Sarah C. K. Marine, Earliest Author From Mooresville, IN (Mooresville Moments Series)

Sarah C. K. Marine was the earliest published author from Mooresville, Indiana. This installment of Mooresville Moments (September 15, 1999), written and edited by retired MPL Indiana Room Librarian and local historian Wanda Potts, examines Marine's legacy.

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MPL Old Settlers Festival Booth (Aug. 8-10, 2010)

At this year's Old Settlers Picnic & Fair (Aug. 8-10, 2010), Mooresville Public Library (Mooresville, Indiana) distributed 230 book bags filled with informational materials. Approximately 275 attendees visited the library's booth, and many commented that the library's Old Settlers parade float was one of the best (perhaps the best) entered.

The library also conducted four giveaway contests for which festival attendees signed up while visiting the library's booth. These were:

• Authentic, homemade Old Settlers picnic and snack reed baskets (donated courtesy of Baskets From Junior's Farm), for which 236 fair visitors vied; and

• Book and Music CD packets for young adults, children, and babies (courtesy of the MPL Youth Services Department and acquired through the Cook Endowment).

One Old Settlers picnic basket and five snack baskets were awarded to the lucky winners.

Authentic Old Settlers Picnic Basket

One of three Old Settlers Snack Baskets (handle style)

One of two Old Settlers Snack Baskets (no handle style)

MPL staffers Diane Huerkamp, Bob Gilliland, Shirley Martin, Meghan Adams, and Bill Buckley, along with volunteer Janet Buckley, ran the library booth during the fair.

Our thanks to Baskets From Junior's Farm for donation of the baskets (logo below designed by local artist Brian Mills).

MPL Float, "Thinking Outside the Book," in 2010 Old Settlers Parade

It has been many years since Mooresville Public Library entered a float in the annual Old Settlers Parade, which was held this year on Sunday, August 8, 2010 immediately prior to the opening of the Old Settlers Fair & Picnic (Aug. 8-10, 2010) held at Pioneer Park. The library's float was entitled Thinking Outside the Book, and it featured a central display of an opened book with CD-ROMs, music, and a computer keyboard and monitor (complete with human operator). In the pickup truck pulling the float, there was a nostalgic image of libraries--a person reading a book in a rocking chair--which was followed, of course, by the float and its "outside the book" motif.

The float design team was spearheaded by Beth Hensley, MPL display and decoration designer, and Bill Cornwell, MPL construction supervisor emeritus. The float assembly crew consisted of various library staff and volunteers, including (alphabetically): Meghan Adams, Lori Becker, Bill Buckley, Bill and Sherry Cornwell, Beth Hensley, Kathleen Holling, Diane Huerkamp, Virginia Jensen, Sally Knitter, Shirley and Ron Martin, Donna Miller, and Judy and Taylor Morehouse. Ron Martin drove the truck in the parade; Diane Huerkamp and Lori Becker were "living bookends" marching in front of the float; Kathleen Holling was the "rocking chair reader"; and Virginia, Anastacia, and Luke Jensen joined several assembly teammates to toss out candy to children along the parade route. Volunteer Sherry Cornwell and MPL staffers Jaymi Edwards and Bill Buckley photographed the float.

Pictures 1-13: Assembling the Float (photographs by Sherry Cornwell)

Pictures 14-22: 2010 Old Settlers Parade: MPL Float, "Thinking Outside the Book" (photographs by Jaymi Edwards & Bill Buckley)

Samuel & Eliza Moore (Mooresville Moments Series)

Mooresville Moments (1999), written and edited by Wanda Potts, retired MPL Indiana Room librarian and town historian, recounted the history of Mooresville, Indiana, for the 175th anniversary of the town's founding in 1824. These newspaper columns discuss Samuel Moore, town founder, and his wife, Eliza Moore, and their granddaughter, Mary Ida Fogleman.  Click the images below to enlarge.

Restaurant History in Mooresville, IN (Mooresville Moments Series)

Today's Mooresville Moments (December 15, 1999) reprint examines some of the restaurants that have conducted business in Mooresville, Indiana during the town's history.

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