Stratford Library announces Pi Day, gardening workshop and April 26 fundraising gala

Robin Proto, president of the Stratford Library Board, used the Town of Stratford public forum on March 10 to outline several upcoming library programs and fundraising plans. Proto announced a Pi Day event on March 14 for the teen department, a vegetable gardening workshop tied to the library’s community garden initiative, and the library’s 20th annual fundraising gala on April 26 at 6:30 p.m. at Blackhawk Country Club (formerly Orono Country Club).

The Pi Day event, scheduled for the afternoon of March 14, is aimed at teens and will include pie as part of the celebration. The vegetable gardening workshop will feature a master gardener and is intended to support the library’s efforts with a local community garden; the presentation will cover how to test soil, watering techniques and which vegetables and flowers grow well in the area.

Proto said the April 26 gala is one of the library’s principal fundraisers. “All of the funds raised will benefit the library collections and materials,” she told the council. She said invitations were mailed to residents and that she handed printed invitations to council members at the meeting. The gala will include a DJ, a jazz singer and a silent auction; Proto said the auction would go live two weeks before the event. The Baldwin Center is making Mardi Gras masks that will be sold that night to raise funds for the library.

Proto described the gala, along with the library’s book sale and its associates program, as the library’s three major annual fundraisers. No formal motions or votes were taken on the items announced during the public forum.

A presiding official opened the public forum at the start of the March 10 meeting, read the public-comment rules and closed the forum after Proto finished; no other speakers had signed up.