Welcoming Neely to the South Sioux City Public Library

The following is the weekly column that I write for the South Sioux City Public LIbrary.

Welcoming Neely to the South Sioux City Public Library

The husband and wife duo, Neely will be in concert on Tuesday night February 17th at 6:30 p.m.

Nashville-based husband & wife duo NEELY integrates the region's eclectic musical soundscape into an array of well-crafted Rock anthems featuring spine-chilling harmonies and hook-laden lyrics.

The roots of what is now NEELY began decades ago in the small towns of Cosby, MO and Bennington, Kansas where both Jeremy and Kaci would record hours of radio broadcasts on cassette tape and pour over the content, honing writing and vocal skills that seeming providence would set on a collision course.  The two were married May 5th, 1996, yet it wasn't until the summer of 2000 that they began to explore the extraordinary musical harmony that was fused together.  Constantly pursuing excellence in their craft and traveling under other banners, Jeremy and Kaci began to exhibit a quality in their music that began to turn heads in the Central United States.

Neely is touring throughout the Midwest.  A $10 donation per person will be received at the door to defray the cost of their tour.  They will also have CDs for purchase on the day of the event.

Tuesday Technology Classes:  This week we have the following educational opportunities on Tuesday February 17th:  Windows 3 at 10:00 a.m., Word 1 at 11:00 p.m.; Word 2 at 1:00 p.m., Windows 3 at 2:00 p.m., PowerPoint 1 at 5:00 p.m., E-book Reader at 6:00 p.m., and PowerPoint 2.

Menu Planning on a Budget:  As part of our financial lessons classes we present a class on how to plan healthy meals on a budget on Tuesday night February 17th at 6:30 p.m.

Tangled Yarns meets for needlecraft and fun on Tuesday night February 17th at 6:30 p.m.

Youth Education Opportunities:  We have Night of FUN on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m., Tell Me a Story on Wednesday February 18th at 6:30 p.m, Pat-a-Cake Pals on Thursday February 19th at 10:00 a.m., and Toddler Time is on Friday February 20th at 10:00 a.m.

Thursday Technology Classes:  We offer Clean up Your Computer at 10:00 a.m., Mango Languages 11:00 a.m., E-Book Reader 2:00 p.m., Publisher 1 at 3:00 p.m., Publisher 2 at 4:00 p.m., Pinterest 5:00 p.m., Tech Thursday at 6:00 p.m., and Publisher 3 at 7:00 p.m.

Club 745.5 Crafts will teach beaded art on Thursday February 19th, at 6:30 p.m. The class will be repeated on Friday February 20th at 10:30 a.m.

Writer to Writergroup will meet on Saturday February 21stat 10:00 a.m.  Debra LaCroix  will speak on writing and publishing children's books.  Hour 2 participants will discuss what they are writing.

Presidents Day:  The library will be closed on Monday February 16th for Presidents Day.

Reading the Presidents: We recommend these titles.in honor of Presidents Day.

Eisenhower 1956:  the President’s Year of Crisis:  Suez and the Brink of War by David A. Nichols. This book draws on hundreds of newly declassified documents to present an account of the Suez crisis that reveals the considerable danger it posed as well as the influence of Eisenhower's health problems and the 1956 election campaign.

The Final Days by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein covers the last days of the Richard Nixon presidency.

Hit List : an in-depth Iinvestigation into the mysterious Deaths of Witnesses to the JFK Assassination by Richard Belzer and David Wayne. Belzer and Wayne set out to uncover the truth about the many witness deaths tied to the JFK assassination. For decades, government pundits have dismissed these "coincidental" deaths. Some of the deaths seemed purely coincidental; heart attacks, hunting accidents. Others clearly seemed noteworthy; witnesses who did seem to know something and did seem to die mysteriously. The findings were absolutely staggering: some cases were clearly linked to a "clean-up operation" after the murder of President Kennedy, while others were the result of 'other forces'.

Barack Obama:  the Story by David Maraniss.  In Barack Obama: The Story, David Maraniss has written a deeply reported generational biography teeming with fresh insights and revealing information, a masterly narrative drawn from hundreds of interviews, including with President Obama in the Oval Office, and a trove of letters, journals, diaries, and other documents.The book unfolds in the small towns of Kansas and the remote villages of western Kenya, following the personal struggles of Obama’s white and black ancestors through the swirl of the twentieth century. It is a roots story on a global scale, a saga of constant movement, frustration and accomplishment, strong women and weak men, hopes lost and deferred, people leaving and being left. Disparate family threads converge in the climactic chapters as Obama reaches adulthood and travels from Honolulu to Los Angeles to New York to Chicago, trying to make sense of his past, establish his own identity, and prepare for his political future.Barack Obama: The Story chronicles as never before the forces that shaped the first black president of the United States and explains why he thinks and acts as he does. Much like the author’s classic study of Bill Clinton, First in His Class, this promises to become a seminal book that will redefine a president....from dust jacket.

Have a great week and read a good book.