Polk County News
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • September 7, 2016 3A
Shrewsbury returns
DEADLINES
NEWS DEADLINES
For inclusion in the
Wednesday edition of the
Itemizer-Observer:
Social news (weddings,
engagements, anniver-
saries, births, milestones) —
5 p.m. on Thursday.
Community events —
noon on Friday for both the
Community notebook and
Community Calendar.
Letters to the editor —
10 a.m. on monday.
Obituaries — 4 p.m. on
monday.
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
Living history
ADVERTISING DEADLINES
Retail display ads — 3
p.m. Friday.
Classified display ads
— 11 a.m. on monday.
Classified line ads —
noon on monday. Classified
ads are updated daily on
www.polkio.com.
Public notices — noon
on Friday.
WORKING FOR WAGNER
CORRECTIONS
New library director strives to make it a magical place
The Polk County Itemizer-
Observer is committed to pub-
lishing accurate news, feature
and sports reports. If you see
anything that requires a cor-
rection or clarification, call the
newsroom at 503-623-2373 or
send an email to
ementzer@polkio.com.
By Jolene Guzman
WEBSITE
The Polk County Itemizer-
Observer website,
www.polkio.com, is updat-
ed each week by Wednes-
day afternoon. There, you
will find nearly every story
that appears in the print
version of the newspaper,
as well as some items, in-
cluding additional photos.
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WEATHER
RECORDED
HIGH LOW
aug. 30............. 75
aug. 31............. 70
Sept. 1............... 69
Sept. 2............... 73
Sept. 3............... 71
Sept. 4............... 73
Sept. 5............... 75
54
54
55
57
47
48
49
RAIN
.00
.17
.03
.21
.T
.00
.00
Rainfall during aug. — 0.41 in.
Rain through Sept. 5 — 22.40 in.
KINGS VALLEY — Cos-
tumes are optional, but a
healthy sense of humor is
What: Shrewsbury Ren-
must.
aissance Faire.
A little familiarity with
When: Saturday and
1500s European history
Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
would help, too, but it’s not
Jousting tournament
mandatory to have a good
shows are at noon and 4
time at the Shrewsbury
p.m. each day.
Renaissance Faire Saturday
Where: Kings Valley,
and Sunday.
near the Polk-Benton
“We have a good deal of
county line.
fun with our patrons, so if
Admission: $11 for
you don’t want to talk to
adults; $5 for seniors and
children ages 6 to 12; Free
anybody, this might not be
for children 5 and
the place to go,” said festival
younger.
organizer Adrian Hughes.
Of note: For VIP tickets
If you like interactive ex-
email shrew@shrew
periences, Shrewsbury fits
faire.com with the subject
the bill.
line “I want to be a VIP.”
“You are going to see
For more information,
people come up and speak
driving directions and a
to you directly,” Hughes
$1-off admission coupon,
said. “This is not a show
go to www.shrew
where there is a distinction
faire.com.
between the audience and
the players.”
Street performers, vendors, stage and Epona Equestri-
an Team’s jousting act play the part to the fullest.
They expect audience participation.
But don’t be intimidated, the “customs” aren’t difficult
to pick up and costumes aren’t required.
The annual event — which celebrates a time and place
centuries and continents removed — takes place Saturday
and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days in Kings Val-
ley in a field straddling the Polk-Benton county line.
Shrewsbury added a few features this year, including a
“children’s kingdom” in the forested part of the village that
includes a small storyteller’s stage and a replica pirate ship.
Organizers created a “VIP” area at the tournament ring
costing $10 for the “small” package and $50 for the “big,”
that offers prime viewing of the show. VIP privileges, in-
cluding rubbing elbows with “the nobles” and meeting
the knights, are only for the noon shows each day.
“You get a bunch of swag … and you get to watch the
tournament while quaffing your beverage of choice,”
Adrian Hughes said.
In addition to regular vendors, a few more food selec-
tions are in the lineup. Kings Valley Charter School will be
selling snow cones and gelato as a fundraiser for its for-
eign language club.
While the joust is the main attraction, festivalgoers
have plenty of other entertaining options in watching his-
torical re-enactment clubs. One will re-create legendary
rivalries between the Picts and the Romans. They will be
hunting each other around the village. Another will offer
“squire training” and a “wooing contest.”
You can even be jailed at Hangman’s Alley — or have
someone else put behind bars for a fee. On Saturday at 2
p.m., you can test your archery skills, with a chance to
claim a cash prize.
“We are very full,” said Jackie Hughes, the festival’s ex-
ecutive assistant. “We have a lot of new things going on.”
JOlene Guzman/ Itemizer-Observer
Andy Rommel wants the Wagner Community Library in Falls City to be a place of com-
munity pride and inspiration.
The Itemizer-Observer
FALLS CITY — Andy Rom-
mel, the new director at Wag-
ner Community Library in
Falls City, wants the library
to be a place of community
pride and inspiration.
With an educational back-
ground in graphic design
and fine art, Rommel has the
creative gifts to help make
that happen.
“I really want this, not to
sound cheesy, but to be kind
of magical place,” Rommel
said. “A place where people
can come to fuel their cre-
ative powers. That’s one
thing we look for in books, is
inspiration.”
On the job since July 18,
Rommel is making his mark
on the library with a display in
the children’s books area and
hopes Wagner is awarded a
“Ready to Read” grant for the
2017 summer reading pro-
gram.
“That will really be an op-
portunity to do some fun
stuff and get creative,” Rom-
mel said. “This year it was
fairly successful, but I really
hope to build on that suc-
cess and get more kids in-
volved.”
Rommel, who lives in
Pedee, said working in a li-
brary is a first for him. He
sums up his library experi-
ence as, “I’ve just used quite
a few of them.”
That means his first weeks
on the job have been about
getting familiar with his new
responsibilities.
“There’s been a lot to
learn, and I will continue to
be learning for the foresee-
able future,” he said. “I’ve
had so much help. Every-
body has been willing to
help in any way possible,
and that had been such a
blessing.”
Technically an employee
of the Falls City School Dis-
trict, Rommel also is the ele-
mentary school librarian, a
role he’s excited to take on.
He will be teaching students
how to check out books, use
the library and, for the
younger students, lead story
time.
“Really, something I’ve felt
from day one: the communi-
ty here really cares about the
children and the children’s
education,” Rommel said. “It
is definitely a priority, and
that’s one reason having the
library here is so important.”
Helping with the effort to
keep the library open is an-
other of his responsibilities.
Wagner has only about
two years of operating funds
remaining in the Wagner
Trust. City and school dis-
trict officials earlier this year
decided the only way to pay
for the library long-term is
to ask voters to approve an
operating levy.
Rommel said he will be
researching placing a levy on
the ballot before a meeting
between the city and district
this month.
While Rommel is still
learning on the job, he has a
clear objective with his time
at Wagner, whether that be
two years or longer.
“I want this library to be a
source of community pride.
The last two librarians have
worked extremely hard to
make it that. They did an ex-
cellent job,” he said. “I’m just
filling their shoes and con-
tinuing on with the goal.
These books are really im-
portant to quite a few people
in the community, and I’m
going to work my hardest to
make this library a source of
pride.”