CONCORD ó Mid-September holds lots of excitement for the Cabarrus County Public Library’s first community read event called One Book One Community ó Cabarrus Reads.
Beginning on Monday, Sept. 15, reservations will be accepted for three programs.
The first is “From Journal to Novel: Making Fiction from Real Life,” a creative writing workshop presented by Clyde Edgerton. It will be on Friday, Oct. 3, 3-4:30 p.m. at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College/South Campus. Contact Amelia Likin at 704-216-3548 or send an e-mail to obocwork shop@rowancabarrus.edu beginning Sept. 15.
Reservations will also be accepted beginning Sept. 15 for a reception with Edgerton at Old Courthouse Theatre in Concord on Friday, Oct. 3, 7 to 8 p.m. Contact Anne Wilson at 704-788-2405.
Reservations can be made beginning Sept. 15 for tickets to “Songs and Stories from Clyde Edgerton and The Rank Strangers Band,” Edgerton’s own musical group. The performance will be Saturday, Oct. 4, 7:30 to 9 p.m. at the Davis Theatre at the Cabarrus Arts Council. Contact Kris Benshoff at 704-920-2050 for tickets.
Each of these events is provided free of charge.
The event includes a pound cake bake-off sponsored by Friends of the Mount Pleasant Library. Cakes will be judged in three categories: classic pound cake, iced pound cake and novelty pound cake. A $100 prize will go to the winner in each category.
Entry forms must be submitted to the Mount Pleasant Branch Library by Sept. 10. Judging will be Sept. 20, at 1 p.m. at the library meeting room. For more information, contact Kate Moore, branch manager, at 704-436-2202.
Storyteller Ron Jones will do a one-hour program at Mount Pleasant branch on Sept. 16, at 4 p.m. Jones will be at the Concord Branch Library Sept. 16, at 7 p.m. Harrisburg Branch Library will host Jones on Sept. 30, at 4 p.m. The final program will be at the Kannapolis Branch Library on Sept. 30 at 7 p.m.
Jones has been sharing stories and songs with audiences of all ages for more than 30 years. He is a writer and founding member and past president of the North Carolina Storytelling Guild.
Storytelling is presented free to the public.
The reading focuses on “Walking Across Egypt,” by Edgerton. In the novel, 78-year old Mattie Rigsbee helps teenage delinquent Wesley Benfield understand life.
Cabarrus Library will hold a drawing for five antique rocking chairs donated by Cline’s Antiques. The rocking chair is a significant prop in the “Walking Across Egypt” story. The chairs can be seen at each library branch and at the Old Courthouse Theatre.For a full listing of events, go to any branch of the Cabarrus Library, or see the Web site at: www.cabarruscounty.us/library.
Schedule of events
– “Walking Across Egypt ó The Movie” was released in 1999 and stars Ellen Burstyn and Jonathan Taylor Thomas. Rated PG-13, approximately 100 minutes long.
The screenings are free and open to the public; Sept. 9, 6:30 p.m., Harrisburg Branch Library; Sept. 18, 6:30 p.m., Mount Pleasant Branch Library; Sept. 22, 6:30 p.m., Concord Branch Library; special screening, Sept. 15, 7 p.m., Gem Theatre, Kannapolis.
– “What the community can learn from reading ‘Walking Across Egypt’ together,” University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill professor Dr. David Carr. Seating is limited to 170. Sept. 25, 7 p.m., Kannapolis Train Station
– “Walking Across Egypt” the play ó Old Courthouse Theatre presents the Reid Leonard stage adaptation. Tickets are required, and may be purchased by contacting Anne Wilson at Old Courthouse Theatre, 704-788-2405. Sept. 25, 26, 27 and Oct. 2, 3, 4, 8 p.m.; Sept. 28 and Oct. 5, 2:30 p.m.
– Meet the Author: A Visit with Clyde Edgerton. This event brings you close to Edgerton for small talk. Bring your copy of “Walking Across Egypt” for him to sign. Books will be available for purchase. Oct. 4, 1-3 p.m., Concord Branch Library Auditorium.