September 8, 2004
Campfire Tales success story
Event held at Twin Lakes Camp draws attention to proposed Long Lake library
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Nestled on a green hillside as the sun set, 60 people young and old sat around a campfire to listen to stories, songs and poetry Wednesday evening.
Campfire Tales at Twin Lakes Camp drew area families for an evening listening to poet Terry Wooten, storyteller Jill Bert and singer and songwriter Emily Lively.
"Libraries and myself go way back," he told the crowd, describing the library in Marion, where he grew up. "It was located in a dead pioneer's house where the kitchen cupboard with the doors off held books; that atmosphere was a real draw for me."
Wooten added that his dyslexia prevented him from reading out loud during his school years. However, the voracious reader finally figured out that he could memorize and recite, which turned out to be the cornerstone of his career as a poet and performer.
"I have 463 poems committed to memory," he said before reciting a poem he wrote about his hometown's library.
Sponsored by the Capital Campaign Committee of the Long Lake Branch, organizers hope that Campfire Tales becomes a Long Lake tradition.
"We're hoping to have some Native American storytelling or a drum circle or some spooky stories next month," said Suzanne VanderKlipp, a township resident who helped organize the event. "We also want to draw more teenagers to the facility."
In addition to providing a slice of entertainment and culture to the community, the event was intended to raise awareness of the effort to create a Long Lake Township branch library.
Members of the Capital Campaign Committee also hope that by next year, their vision of a branch library will have taken root at the county-owned Twin Lakes Camp. The growing township has been working to raise a million dollars to build a new facility at the corner of Manhattan and North Long Lake Roads.
Recent developments, however, opened the possibility that the township could place their library in the dormitory at Twin Lakes Camp. To do this, the township could either take over the camp, keeping the grounds and lodge building open to all county residents, or simply lease the space from the county for the library. Either case would require that the dormitory no longer be available for lease to any other parties.
Township residents, some of whom have been working to bring a library to the area for years, see it as a win-win scenario for everyone: county officials and residents as well as township officials and residents. Township and county officials are considering the options and discussing ideas at this point.
"It would be half the cost and twice the area," noted township treasurer Tina Allen. "And we could include a senior center, which we couldn't afford to build. It would be a very good thing for the township, but the county has to think of the whole county."
Larry Dobler, co-chair of the Capital Campaign Committee, said libraries are any community's hidden jewel. Bringing a branch of the Traverse Area District Library is long overdue for Long Lake Township.
"Everybody will still have access to the facility and it will still be a place for the community to congregate and share divergent views," he said of the proposed library.
If the Twin Lakes Camp plan does not come together, he said, the committee will revert to its original idea and focus on fundraising and construction.
"We'll have a library here, if it takes ten years," he said of Long Lake Township. "Libraries are the best-kept secrets around."
The next Campfire Tales is scheduled for Thursday, October 21, from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at the Twin Lakes Camp. The event is open to the public, free and more information about the program will be announced.