February 2023

LIBRARY NEWS

Design Our Library Card

Entries Due on Feb. 28

We're looking for local youth ages 18 and under to design a new library card for Stillwater Public Library. Show us why the library matters with your original design.

Entries should highlight an aspect of the library, literacy, or reflect what the library means to you. Designs can be hand-drawn using colored pencils, markers, and paints. Designs may also be digitally created.

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Winter Reads
for Adults

January & February 2023

Warm up with a good book this winter. Participate in our adult winter reading program through February and win prizes.

To take part, read or listen to a book and submit an entry. All entries will be placed in a drawing at the end of February for prizes. The more entries you submit, the better your chances of winning!

Submit an Entry

Call for Artists

NEA Big Read 2023

We are seeking aging adult artists and caregiver artists to feature in our gallery in March and April as part of the NEA Big Read in the St. Croix Valley.

This year's program is focused on the themes of aging, caregiving, and dying found in the book Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant: A Memoir by Roz Chast. Chast, a long-time cartoonist for the New Yorker, tells the story of her parents’ final years through cartoons and prose. It is filled with humor, cringe-worthy moments and unavoidable things that many are likely to face.

All forms of creative work are encouraged, including painting, fibers, printmaking, sculpture, glass, pottery, jewelry, mixed media and photography.

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Taiko: Japanese Drumming

Thursday, February 23

Experience movement-infused, heart-pounding, dynamic group drumming . . . at the library!

Minnesota-based TaikoArts Midwest promises to deliver a loud, energetic event incorporating music, dance, culture, and pure athleticism. The program will be a combination of performance, lecture, and interactive activities. You'll learn the history and cultural context of taiko drumming in Japan and the United States. You'll also learn about taiko drums, how they are made, and a general vocabulary for the art form.

This all-ages event is from 6-7 PM on Thursday, February 23 and is funded through Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. No registration is required.

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FROM OUR ARCHIVES

Lake Elmo Sunken Boat Mystery
Circa 1890

Recently, a patron requested information about a sunken boat rumored to lie at the bottom of Lake Elmo. This boat has reportedly been sighted by boaters above and even from the air.

The sunken boat may have been a steamboat that belonged to Elmo Park (pictured), a popular summer resort on Lake Elmo that had its heyday from the mid-1880s to the mid-1890s. Built in 1877 by lawyer and businessman A.B. Stickney, Elmo Park was located on the northeast shore of Lake Elmo, and consisted of the 58-room “Elmo Lodge” hotel as well as numerous outbuildings. The resort quickly became popular due to its location within walking distance of the St. Paul, Stillwater & Taylor’s Falls railroad. This meant pleasure-seekers from St. Paul could ride one of the weekly Sunday excursion trains and be lakeside in 25 minutes for a mere 10 cents (1889 cost).

According to local stories, the “ghost boat” was one of Elmo Park’s steamboats. The steamboat was said to have a barge attached to it on which a band would play while the passengers danced on deck as the boat ferried them around the lake. How or why the boat sank is not known but one story is that a boiler on the boat exploded and caused it to sink.

Read more on our St. Croix Collection page, including research from 1890 newspaper reports of a fire at Elmo Park that destroyed the hotel and a fleet of boats, possibly including the mysterious ghost ship.

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