A Library's Demise...

One of Diane's favorite waymarking categories is that of Carnegie Libraries. The category's description states:  "The Carnegie libraries were funded with grants from steel businessman Andrew Carnegie. The first was funded in 1881 in his hometown of Dunfermline, Scotland. A total of 2509 Carnegie Library buildings were built. These libraries were built in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and various Caribbean countries. Many of these library buildings have been demolished over the years, while others have been converted to various uses besides their original purposes. The intent of this category is to locate as many of the remaining buildings and record their current use."


Well, we found one in Elwood, Indiana. The building is currently vacant and in TERRIBLE condition. The new library is located across the street and seems to be thriving. A fellow waymarker, boatchick, posted the following description of the library in it's glory:


"The Carnegie library, dedicated 1 June 1904, was described by the newspapers as "A Marvel of Beauty". The oak circulation desk was flanked by the main reading room on one side, and the children's room on the other. A skylight and ornate plaster decorated the ceilings, and mosaic tile decorated the floor. Wooden arches, columns, and furniture added to the beauty of the rooms. A basement auditorium seated 300, a men's smoking room offered daily newspapers, and chess and checker games were available. The new library was impressive enough to be used as an example by the Library of Congress as a "nearly ideal" arrangement."


What was so sad was the building's state of disrepair. It just exuded a feeling of despair and desertion. Libraries were meant to be used...for information, for gatherings, for important community events. Diane has great memories of the Hebron Carnegie Library where she developed a life long love of reading. She recalls Story Time with Mrs. Spindler; helping shelve books; Mrs. Sanders, taking her daughters there to visit and get VHS tapes.... While times change and technology has increased the means of how information is delivered, the need for community has not. Experiences gained in a library can last forever. 


Hopefully the town of Elwood will be able to salvage the heritage found in their Carnegie Library. 


Uncle Philbert outside the Elwood Carnegie Library...

Flamingoheads?

Well, no new waymarking to report this weekend. Rumor has it that both Diane and Rick are working on the backlog of photos they have taken of various things around the state and over into Ohio. As the official mascot of the team, I don't have to do that photo uploading or write ups or verifying longitude and latitudes. I got a bit of a rest.

But I do have a bone to pick...I am a PHLAMINGO--or Flamingo if you insist. I don't really care about the spelling, as long as it is pronounced correctly. In case a refresher biology course is in order, I come from the bird family that wades and stands on one leg. Yes, I tend to like warmer climates...have you ever tried to wade in water in Indiana in December? So my question to you is--do I look like a parrot? When have you ever seen a parrot go wading? Or stand with one leg up in the air?

I will admit that both flamigos and parrots tend to be associated with warmer climates and tropical breezes. And if you are completely culturally inept, you may not have heard of the singer Jimmy Buffet. That man has made a fortune selling his relaxed, kicked-back tropical lifestyle. In response, his followers call themselves "Parrotheads". Let me repeat..."Parrotheads". NOT "Flamingoheads".

I got on this rant because as Diane and Rick were docking at the Channel Marker on Saturday, some guy asked Diane if they were Jimmy Buffet fans. I don't understand what gave him that idea. The houseboat is decked out in early Flamingo decor. But I'll let you all decide...based on this picture of the houseboat, would you jump to Jimmy Buffet? Or would you just realize great tacky taste in a beautiful wading social bird...the Flamingo?

This is the houseboat. It is a bit difficult to see the details, but the sign on the front gate does warm to be careful of attack flamingo. And the flip flops my buddies are standing on are a bit faded...but it's phlamingo all the way.

Happy Sailing...and go try waymarking!

Uncle Philbert on Perspective and Angles

Uncle Philbert here...with a dnrseekers report on weekend waymarking. I'm the superlatively handsome "phlamingo" with the googly eyes. I use my big eyes to check out new things. Anyway...we went waymarking.  First of all--it was HOT! Why these humans can't go on a nice, moderately warm day with no humidity, I'll never understand. They either go when it is HOT and HUMID or raining. But they wanted to check out the intersection of two national garage sales. Yup--in Van Wert, Ohio, the Lincoln Highway intersects with Highway 127. And from one end of the country to the other, people were holding garage sales. (Don't know what they will do when they sell their garages...where will they park their cars? It would be like a phlamingo holding a nest sale!) They saw lots and lots and lots of stuff. They did not see any radiant heaters, which is what Rick wanted to find. That seemed odd to me, since it was 100 degrees outside. At any rate, they found all kinds of interesting things to submit as waymarks. I guess you'll have to stay tuned to find out what those were.

And then came the fun. Instead of looking for new waymarks to publish, they went visiting in familiar territory. We came back to the great Hoosier state of Indiana and spent some time in Fort Wayne. One of the sights we saw was a GINORMOUS anchor...(and it's not even in the ginormous everyday object category!) This anchor was on the USS Indianapolis. It would certainly sink Rick's houseboat! But I went looking for the best angle. I started flying around, just to check things out. I saw an opening and thought I would take it.

But then it happened. I GOT STUCK! my rear end was left hanging out the back side of the anchor. I'm not generally sensitive about my rear end...I understand human woman will often ask if some article of clothing makes that part of their anatomy look fat...but I'm not a human. I'm just a mascot. I am here to tell you, though, that mascots have feelings too. When Rick and Diane started laughing at my plight, it just didn't seem fair. None of the other "phlamingos" have gotten stuck. Of course, Philbert the Original almost drowned in a creek, but that was more scary than humiliating. So bunches of pictures later, they saw fit to rescue me. Hopefully the next time we go exploring we can all keep our cool and our feathers unruffled.

On a serious note...the Coliseum in Fort Wayne has many memorials to our veterans, including the Eternal Flame. Team dnrseekers wants to say thank you to all who have served their country.