Welcome to the Camp Wood Public Library
MARCH artist of the month
Laura Baker
Camp Wood Library is pleased to present the artwork of Laura Baker
She learned to draw when she was around 9 or 10 years old by completing a “square by square” picture in an activity magazine. Upon completion, she was amazed by the image formed before her of a lioness and her cub. This started a passion to draw everything by grid until she perfected angles and shading. That eventually led to painting after a couple of art lessons., but improvement came mainly by trial and error. Now she loves sketching, working with chalks, watercolor, acrylics, oils – just about anything. She states, “Painting is easy. If you mess up, just wait till it dries and paint over it.”
She worked for over 20 years in the petrochemical field as a Control Systems Designer, which is another form of drawing – only on a computer. She also enjoys making fun signs for friends and family.
She now spends most of her time gardening, writing books, and helping people learn the bible, but always manages to squeeze in some time for art.
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Mahalie Jo spends a lot of her time drawing and painting and coloring. Some of her favorite subjects are flowers, hearts, animals and people. She also likes to ride her bike and go swimming. She also spends time with friends playing outside and playing games on her tablet.
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Meet the authors and book signing
March 28, 2023Authors Linda Kirkpatrick from Leakey and Russel Smith from Uvalde
About the Author – Russell S. Smith
Russell S. Smith was born in Uvalde, Texas. He started writing poems and short stories long before he graduated from high school in 1969. He attended Southwest Texas Junior College, Howard College and Angelo State University; the majority of his classes dealt with criminal justice.
His law enforcement career began as a reserve deputy sheriff with the Tom Green County Sheriff's Department in 1977 and ended when he retired as San Angelo's Police Chief in 1999. This experience spurred his professional writing career when he sold his first article to a police trade magazine in 1980. Russell was appointed Tom Green County Justice of the Peace in 2003. Unopposed in the following election, he retired December 31, 2010.
From 1998 to 2003, Russell was an outdoor columnist for the San Angelo Standard Times and several magazines. The Gun That Wasn't There was his first non-fiction book. His second was No Reason to Kill; about the murder of Sheila Elrod, a 20-year-old San Angelo girl killed during a jewelry store robbery in 1980. His third was One Policeman's Lights and Siren which is a collection of short stories about his early police career. His outdoor memoirs (and family history) "Steps into God's Country" comes after writing in the outdoor field for more than 30 years. His last non-fiction book Women, Whiskey and Sin takes the reader into the first 25 felony cases ever filed in the frontier based Tom Green County and reveals justice court documents about women, whiskey and sin during those Fort Concho times.
Russell has received numerous awards over the years for his writing and photography from the Texas Outdoor Writers' Association. A few other projects were put on hold during the pandemic. He and his wife Linda with have been married 50 years this April. They have two married children and four grandchildren.
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About the author - Linda Kirkpatrick:
I have been writing Cowboy Poetry for several years now. My mom is from Philadelphia and my dad is from Texas. They met during World War II, married and my mother got to live the dream that many city girls were wishing they could do….she married her cowboy and made her home on a remote Texas ranch. Then I came along and try as she might to dress me in dresses, her little girl became Daddy's cowgirl. My whole life has involved cowboys in one way or the other. I try to focus my poetry on the women of the west and the lives of women ranchers. I am a part of a group called "The Cowboy Sunset Serenade," along with Frank Roberts and Joe Wells. Our programs are about the history of the cowboy, the west and women of the west. We perform at schools, state parks and retirement centers. We have also performed at the National Cowboy Symposium at Lubbock, Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Alpine, Folklife Festival in San Antonio, Texas Parks and Wildlife Expo in Austin and anywhere else we can get someone to listen. Frank Roberts sings cowboy songs while Joe and I do cowboy poetry.
I guess I do this in honor of my family, just a bunch of old cowboys. I have watched them give their time, sweat and blood to be stewards of the land and guardians of the livestock. I was, unknowingly, brought up with a healthy respect for livestock and the environment and this was all thanks to my dad, my uncles and my granddad. As any person who has lived this life knows it is hard work with little pay but the rewards are greater than anything imaginable. So this is why I write about this life, with an emphasis on the women who lived in this era.
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About the author - Jerry Blalock
From Hillbilly to True Texan at Heart is a compilation of 60 true stories of Jerry Blalock’s life and memoirs. These stories involve fishing, hunting, and ranching and end with his life in Real County as owner of Real Building Supply, better known as “The Lumberyard”.
