Busy week ahead in Brentwood

Who has time for the mid-summer doldrums when there is so much to see and do? Here are just a few suggestions to help fill your week. If you know of more, please let me know!

The Friends of the Brentwood Library's quarterly book sale opens Wednesday and runs through Saturday at the library. As mentioned in an earlier post, science fiction fans will be happy to know one patron made a huge donation that will be available. This is also a great opportunity for students to find last-minute required Summer Reading books and books for next fall's literature classes at real bargain prices.

Check out my previous post for details: http://tinyurl.com/BWscifi (just remember that any references to NEXT week are now THIS week!)

Speaking of the library, the Summer Reading Program's far from over, with award-winning songwriter and recording artist Katherine Dines presenting an interactive program at 1 p.m. today. It's designed for kids from toddler age to 6.

Just a head's up: The River Park playground and shelter will be closed today through Thursday for playground maintenance. This would be a good time to check out one of the city's other parks and playgrounds, like the newest, Owl Creek Park, between Concord Pass and Chestnut Springs Road in east Brentwood. You'll find a picnic shelter, playground, basketball courts and walking paths.

It's supposed to rain on Wednesday, so you may want to settle on the sofa and watch WC-TV's Classic Football Game of the Week: Brentwood vs. Franklin, September 26, 2006. It will be aired on Comcast Channel 3 at 9 a.m. and 2 and 7 p.m. Also, Brentwood High's 2009 graduation ceremony will air Friday at 10 a.m. and 3 and 8 p.m.

About a zillion years ago I wanted to be Good Morning America's Joan Lunden. A newspaper career won out over a broadcasting one, but I still can't wait to hear Channel 4 news anchor Demetria Kalodimos at Thursday's Women in Business luncheon. Sponsored by the Brentwood Cool Springs Chamber, it begins at 11:15 a.m. at the FiftyForward Martin Center. Noon today is the deadline to register. It's $12 for chamber members, $15 for guests. You can register online at http://www.brentwood.org/ or call the chamber at 373-1595.

Science fiction fans don't miss sale!

Those zany Buzzells and all their BFFs over at the Brentwood Library are at it again: Working 24/7 in anticipation of the next Friends of the Brentwood Library used book sale.
Always on the ball, Pat Buzzell emailed last week reminding me that the summer sale opens at 1 p.m. July 22 and runs through the half-priced sale on Saturday, July 25. You'll find all the hours, etc. below.
While every sale is worth the stop, Manny Buzzell tells me this one will be special for several reasons. For starters, it's the last one that will be limited in size due to the library expansion's construction.
"Our new Friends room in the addition will be half again the size of the former so we should be able to store roughly 15,000 hard covers," he said.
A positive that has come from temporarily having a smaller space, though, has been the advent of the free cart and the wall of books available for purchase whenever the library is open.
"One woman said she had been searching for The Canterbury Tales and found it on the free cart!" Manny shared. If you or your child has summer reading that's yet to be completed, or has signed up for a great books or literature class in the fall, the book sale is a great place to snag classics for next to nothing.
One of the biggest coups this time around, however, is the donation by one person of almost 10 "berryboxes" of science fiction paperbacks.
"That's about out 500-plus paperbacks for any science fiction fan," Manny added.
Of course you'll also find plenty of ficture, non-fiction, children's books, videos, CDs and collectibles too. And if you have books to donate, it's not too late. Donations are welcome at the library whenever it's open.
For more information on the Friends, or the library, visit www.brentwood-tn.org/library.

Here are the sale dates and hours:
July 22, Wednesday, 1-7 p.m.
July 23, Thursday, 9 a.m. -7 p.m.
July 24, Friday, 9a.m.-5 p.m.
July 25, Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Guns in parks; book sale, more

Heads up: The City Commission will discuss whether or not to ban guns in parks at its Monday meeting. If you have an opinion, please call or email the commissioners or come to the meeting and let your opinion be known. For more information, visit the city's website for contact information as well as a copy of the meeting's agenda, www.brentword-tn.org.

Also, mark your calendars now for the upcoming big (but last "little") Friends of the Library Book Sale. It will be the last one that has to be held in only one room. By the time the fall sale comes around, our beautiful library's new expansion will be finished and the sale will be bigger than ever.
I'll have more details on Monday, but just wanted to give you a reminder.
AND, I hear science fiction fans have something to look forward to on July 22!

OK, back to the vacation...Happy weekend.

1,007 votes and counting

How convenient! You can vote for up to four of your favorite Brentwood City Commission candidates and pick up a slew of summer reading material all at the same time this weekend.
According to the Williamson County Election Commission, 1007 Brentwood citizens had cast votes either by mail or at early voting stations through Thursday. With five days left to vote early and our official Election Day on May 5 ahead, I'm hopeful we can at least reach 5,000.
Tell you what: I'll call five of my friends and you call five of your friends who can call five of their friends to remind all who are registered to be sure to vote. Better yet, let's make it 10. These don't have to be campaign calls, in fact, we don't even have to mention the candidates. We just need to remind everyone that each voter can cast up to four votes and how important it is that all Brentwood residents -- old-timers, newcomers, seniors of both the mature and high school variety, young professionals and longtime business people -- are represented in the election. Remember, our population is inching close to 36,000; expecting 5,000 votes is not too much to hope for.
And as we clearly learned in 2007, each vote counts.
In the last city election, candidates Betsy Crossley and Paul Ross each received 1,740 votes, resulting in a costly runoff. I can't count the number of people I talked to afterward who said, "I really like Betsy and meant to vote," or "I told Paul I'd vote for him but never made it to the polls." All said they regretted not making the effort.
Early voting continues at the Brentwood Library, 8109 Concord Road, and the city's Municipal Building today untl 6 p.m., Saturday from 8 a.m.-noon, and next Monday-Thursday from 7 a.m.-6 p.m. If you work in Franklin, ballots can also be cast at the Williamson County Election Commission Office, 1320 West Main Street, Suite 140.
And since the Friends of the Brentwood Library's book sale is ongoing today until 5 and tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (when everything's half price!) it's a great opportunity to shop and vote at the same time.