Sunday, August 14, 2011

Kirby Kopp brought his hot air balloon to Lancaster County libraries this summer, including the Moores Memorial Library in Christiana.

This from the Community Courier:

The theme for this year's summer reading programs in the Lancaster County Library System is "One World, Many Stories."

One of the many programs appearing throughout county libraries is "Adventures Aloft," presented by Ephrata hot air balloonist Kirby Kopp.

Kopp appeared at the Moores Memorial Library in Christiana on July 13 to provide all kinds of information on hot air balloons, from their history and development to balloon racing and record setting.

He recounted how ballooning history began in 1783 with the first flight in France that took a sheep, a rooster and a duck up 8,000 feet in the air. The flight was a complete success, except for the rooster, who was kicked in the wing by the sheep.

Kopp also recalled his first experience with ballooning in 1982, when he was a helper for the balloonist at Creation Ministries.

He eventually moved to Florida to learn balloon maintenance, repair and piloting, then returned to this area to start his own company, giving hot air balloon rides.

While he could not offer balloon flights to the children, Kopp did bring a small-scale balloon into the library and inflated it on the floor, allowing the youngsters a chance to climb inside.

He also brought along his balloon basket and burners so that everyone could come outside
to see the scale of the basket and hear the burners come to life.

The children's summer reading program runs through Wednesday, Aug. 10, and encourages children to use their local library.

In addition to the ballooning presentation, each library in the county system offered additional programs, including Around the World with Yurtfolk; Critter Cultures with Jesse Rothacker; People Who Eat Bugs; Seven Continents of Science; Native American Games; Drum Fun; Lancaster Barnstormers mascot Cylo; One World, One Song and "A Lancaster Story: Coming to Penn's Woods in the 1700s."

"More kids were signing up this year than last year," library director Claudia Roun said. "I think that we have some really good programs this year - they're fun and educational."

In Christiana, the programming goes hand-in-hand with new additions to the children's collection, which was made possible by a Libri Foundation "Books for Children Grant" in the amount of $1,400 and a $2,500 Preschool Connection Grant funded by the federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Funds, and administered by the Pennsylvania Office of Commonwealth Libraries.

Moores Memorial Library is located at 9 W. Slokom Ave., Christiana. For more information, readers may call 610-593-6683 or visit the website at www.christianalibrary.org .


No comments: