Contributed photo Herpetologist Ron Cromer will be at the Scotland Memorial Library today.

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Though library books are an everyday source of information and stories, today the facts and fictions of reptiles will be brought to life through two “Snakes Alive” sessions at Scotland Memorial Library.

At 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., herpetologist Ron Cromer will conduct sessions designed to give children a crash course in the lives, habits, and characteristics of reptiles, particularly snakes. Though there is a lecture portion to “Snakes Alive,” the sessions will include over 20 live reptiles, including specially tamed snakes for petting.

“Snakes Alive” has been held at the library annually for over 15 years, and is popular with children of all ages as well as adults.

“Ron is so good because he stresses safety and respect, not fear,” said Scotland Memorial Library youth services director Denise Dunn. “Everybody gets a big kick out of it and we have people that return year after year.”

The program also includes a giant Southeast Asian python named Rosie that groups of participants can take turns holding.

Children’s programming will continue throughout the summer, with morning story time every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. through the end of July. Morning story time will not be held on June 25 or July 2.

On Tuesday, the Asheville-based Bright Star Touring Theatre will put on two plays at the library, one at 10:30 a.m. entitled “Grease Lightning,” exploring myths and legends, and another with an anti-bullying message at 2 p.m.

“They’re cute and they’re very interactive with the audience,” Dunn said.

Younger children aged four to 11 can also get in touch with their artistic side during “Learn to Draw” sessions at 3 p.m. every Tuesday through Aug. 13.

“They’re going to start out with shapes and see how many things you can make with shapes,” said Dunn. “We had our first lesson and we had grandmothers in there drawing with the kids.”

Eco Crafts classes are held year-round every Thursday at 4 p.m. except July 4. During each class, children will learn to make a new craft out of household materials like paper towel rolls and Styrofoam in order to find a use for non-recyclable materials.

In a program for children aged 10-13, CSI Detective Victor Torres of the Laurinburg Police Department will present a crime scene program at 2 p.m. on July 17.

“He will train the ‘tweens’ on crime scene techniques and then allow them the opportunity to use this newly acquired information,” said Dunn. “We are calling it ‘The Case of the Overdue Book.’”

All library programs are free of charge and no pre-registration is needed.

To the editor:

At approximately 6:30 on June 17, I heard a loud explosion and our electric power immediately went out.

My husband had just gone out in spite of a heavy rain to get something from his truck, so I ran outside to make sure he was alright. He was, so I went back inside to call for assistance, but I could not see the phone book inside, and our land-lane was dead. So I sat on our front porch, found the number, and called Progress Energy with my cell phone.

As a very nice lady named Kimberly assured me that our power would be restored by 7:45, a frightful fire started in a tree beside the power line in spite of the drenching rain. Kimberly apparently called the fire department, because first responder Jamie Leviner showed up before I could. I do not know the second responder personally, but the third one was none other than Laurinburg’s fire chief, Randy Gibson, himself.

Soon our street was full of first responders and a fire truck was on the scene. Next, workers arrived in a bucket-truck, cleared the limbs interfering with the power line, and restored our electric power, finishing their work in yet another torrential rain. Sure enough, in spite of the fire, the power was restored by 7:45. How wonderful it is to live in a nation, state, county and city where so many selfless people respond so readily and quickly!

Please allow me to say a public thank you to all of those fine people.

Retha Currie