Andre Dubus III entertains the Largest Norman Williams Public Library Gala to Date.
Sunday evening the Norman Williams Public Library hosted its Annual Gala. The reception was held at the library in the mezzanine. The room was filled to capacity with people supporting the library. Guest Speaker, Andre Dubus III mingled with the crowd and signed copies of his books.
The event moved to the Woodstock Inn and Resort for the dinner. Library executive Director, Jennifer Belton welcomed the group of 209 supporters (the largest to date) to the gala; introducing the Gala Committee, the Library staff and the volunteers. She then turned the podium over to Board of Trustees Chair, Jack McGuire.
McGuire reminisced about the progress the library has made over the last few years-the implementation of "Wireless Woodstock" and turning the library into a true community center. He said "The people who have enabled Jennifer to do all this are you (all)!" He told the donors that the Gala had been running with an attendance of about 170 people over the last few years when attendance jumped to 206 last year and 209 this year.
This year's event saw the greatest support from area businesses. McGuire quoted a figure of $20,000 in donations supporting the event so all the proceeds from the Gala would be going directly to the Library Fund.
Haverhill MA native, University of Massachusetts-Lowell Professor and New York Time Best Selling author Andre Dubus III took the podium at about 8 pm. He told stories of the creative process and some of his life's journeys. One audience member was overheard saying "This guy could do stand up!" after Dubus told a tale of writing in his car (for peace and quiet) in an apartment complex parking lot. A cop pulled up and asked what he was doing-"writing a novel", come to find out the cop was a regular at a bar that Dubus worked at part time so the incident ended well. Dubus did move his car though to a graveyard.
Norman Williams Public Library Annual Gala
Guest Speaker Andre Dubus III
Norman Williams Public Library and
Woodstock Inn and Resort
Woodstock, VT April 27, 2014
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