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Nine Sunday School Students Started Huron Library |
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Sunday, 23 March 2008 |
Nine members of Mrs. Fries Sunday school class helped start the Huron Library. Back Row from left: Marian Hammond, Jean Maxim, Mary Lou McCormick and Ruth Diamond, Front Row from left: Betty Louise Reed, Betty Jackway, Betty Campbell and Phylis Kleinj, Inset: Betty Wikel
Everyone has heard it, you know the story you hear from your parents, grandparents or aunts and uncles or other family or friends who are at least a generation older than you. The stories vary a little, but the basic are all the same. "When I was your age, I had to walk five miles to school and back in two feet of snow with no shoes, up hill both ways." This is almost how it was for lifelong Huron resident Marian Howland. Marian who is 89 years old grew up and went to school in Huron in the days before school busses. It was before the school had a lunch room, too, so she had to walk home for lunch and back for afternoon classes. Her family, the Hammonds, lived in the area which is now the commerce plaza near the corner of Berlin Rd. and Cleveland Red. E, about a mile from school. "The school was in the building now used by the library," said Mrs. Howland. "Not many people had cars when I was young, and I can't remember anyone who had a bicycle. And there were no snow days back then," she added.
Mrs. Howland was part of a group of high school girls who were members of the Presbyterian Church. Their Sunday school teacher, Mrs. V. A. Fries, assigned them to start a library, the first library in Huron. "I was part of a group of nine girls from my church," said Mrs. Howland. Other girls in the group included Mary Lou McCormick, Ruth Diamond, Betty Jackway, Betty Wikel, Betty Louise Reed, Jean Maxim, Betty Campbell, and Phylis Klein. "We were in ninth grade at the time," said Mrs. Howland. Their first course of action was raising funds. They held bake sales, dinners and a white elephant sale (similar to today's rummage sale). Once they had raised some money, they needed to find a location. Mrs. F. L. Stein donated the use of a room above Andew Smith Groceries for the new library. "The grocery store was right next to Roll Harts Meat Market, and we were above them both," said Mrs. Howland. "This was in the old downtown of Huron about where the boat basin is now."
The room was a mess, and the girls had to clean and fix it up with the help of their parents. The men of the church built the shelves with wood donated from Fries Lumber. "Everyone was a farmer then," said Mrs. Howland. "The men worked on it when they could get away from the farms for a little bit." All the original books were donated from community members or loaned to Huron from the State Library. It took close to a year to get it ready and get enough books. The library opened in about 1933 with Mrs. Rose Holzhauser as the first librarian. At first the library was only opened for three hours on Wednesdays. In 1935 the library passed its first levy and has been a part of the Huron community ever since.
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