What's Happening at the Library in September?

Here's a list of the major events occurring at the Sachem Public Library in September:

A Growing Passion: Your Winter Garden: Wednesday, September 7, 6:30 p.m.: Prepare your garden for its long winter nap. John Miller will share tips on pruning and clean-up as well as winterizing roses, grasses, trees, and shrubs.

Job Fair: Wednesday, September 7, 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.: Calling all job seekers! Don't miss this opportunity to apply in person to organizations actively seeking employees. Bring your resume and dress for success! Sponsored by the Suffolk County One-Stop Employment Center. 

Learn To Be Tobacco Free: Thursday September 8, 15, 22, 29 and October 6, & 13 6:00 p.m.  (reunion Thursday, October 27  6:00 p.m.): The Suffolk County Department of Health Services will offer this free program to provide information and support to help you quit smoking. Prescription medication and nicotine replacement products such as patches and gum will be available for medically eligible participants. 

Positive Perspectives: Wednesday, September 13, 7:00 p.m.: Negative thoughts have the power to keep us in a cycle of lethargy and procrastination. Certified Nutrition Counselor Anne Marie Lisa will teach you how to build self-esteem and create motivation for healthy living.

What's Your Story? Wednesday, September 14, 21 and 28: 10:00 a.m.-Noon: Everyone has a story to tell. Writing coach Audre Allison will take you through the necessary steps to compose your own life story. Share and celebrate your finished memoir in this small, supportive group of fellow writers. 

Meet the Author: Chris Filstrup: The Wedding Night: A Popular History: Wednesday, September 14, 7:00 p.m.: Though just outside of public view, the wedding night is loaded with expectation and consequence. The Wedding Night: A Popular History is an entertaining, accessible, touching, and humorous volume that looks at the previously unexplored topic of wedding history “between the sheets.” Covering a kaleidoscopic array of cultural expressions, this unique study zooms in on what’s quintessential and shares insights into the history of intimacy through the ages. The book traces the formalization of the wedding night in the ancient Near East and classical world, provides many examples of historically significant unions in European and American history, and describes the lively variety of traditions leading up to the present. Spicing their narrative with many piquant quotes from contemporary sources, the authors explore the rich cultural context for the wedding night—processions, royal rituals, apparel, food-related traditions, and pranks—throughout Europe and America in the 19th and 20th centuries. Separate chapters examine sex guides, jokes, and the bed as a special conjugal space.

Chris Filstrup, an instruction librarian at Stony Brook University, has wedded twice. Once to co-author, Jane Merrill, in a Sixties ceremony whose nontraditional elements (including a marionette show) left Jane’s navy parents flummoxed. And a second time to Laurie Filstrup, currently a librarian at the Sachem Public Library, in a ceremony which pleased both sets of parents. In writing The Wedding Night, Jane and Chris have professionally reunited to explore the many facets of this important though often hidden night. The result is a unique book.

Garden Thyme: Backyard Habitat: Friday, September 16, 7:00 p.m.: Whether you have a small condo patio or a spacious backyard, learn how to make your outdoor space more inviting to birds and butterflies. 

Fall Festival: Saturday, September 17, 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.: Welcome the autumn season with a harvest-time celebration! Activities, crafts, contests and entertainment abound with a guaranteed good time for everyone.

Showcase of Local Performance Groups: Chip Bryant, Mime, Live DJ, Food, Drive, Craft Show, Pumpkin Decorating Contest, Homemade Pie Baking Contest, Pie Baking Demonstration by the Baking Coach Lisa Basini, Friends Book Sale, Hot Dogs, Beverages, Snacks 

For the Kids: Storytelling, Crafts, Face Painting and Tattoos, Pony Rides, Bounce House, Petting Zoo Relay Races ...and more!

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month! Mambo Loco: Sunday, September 18, 2:00 p.m.: Enjoy an electrifying performance by four-man Afro-Cuban ensemble Mambo Loco, who have been bringing the best of old-school Latin music to Long Island since 2005. 

Relaxation and Health through Reiki: Tuesday, September 20, 10:00 a.m.-Noon: Learn the art of relaxation and stress-relief through guided meditation with Reiki master and licensed massage therapist T. Vitanza. Reiki is a natural, gentle, yet powerful Japanese method of healing that works on all levels: physical, emotional, and spiritual. 

Classical DJ Spins a Tale: Tuesday, September 20, 7 p.m.: David Bouchier, award-winning weekly essayist for National Public Radio and host of the quirky "Sunday Matinee" program on local NPR stations, will describe the unusual and rewarding experience of being a classical music DJ. Along with some of his favorite anecdotes and musical moments, Mr. Bouchier will discuss the history of radio and the future of public broadcasting in America. The presentation will include slides of historic radio sites on Long Island as well as short musical segments.

Prepare for Citizenship: Wednesday, September 21, 7 p.m.: Representatives from the local field office of U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services will explain the process of becoming a citizen, including how to prepare for the exam and interview, and how to file your application.

Accepting Life's Changes: Saturday, September 24, 10 a.m.: Explore your feelings and develop closure. Whether you have lost a loved one, been forced out of a job, experienced a failed relationship, are facing an empty nest, or managing aging parents, learn to put on the NEW you in this monthly sharing of experiences with Richard Murdocco, PhD, Stony Brook University Medical Center. 

Flute Music of the Peruvian Andes: Sunday, September 25, 2:00 p.m.: Walter Purizaca and his band of Native American musicians will display the rich cultural heritage of the Andes with this authentic and delightful musical performance, featuring colorful native costumes and unique Andean instruments. 

Movies Scheduled

Reel Rebels: Dark Days: Tuesday, September 6, 6:00 p.m.: This documentary provides a glimpse into the lives of a group of homeless people surviving in the subterranean landscape of an abandoned NYC subway tunnel. Intriguing, informative, sometimes controversial, but always thought provoking, this monthly series combines the best in film and discussion. 

The Adjustment Bureau: September 8, 1:30 and 6:30 p.m.: The affair between a politician and a ballerina is affected by mysterious forces keeping them apart. 

Foreign Film: Ju Dou: Saturday, September 10, 2:00 p.m.: In 1920s China, a young woman is forced into marriage and abused by her elderly husband. Her suffering attracts the sympathy of her husband's younger, kinder nephew, and the two begin a secret affair that could lead to tragic consequences. 

Wednesday Matinee: Venice Revealed: Wednesday, September 14, 1:30 p.m.: Award-winning novelist and bestselling historian Peter Ackroyd takes the viewer on a tour of private palazzos, magnificent churches, and winding alleyways, where beauty masks terminal decay. Pale Mediterranean light reveals cityscapes as painted by Canaletto, modern voices revive Vivaldi's hymns, and Venetians don disguises to revel and role-play at Carnevale. 

Unknown: September 15, 1:30 and 6:30 p.m.: Dr. Martin Harris awakens after a car accident in Berlin to discover that someone has taken his identity, and that no one, not even his wife, believes him. 

Limitless: September 22, 1:30 and 6:30 p.m.: A writer discovers a top-secret drug which gives him super-human abilities. 

Soul Surfer: September 29, 1:30 and 6:30 p.m.: Teen surfer Bethany Hamilton returns to competitive surfing after losing her arm in a shark attack.