Book Fair 2006

Book Fair 2005

The weekend of 29 September through 1 October 2006 was another special one for many people in Baltimore. It was the Book Fair. This year I went on Sunday only. My schedule is much more full than it was last year and I had several conflicts, including a music workshop and the Greek Festival at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church.

Before going to the Book Fair on Sunday, I had Liturgy at my church. Sunday morning Liturgy is my top priority. Since I am no longer in the military reserves, nothing supercedes Sunday Divine Liturgy. This is even more important to me now that our country has become so secularized and we are trying to take God out of our society and then we wonder why we have so many problems.

Before I could go to the Book Fair, I had a PTO (Parent Teachers Organization) meeting at church. Although I do not have any children of my own and I am not teaching a class this year, I am still a part of the program. The time that we spend with your young people is extremely precious and important. I highly value that time and today I often look back with joy upon times that I had spent with my students.

I walked to the Book Fair from where I live, a distance of approximately one mile. If I can't walk that distance, I really have a serious problem. Thank God that I can and do.

I had an opportunity to tour Mount Vernon Methodist Church. It is an interesting building, especially architectually. I did not know that they also had a chapel. Personally I was disapointed in the chapel because of the paintings around the walls. They were beautiful paintings, but I do not feel that they belong in a church. But then I am very steeped in Orthodox traditions.

The Book Fair featured all kinds of books and several demonstrations and entertainment. One woman did a baloon and a fire trick. It was interesting and she was really good at it. There were also cooking demonstrations and bands. I did not take any photographs of the cooking demonstrations. There were also book readings and authors were available to sign their books. There was also a spelling bee for the children.

I also reconnected with Baltimore Reads. I have done volunteer work with them in the past and I enjoyed it. On one book collection I got members from the Civil Air Patrol, Maryland Wing, to assist with traffic control. On another occasion, The Harbor Bank of Maryland assisted in a very successful drive of collecting books. On another occasion I worked with Dr. Pat Disharoon of the Girl Scouts on one of their projects. I really enjoyed working with the girls on this occasion. They were just wonderful and it was a great learning experience for me. I met Dr. Pat through the Church.

A very intrigueing person was Lisa from Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse on Saint Paul Street. I am generally shy about approaching interesting strangers, but her smile was inviting and so I went up to her and told her that she was very intriguing. I also took some photographs of her. It was the way that she was dressed that attracted my attention. I love period clothing. I am always interested in going back into the past.

Did you know that you can ask the library a question at any hour of the day or night? There is also a the Night Owl, Maryland's Late-Night Telephone Reference Service which operates between 20:00 and 23:00 Monday through Wednesday and 17:00 to 23:00 on Thursday and Friday. This is a service of the Enoch Pratt Free Library and the telephone number is 410-396-3557 from Baltimore and 800-325-6483 elsewhere.

I also picked up more "believe" buttons in Russian which I hope to distribute later this month at the Russian Festival. Plus I hope to have literature at the Festival on the Church, history, and saints of North America.

One of my final stops was to visit with Elzabeth Ann Weiblen, the diretor of the Mayor's Office of International Affairs. We are looking for volunteers for their Sister City Program, especially for people interested in Odessa. I will be working as a volunteer with that committee.

On the way home, I noticed a woman in Saint Mary Park feeding the squirrels and I had to stop to take photographs.





	Baltimore School 33
	I've known Ted for years	Ted again
	Plenty of good food was being served	Who's paying attention to signs?
	An extremely important crew!!
		Light Rail station
One of the performing bands		Barvarian custom and one of the woman knows how to sound German
Too bad I did not talk to the artist about his work. I love it!
	Jewelry	green house
A very friendly exhibitor

	Another band



	Lisa of Red Emma's
		Cheryl, Regina, and I go back to the last century
Maryland Army National Guard

		I enjoyed this ballet production

	This bright little girl really knows her words!

Elizabeth Ann Weiblen
	Saint Mary Park