Jerry Blalock grew ups in the 40’s and 50’s in the Blue Ridge Mountains, just east of Asheville, North Carolina. His rural home was like many in that day that was without running water or electricity. He and his two brothers explored the mountains and rivers for their entertainment. He came to Texas as a teenager when he enlisted in the Air Force and arrived in San Antonio at Lackland Air Force Base in September, 1957 and soon began his career in “the machine room”. Eventually, he made his way to Houston where he earned his living in the computer industry. Living on the Gulf Coast gave him many opportunities for fishing and hunting adventures. Later, he relocated to his ranch in Real County in the Hill Country and became the owner of Real Building Supply, better known as “The Lumberyard”, in Leakey. As a small business owner, he became involved in the community and continued his adventures. He now resides in Rio Frio trapping hogs and other varmints!
New Programs at the Camp Wood Public Library
Beginning in February, the Camp Wood Public Library will offer two new programs. Our first program will be entitled Toddlers, Tales and Treasures. We invite parents and their toddlers to check out this new program. The program will be on the 4th Thursday of each month beginning at 11 am. Our first meeting will be on February 24th. We will read to the children, engage them in an activity and provide snacks for the parents and toddlers.
Our second program will be an opportunity for those patrons that like to engage in craftwork. We will begin our Camp Wood Make and Take on February 23rd at 2 pm. Our first project will be a scarf made out of felt with creative decorations. Going forward we will meet on the 4th Wednesday @ 2pm. Please register for the Make and Take at the library so that we will have enough materials on hand. If you have ideas for the crafts, stop by the library. If you are interested in demonstrating how to put a craft together, please call the Camp Wood Public Library at 830-597-3208. We hope to see you at either or both of these events.
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Wi-Fi NOTICE
The Camp Wood Public Library's NEW WiFi address:
Library_Guests
Password:
NCLibrary
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Camp Wood Public Library
PO Box 138
Camp Wood, TX 78833
On behalf of the volunteers at the Camp Wood Public Library, I thank you for your continuing financial support of our community library.
With your backing, we are able to offer free WiFi access 24/7 and computers for public use during the library’s open hours. We offer office equipment to copy documents, send and receive faxes, and print materials via computer. We maintain a selection of movies on DVD, audio books, and the latest fiction and nonfiction books for people of all ages to enjoy. All this, and we also offer your favorite books, audio books, and movies digitally through Overdrive, a free service which allows you to borrow these items anytime, anywhere – you don’t even have to leave home! By simply using your library membership number and telephone number to sign into Overdrive or the Libby app, you can borrow these items for your tablet or cell phone.
You may be aware that our library receives an annual contribution from Real County, as required by the Texas Administrative Code. However, 75% of our operating funds come from donations and fundraisers. The Camp Wood Public Library is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization, which means your contributions are 100% tax deductible. And because we are an all-volunteer organization, all the funds received can be used for maintaining the library and providing services to our community. We invite you to view our annual reports at tsl.texas.gov/ldn/statistics or at the library.
It is thanks to your donations that we are able to meet the costs of operating the library and to offer continuing services to our residents and visitors in the Canyon. We hope you will come visit us at the library! We would love to get acquainted and show you how your contributions are put to work.
Sincerely,
Kathy Fulton
Library Director
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A HELPFUL FEATURE OF THE CAMP WOOD PUBLIC LIBRARY CATALOG
In the bottom left hand corner of the Camp Wood Public Library General Catalog, you will see three menu icons: Visit Us, Contact Us, and Kids’ Catalog. Select and left click on the Kids’ Catalog icon. You will be redirected to a page that looks like the Kids’ Catalog page below. You will see over sixty-eight subject icons. These subject icons search for books that are Stories (Fiction) and books that are Facts (Nonfiction). You will see these two icons in the bottom left hand corner of the Kid’s Catalog page. When the catalog is first opened, the icons default automatically to books that are Stories (Fiction.) You can select to switch back and forth to Stories and Facts. Try the two icons on the bottom right hand corner to view those page results. In the top right hand corner, you will notice an icon for General Catalog. You can alternate back and forth to the General Catalog and the Kids’ Catalog. No kids’ books have been removed from the General Catalog to create the Kids’ Catalog. All library items can be searched for and viewed on the General Catalog.
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News from Camp Wood Public Library
Your library now has OVERDRIVE access. You can download eBooks, audiobooks, and videos. All for Free. Go to www.campwoodlibrary.org and click on CATALOG. Click on the icon for OverDrive under Electronic Resources to start enjoying your new OverDrive with thousands of available titles. Sign in with your library card number and phone number. Don’t know your card account number or what phone number you used with your card? Visit us at the library for a free update. See you soon and often at the library with free Wi-Fi access 24/7. Find us and Like us on Facebook. Need help with OverDrive? View their excellent support service and information for all your devices at this link: Getting Started with OverDrive.
