The following article was written by Tim Gadzinski, a Marketing Associate with the Manitowoc Public Library.
Sure. Right now the weather is temperate and lovely, but do you know what’s really scary? The fact that in just around a month from now it may be snowing!! Don’t scoff! More than once, we took our daughter Trick or Treating when she was younger with flakes flying and the wind gusting through the fake spider webs and clever novelty front yard grave markers. And this wasn’t something that I heard about that happened to my friend’s cousin’s pet groomer. It happened. I was there.
Perhaps that was a bit dramatic, but, honestly, this is the sort of informative goofball approach that you’ll encounter when you tune into “MPL Insider: Beyond the Books with Tim and Emily.” It’s my Marketing partner-in-crime’s and my approach to pulling the curtain back to give our community a behind-the-scenes look at the Library’s staff, services, patrons, and events. It’s not that much different than if you randomly stopped by our office on any given workday. The conversations on “Insider” may be slightly less raucous, but the random, nonlinear, yet productive nature of it is definitely similar and just as, ultimately, informative and instructive.
The reason that I’m bringing this up is that in a few weeks—on Thursday, October 17, at 12 Noon—we have an amazing episode of the show on-tap that we hope you’ll be interested in catching during your lunch break. Of course, you can nosh on anything you like while you watch, but grazing upon a bunch of candy that you may not want to have again for a while if you have too much of it would be our suggestion. Brach’s Circus Peanuts pops to mind. Washed down with a refreshing, ice-cold Mello Yello or two. That would be a perfect combo to enjoy while watching our October Spooktacular!
While I can neither confirm nor deny that there may or may not be costume changes that day, I can relay that we have an excellent slate of guests scheduled to appear. In the online MPL Studios, we’ll be welcoming Youth Services Manager, Sharon Verbeten, and Public Service Associate, Lisa Devins-Horohoe. They’ll be there to chat with us about two of the Library’s most popular seasonal offerings: Trunk or Treat and the Spooktacular Costume Contest. Both of these family-friendly events attract people in droves and we’re super-pleased that Lisa and Sharon will be there to provide our community with more details on both programs.
Also joining us that Thursday will be far-and-away the biggest niche celebrity we’ve ever had on “Insider”—Chad Lewis, a paranormal explorer who will be presenting “Wisconsin’s Most Haunted Locations” on Thursday, October 24, at 6 PM in the Balkansky Community Room. For over two decades, Chad has traveled the backroads of the world in search of the strange and unusual. He’s been featured on the Discovery Channel’s A Haunting, William Shatner’s Weird or What and The UnXplained, and ABC’s Scariest Places on Earth, along with being a frequent contributor on Ripley’s Believe it or Not Radio. With a Master’s Degree in Psychology, Chad has authored over twenty books on the strange and unusual. The more bizarre the legend, the more likely it is that you will find Chad there. He’ll be joining us to give folks a taste of what they can expect in the Balkansky on October 20 and we’re psyched out of our minds to welcome him!
If you can join us online for October’s episode, we hope that you’ll share your questions and comments with us and our guests. Just type them into the “Comments” box on the platforms upon which we livestream (either on our Facebook page—www.facebook.com/manitowoclibrary—or MPL’s YouTube channel) and we’ll share them live during the program! It’s a group effort and if I’ve learned anything from the “Wonder Pets” over the years, it’s that teamwork makes the dream work!
So, I won’t say goodbye at this point. Merely, “Until Next Time!” Which, I would imagine, will be either on YouTube or Facebook at 12 PM on Thursday, October 17, during a fantastic October installment of “MPL Insider: Beyond the Books with Tim & Emily.” Au revoir!