A SWEET HOLIDAY MORNING: A TRIBUTE LIBRARY COOKIE BAKING & SWAP EVENT

When Simsbury Public Library Director Lisa Karim was the Director of the LaGrange Library in Poughkeepsie, NY, the Library sponsored a “Sweet Holiday Evening”. It was an event created by her very special program coordinator, Marie Coyne, as a collaborative project with the chef and students of the culinary arts department at the local technical high school and the public library.  It was a wonderful opportunity for community building and intergenerational sharing.  “Marie was the kind of individual you have the good fortune to meet only a few times in your life.  She always put people first and found ways to bring them together.  She had the tremendous ability to find joy and wonder in the simplest things in the world around her no matter what else was going on in her life, even as she battled aggressive cancer last year.  Many times throughout the 21 years I worked with Marie I was reminded to stop and smell the roses.  That was her gift to me, someone who gets easily caught up in getting things accomplished, ” said Karim.    Sadly, Marie, passed away from her disease a week after attending the Sweet Holiday Evening event.   
As an intergenerational, hands-on learning opportunity and tribute to Marie Coyne, the Simsbury Public Library will be sponsoring a “Sweet Holiday Morning” on Saturday, December 7 from 9:00 AM to 12 noon at Simsbury High School, 34 Farms Village Road. Culinary Arts teacher Tom Sentino and his Teen Chef USA Club will be baking nut-free cookies with adults from the community in the SHS kitchen. There will be 8 varieties of cookies and each participant will go home with 2 dozen cookies. We hope you’ll join us and enjoy the fellowship and learning offered by this special program.  Space is limited to 24 adult participants, age 21 and up (sorry, no children because of safety restrictions). Parking will be in the East Parking Lot, which is the first lot on the right as you approach from the center of Simsbury. Please bring a container to take your cookies home in. This event is free, but you must preregister at 860-658-7663 x2200 or www.simsburylibrary.info.