What a Week!

I'm still recuperating from the three events we participated in with the bookmobile last week. Each event was exponentially more intense than the last. On Tuesday, we spent a few hours cleaning the bus for the ribbon-cutting ceremony that was held in the evening. The ceremony itself was short but very busy - about 150 kids and a few adults waited in line for a brief tour of the bus, then went inside to watch the magic show while we sat in the bus. A couple of families visited during the show, but otherwise it was pretty boring.

Thursday was spent at a local elementary school, which we had visited about a month ago. This time, we were there to see the kids who were off track last time. Ten classes came out to see the bus, one class at a time for 30 minutes each. We had a craft outside and storytime inside, and each kid got to participate in both. Jorge and Sonia, our new part-time helpers were there this time, and they were a huge help.

On Saturday, we set up at the Fontana Health and Safety Fair, which I have taken the bus to every year. Unfortunately, Jorge and Sonia were drafted into helping at another major event, so it was just me and Eva. The crowd was bigger than ever, and there was no time after it started that we had less than 6 kids in the bus. I didn't actually count them, but based on last year's figures and the crowd this year, I estimated about 1300 visitors in 5 hours. We nearly lost several puppets - a woman and her kids took them off the bus. I got them all back, and all she could say was, "Well, I didn't know!" and "You should thank the kids, at least they brought them back." People never cease to amaze me. Other than that, all went well.

New bookmobile pictures

I know I promised to post pictures of the "new and improved" bookmobile, and here they are! What do you think?

I've been pretty busy with this new job. Last weekend we took it out for Fontana Days. I drove it in the parade Saturday morning, then parked it at Veteran's Park, where the carnival was being held. We parked right next to the City of Fontana's Mobile Rec Unit, and one of their guys helped us with the awning, since ours is just like theirs. He made it look so easy.

Several staff members from the other two Fontana branches came to help out, and our branch manager dressed up as the Cat in the Hat for the parade. We had a simple craft for the kids to do, and our Youth Services manager held storytimes at a booth nearby.

We left the bus at the park overnight, and returned late on Sunday morning. We had help from the other branches at first, but they left by 2:00. I sent Eva home at 8:00, because I thought I'd be able to pack up and leave soon after that, but I didn't get the bus back to the yard until 9:45. It was a long day, but not that difficult.

Our next event will be the county employees picnic on Saturday. That should be a relatively easy day, compared with the Fontana Days carnival or the Health and Safety Fair coming up on the 23rd. And, we've hired two new helpers who will come with us to all our big events! That will make life much easier. The only problem with Saturday is that I'll miss our dress rehearsal for the concert that evening.