Thanks to some stellar fundraising efforts, the Weehawken Free Public Library can offer some fun summer activities for children ages 7 through 16.
Several activities will take place at the library, located on Hauxhurst Avenue, beginning Wednesday evening at 6 p.m.
On that night, the library will present a showing of the movie, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone," which was a gigantic hit in the theaters last year and was just recently released on home video and DVD. The Harry Potter book series is tremendously popular with kids of all ages, but the people of the Weehawken Library are especially fond of the novels, considering they have several Harry Potter-related activities throughout the year.
Thursday afternoon, beginning at 3 p.m., there will be a presentation of the "Newly Grown Tales," performed by the Attic Salt Theater Company of New York.
The group performs full length unscripted pieces that feature on the basics of story telling. The group will explain and demonstrate four different tales that are made up on the spot by the children in the audience.
"The children will make suggestions as to what the storyline will be," said Philip Greco, the executive director of the library. "We’re excited to have the group here."
Attic Salt, which advertises itself as "bringing a unique brand of children and family theater to schools and libraries throughout the New York metropolitan area," comes to Weehawken courtesy of the Hudson County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs.
Also, on Wednesday, Aug. 21, the library will have a special presentation, in conjunction with its summer-long Summer Safari Reading Program.
Throughout the summer, children have been encouraged to read as many as 10 books to participate in the program. Completion of the books earns the child a certificate of accomplishment.
However, on Aug. 21, beginning at 1 p.m., the library will present "Exploring the Rain Forest," a presentation of exotic animals and creatures by Joseph D’Angeli of Jungle Exotics in Edgewater.
D’Angeli will teach the children about the rain forest and to help the children understand why everyone needs the creatures that live in the rain forest.
"He’s going to give a lecture, then show off some of his live animals," Greco said. "It should be an interesting presentation."
Finally, the library is offering a contest in conjunction with back to school time. Children are asked to guess how many rubber bands, paper clips and pencils are in a jar in the library. The child who guesses the closest to the total number of items in the jar receives a goody bag filled with back-to-school items.
The contest is running through August 28.
Greco said that it is important to have programs to encourage reading during the final month of summer, before the kids head back to the classrooms in September.
"August is a very important month for our library," Greco said. "This is the first time we’ve been able to offer summer programs for the children, so we’re really excited about it. We’re hopefully going to continue the programs into the fall, but we’re hoping to get a nice turnout for these programs, because it’s the first time they’ve been offered."
Parents are asked to pre-register their children for any of the programs listed above. Greco said that they can sign up in person at the Free Public Library or by calling (201) 863-7823.