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October 19, 2024: Palmer Fire Station Storytime

The Palmer fire station is located two blocks from the former banquet room of the Eagle Hotel. It has a volunteer and paid staff, and is single story. There’s no sliding down poles at this place. The coats hang on a long rack, next to the hook and ladder truck. The water truck is on the far side.

Today the Palmer Fire Department was hosting the Palmer Friends of the Library story time. I was there last year. This year it was déjà vu all over again. Things went the same, although last year it was overcast and cold and this year it was sunny and cold.


I got there 20 minutes before story time and was welcomed by the fire fighting/story time staff, mainly women, who were wearing their fire fighting jackets. Cindy, who read last year was reading again this year. She’s easy to find – she has long almost iridescent white hair, parted in the middle, and brown glasses that frame a cheerful face.

She was playing a ukelele when I walked in. Rebekah, who is on leave from the BLBP board was also in the fire station. I had not seen her in some time. I asked her why she missed the last meeting, and she said that her children had been sick. She has a three-year-old and two 21 pound twins.

The children and parents, mainly toddlers, began trickling in. The volunteer staff set up a table and put a plaid wool coverlet on it. I put the books –on the table. I’d brought along two bins, one of which contained Halloween board books.

The toddlers were fun to watch. Some were self-ambulatory, and some were moving along as they held their parent’s outstretched hands. One little boy kept darting in the direction of the door – he will, I decided, go places in life.

Two brothers came in, the smallest of the two was carrying two small chairs. The other brother came over and got a Star Trek book, then laid down on a blanket that his mother laid on the concrete floor, opened the book, and began reading.

I thought, make books assessable to children and they will read them.

The smallest children opened and waved the board books around. And some of them chewed on them.

The story hour itself: Cindy read a book about fires and fire trucks. I thought – hmm, this would have worked better had she had one of larger books. Maybe I will offer it to her.

The children didn’t pay much attention – they were eager to keep moving around. They became more interested when Sparky the mascot came out of a side room. Sparky is a fire dog, human sized. Now in having the children’s attention, Cindy began playing her ukelele and singing a fire song. The volunteers then went through the motions of driving a truck, using a hose, and mimicking a fire siren, by waving their hands and going whooo whooo whoo.

This song was a big hit. The show was over, so parents and children all filed out the side door. I put my books into bins and followed suit.

Next: 285. 10/20/24: The Upward and Downward Spiral

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