Ken Halverson Update

I received an email from Ken Halverson today stating that a strange twist may be in the making with his family history. His granddaughter, Sierra (she was here on Saturday with the blonde hair without glasses) is a Johnson from her mother's side. Her mother is from Benson along with a long family blood line. It's now suspected that Oscar Johnson, the police officer that stopped the gang at Coggins and shot and killed his great uncle, maybe Sierra's great great great uncle or grandpa!
Watch for the second book coming in 2009 called "Life With Grandma and Grandpa".

Michael Larson to visit Ortonville Library

Michael Larson, Wheaton and Janine Ringdahl Schmidt will be at the Ortonville Public Library on Satruday, December 6, 2008 with their book "Nature's Christmas Story". It took him 27 years to write the children's book. Janine is the illustrator. Michael will read his book to the Saturday children's reading program kids and then go upstairs for a book talk with all that are interested in hearing how he started to write the book and how he finally got it published. The program starts at 10:30 a.m. The Friends of the Ortonville Library Foundation will be serving refreshments.

Ken Halverson

Wow! What a wonderful presentation by KenHalverson on his book "If Grandma is in Heaven, Watch out! The 1930's Bonrud Gang. We had over 40 people in attendance and all were well educated about Gangs in the '30s. Ken brought along a lot of legal papers, pictures, newspaper articles, etc. that really told it all. Thanks again to Ken for coming out and sharing his story with us. He is sending his second book to the printer and it should be out in January. This book follows his grandparents after they got out of prison. We will announce when the book comes out and, hopefully, have copies available for sale her at the library.

Fund Raiser

The Friends of the Ortonville Library Foundation will be holding a fund raiser on Saturday, November 22 from 9 - 1 p.m. at the Community Center. Sports ENT of Iowa will have hoodies for $18 each or 2 for $35; sweatshirts $15 each or 2 for $28; caps $5 each. Some of the names he has are John Deere, Harley, Country Girl, Fox, Playboy, Tapout, MN State, Mn Vikings, Timberwolves, Wilds. He has beanies and caps for all sports and a limited number of baseball caps. Come up to the Community Center and support the library. All proceeds will go towards library needs.

Saturday reading program

There have now been two sessions of the Saturday children's reading program. There are pictures of each event on the blog for you to look at. Upcoming dates are: November 8, November 22, December 6, and December 20th. On December 6th, we will have a special visit from Mike Larson of Wheaton with his new children's book which he will read to the children. On the 20th, there will be a special person making a visit! This program is open to all children ages 3 through kindergarten. Come and have some fun!

William Kent Krueger

Wow! What a great speaker and author. There was a nice crowd at the community center to see him and ask questions about his books. He was very pleased and happy to have been invited to Ortonville. As he said, I can go a few more feet and be in South Dakota! He enjoyed the area and said what a wonderful library we have. Thanks to all of you for coming to hear him and buy his books. I don't think he went home with any of them!. There are pictures on the blog from that evening for you to check out.

New Year's Reflection Quilt

The Friends of the Ortonville Public Library Foundation are raffling off a quilt called The New Year's Reflections Quilt. The quilt was made by Viola Mehlhop of Ortonville. The quilt is 85" x 75" and is in the colors of blues, golds, and yellows. The quilt is on display at the library. The raffle tickets are available from any member of the Friends group or at the library. The tickets are $5 each or 5 for $20. The drawing for the raffle will be held on Saturday, December 13.