’s reflections on the season and on the past year. Joining Ragsdale will be Raziel Blanco, star of Asheboro High School’s recent production of Les Miserables; Patrick Osteen, a student at the North Carolina School of the Arts; Emmi Bulla, a student at Asheboro High School; Beth Jennings, a student at the University of Mississippi; and Ashley Wicker, a student at UNC-Greensboro.

Arranged and accompanied by Lisa Johnson, the show also will feature harpist Clark Carriker.

Lydia Craven profiled

The Courier Tribune profiles Franklinville's Lydia Craven, champion of reading and libraries.

Asheboro library to host breakfast for kids with Mrs. Santa

Children of all ages are invited to come for Breakfast with Mrs. Santa at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, December 5, at the Asheboro Public Library.

A light breakfast will be served, after which Mrs. Santa, a.k.a. performer and storyteller Cynthia Moore Brown, will share Christmas tales with the audience.

Sponsored by the Friends of the Library, the breakfast is free and all kids are welcome.

Library wins three statewide awards

Three Randolph County Public Library projects have won outstanding program awards from the North Carolina Public Library Directors Association (NCPLDA).

Summer Reading Program publicity, RandQuest.org and the Liberty Public Library renovation claimed top honors for medium-sized library systems. Library staff will make presentations about the projects and receive the awards at a December NCPLDA meeting.

Publicity for the Summer Reading Program won the Outstanding Promotional Program Award. In June, the library sent a colorful flyer home with some 17,000 K-8 students in the Asheboro City and Randolph County Schools. Headquarters and branch library staff visited 14 schools, and systematic distribution of news releases maintained a media presence for the library.

The effort significantly increased participation in the Summer Reading Program, driving up the number of children obtaining library card by 39 percent compared to last summer, and increasing program attendance by 34 percent.


RandQuest.org, the library’s research portal, won the Outstanding Service Innovation Award. Creation of the portal, which provides easy access to research databases and other online resources, led to a marked increase in awareness of the resources, more than doubling the use of some databases and racking up 3009 visits between February and June.

Renovation of the Liberty library, which included new carpet, paint and a creative reorientation of bookshelves to make the library more open and welcoming, received the Outstanding New/Improved Facility Award. Liberty Librarian Susan Primm and Town Manager Roger Davis collaborated on the project.

Movie Monday celebrates Christmas… four times

Can a couple’s relationship stand up to a separate Christmas visit with each of their divorced parents in one day?

That’s the question posed in Four Christmases, the Asheboro Public Library’s Movie Monday, 2 p.m. December 7. The romantic comedy stars Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn as the pair who, despite their best efforts to escape on a tropical Christmas vacation, end up trekking to see each of their estranged parents.

The stellar cast also includes Sissy Spacek, Robery Duvall, Jon Voight, Jon Favreau, Mary Steenburgen, Dwight Yoakam, Tim McGraw and Kristen Chenoweth.

The movie is free and the public is invited; refreshments will be served. Find our more here, or call 318-6824.

Library to offer weatherization workshop

Weatherization to reduce energy bills by making houses more energy efficient will be the topic of a presentation at 3 p.m. Wednesday, December 2, at the Asheboro library.

The workshop is free and the public is invited.

Regional Consolidated Services staff will talk about how to take advantage of the federal program, which offers the elderly, persons with disabilities and low-income families weatherization services at no cost.

Typical work may include caulking, insulating, sealing air leaks, installing vapor barriers, installing smoke/carbon monoxide detectors and replacing light bulbs with CFL bulbs.

Eligibility for weatherization assistance is based on combined household income.

Musical Applewhite family to perform at Asheboro library

Three generations of the Applewhite Family will present a concert of Christmas music for all ages at 7 p.m. Tuesday, December 1, at the Asheboro Public Library. The concert, sponsored by the Friends of the Library, is free and the public is invited.

The Applewhites started singing together many years ago around their mother at the piano, where they learned songs of faith and developed an ear for harmony. From that time on, many of the family have gone on to study voice and instruments at various places and schools including UNC Greensboro, Meredith College, Campbell University, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Greensboro College, Midwestern State University-Texas, North Carolina School of the Arts and East Carolina University.

Participating in this concert will be Jewel Applewhite, Sharon Applewhite Wiley, Donna Applewhite Beck, Marlo Applewhite Peddycord Francis, Nick Wiley, Stephen Wiley, Lauren Beck, Caroline Beck and Ben Peddycord.

The family will perform many genres of music, including sacred, Celtic instrumental, folk and contemporary. The program will include traditional Christmas carols and songs such as O Holy Night and Carol of the Bells, along with some surprises.

Pianist Lisa Johnson will provide accompaniment.