Three Generations of Fans

The following comments and pictures were submitted by a former patron who now lives in Calgary.

"I was in Saskatoon for Thanksgiving this year with my family for a wedding. My entire family went to Pooh's corner....Joey (24), Heather(21) and also my grandson Logan (2). My kids loved Pooh's corner when we lived in Saskatoon and still talk about it to this day.
When we arrived it was Gary who was conducting the program on Saturday....the same gentlemen who did the program 20 years ago. We were so impressed. We do not have anything like this in Calgary for my grandson.
The library and Pooh's Corner was an inspiration to my children.
Thanks and congratulation to Pooh's Corner and Gary for 40 years of inspiring children."
Grandson
Grandpa and Grandson
Staff member Gary and poster's Son

The Riot in Pooh Corner

I’ll never forget the time Gary & I were performing the puppet show “The Abominable Snowman”.
We had just gotten to the part where the Snowman rubs his little mitts together & says, “I’m going to go to the houses of all the boys & girls, and I’m going to put rocks in their stockings instead of toys and candy canes…”
One little boy was so upset that he yelled “No, you’re not!”, ran up to the puppet stage and began pounding on the stage. He was quickly joined by many other angry children, all shouting “No! No! No!”
Luckily there were some parents in the room, who came to our rescue, took the children back to their seats and settled them down. We went on with the show, and it had a happy ending. The Abominable Snowman’s frown was turned into a smile & he became a very kind hearted snowman. (He also made a note to himself: “I won’t be quite so diabolical in future performances”.)

"Private Parts!"

Quite a few years ago, the Star Phoenix ran an article in a weekend paper about "street-proofing your child". A few Saturdays after the article appeared, I was doing the Saturday morning "Rise 'n Shine" program. A three year old happened to be inside Pooh Corner without his parents (who were in the department). He was being a little rambunctious during the reading of the story. I went over, patted him on the head and asked him to be quiet during the story. His immediate response was...."Don't touch my private parts!" in a voice loud enough to carry throughout Pooh Corner. Many patrons attending the program with their children started to smile or laugh, as did I once I recovered from my initial shock. Needless to say, I had a chat with the boy's parents after storytime was over.

Wolf in Pooh Corner

On a winter day, many years ago, a mom brought her little boy and wee girl to Pooh Corner for a puppet show. Every child loves a puppet show. The children, hand in hand, crept shyly through the door into the hollow tree.

Through the walls, mom could hear squeals of delight...

Suddenly, the little door opened. Tears streaming down his cheeks, her son threw himself into her protective embrace. There was a furry ferocious wolf in there! It snarled and growled! It was a real wolf! It must be!

His little sister followed - most unwillingly. She wasn't afraid of any old wolf. Big brother had ruined all the fun.

The children did go back to Pooh Corner after a time.

When they were pre-teens they were first in line to register at the library's puppet-making class. The girl created a princess puppet, satin-gowned with hair of tawny-colored wool. The boy made - a wolf.





This is Pooh Corner's wolf. He is well over twenty-five years old. He has had some facial reconstruction over the years. His nose wobbles. His ears flop. His teeth are slightly askew. But who could resist that smile...

Pooh Corner Homecoming

I'm so excited,
And I just can't hide it,
And I know, I know, I know, I know
...

You will be, too!

Even the Pointer Sisters would be thrilled, if they only knew!

The date for the Pooh Corner Homecoming has been announced -- Saturday, November 4, 2006 -- Pooh Corner is 40 years old. And what a better time to celebrate! Saskatoon is celebrating it's 100th!

Children's Department staff will be offering programs throughout the day. Stories, puppets, tours - and cake!

Check out the program of events in Library News and mark the date on your calendar!

Exhibition Parade, 1955

Who doesn’t love a parade!

In 1955, the Library entered a float in the Exhibition's annual Travellers’ Day parade. The Library's theme was "serving young and old", and our float represented many departments and services.

The Children’s Department was represented by a young boy who bore a striking resemblance to a rather famous character. Of course, it probably helped that he was surrounded by the animals of Hundred Acre Wood!

Tens of thousands of people flocked downtown that day to witness “the longest, most beautiful and most musical" Travellers’ Day parade ever staged in Saskatoon. And the Library was part of the action.

Our thanks to the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix for allowing us to post the above photograph. If you think our days of joining the Ex are over, think again. The Library's pelican mascot joined the special mascot parade at year's Exhibition. Look for our new friend at future community events.

PLES RING IF AN RNSER IS REQUIRD

Saskatoon Public Library is an extremely active participant of the Saskatchewan Libraries AskUs! online question and answer service. And we have been since 2000. To date, we’ve answered over 2,200 questions on nearly every subject for people from around the world.

Sometimes, reference questions come with a lovely bit of information for us. In fact, we just received a query from an art librarian in England that included this juicy tidbit:

I was amused to see you have a Pooh Corner. We had a little cafe in Clifton here in the 1920s that was called the Shop at Pooh Corner and Shepherd the illustrator for Milne painted the sign, which has now gone to the States I believe.

I wonder, did the shop sell honey?


It’s always lovely to hear from friends across the puddle, especially about all things related to Pooh. We would love to hear from others who have related bits of information ... or stories ... or any old thing.

Oh! And for those who might be wondering, the title of this blog is a line from "Eeyore Loses a Tail and Pooh Finds One" by none other than A.A. Milne. You can read this story in Winnie-the-Pooh: the color edition. Just search the library catalogue!