Baseball--100 years at Martinsburg High School

Baseball--100 years at Martinsburg High School

This year marked the 100^th anniversary of baseball at the Martinsburg High School.   An exhibit of items related to the commemoration of that accomplishment will be on display in one of the front foyer cases at the Martinsburg Public Library during the month of August. 

Martinsburg High School formed their first baseball team in 1915 so to document the 100 years, there is a special commemorative edition booklet that was created and includes all available Bulldog baseball team photos throughout the years as well as the Alumni game participants.  Pre-sales are being taken by Larry and Anita Cooper at a cost of $5.00 and checks are to be made payable to MHS Baseball Boosters.   A pre-order list (but no payments) is also being taken at the Martinsburg-Berkeley County Public Library through the end of September 2015. Those persons will be contacted by the Coopers to obtain their copy of the book.   Mini-helmets and commemorative baseballs like those in the display case are also available from the anniversary committee.

 

Please stop to look at this interesting exhibit which celebrates one of America’s favorite sports and baseball at Martinsburg High School in particular!!

submitted by Keith Hammersla

HISTORICAL TREASURES AT THE LIBRARY, Part 3

HISTORICAL TREASURES AT THE LIBRARY, Part 3

The Mantz Tobacco Shop Indian Statue

     This antique wooden cigar-store Indian stood at the Mantz tobacco shop on North Queen Street in Martinsburg in the early 1900s.  American Indian figures have always been associated with tobacco-selling shops, possibly because they introduced the European settlers to tobacco, a crop native to America.  Perhaps the most distinct and recognizable form of American folk art, the cigar store Indian was once a familiar sight along busy Victorian streets.

     Because of the general illiteracy of the population, early store owners used figures or symbols to advertise their shops' wares, For example, barber poles advertised barber shops, show globes advertised apothecaries, and three gold balls represented pawn shops. All of these items are still occasionally used for their original advertising purposes but are more often seen as decorations or advertising collectibles.

    “Mantz’ Tobacco Box” had been in operation as far back as 1898, according to the Martinsburg city directory of that year, distributing fine tobacco and cigars, with a pool room in the rear.  It was located at 137 North Queen Street and was owned and operated by Charles A. Mantz, and later by his son, Frank B. “Lanky” Mantz, until it closed in 1960.

     The over four-foot-tall statue is made of wood, but it is covered with a white plaster-like coating that protects it and serves as a base for the paint.  The imposing, colorful figure has brown skin, a dark green tunic dress, and red and gold head feathers.  With a hatchet in one hand and a bunch of cigars clutched in the other, he served as a symbol to lovers of a good smoke that a tobacco shop was located at that street address.

     The Indian statue was donated to the Martinsburg Public Library by Dr. and Mrs. Marvin H. Porterfield in 1978.  The Friends of the Martinsburg Library donated the clear plastic exhibit case which now houses it where it is located near the King Street entrance to the main floor.

YA-Ruckus at the Martinsburg Library

Fresh Ruckus for Teens at Martinsburg Public Library!

A ruckus at the library?  What is this?  Things are changing at libraries

all over; sometimes with change comes a ruckus (of sorts)!  Starting

with our literature collection here in Martinsburg, check out the Young

Adult section (or YA, to be acronymically hip):  we’ve weeded all the Fiction,

freeing up space next to the Graphic Novels for the NEW BOOKS we put

out on a regular basis.  When we weed, all those books removed do NOT

get thrown out – many of them are still in good shape, they simply haven’t

gotten checked out.  What, then, do we do with these books?  BOOK SALE!

Check out the fill-a-bag-for-$1 Book Sale in YA.  Heck, we even have some

for FREE in the Queen St entrance way.  Thinking of starting a book

exchange?  The Martinsburg Public Library is the place to get some fantastic books

that are looking for a good home.  Or perhaps you have a Home School Library.  

Either way, we’ve got books for you.

I mentioned Graphic Novels.  This is arguably our most-circulated

section of printed material.  And we’re regularly adding to it with

classic comics from DC, Marvel and their subsidiaries, graphic

novels of historical events, biographies, literature graphics (plays

from Shakespeare, Les Miserables, Maximum Ride, for example),

Manga, and stand-alone novels written in graphic format.  If you

haven’t already, visit the Graphic Novels and check one out. 

Graphic Novels: so much more than comics! 

Find your Graphic Novel Niche.

Hey, it’s mid-April.  Summer is on the horizon and we’ve got programs in the works just for teens, a fresh offering here in Berkeley County Libraries.  Yes, I said libraries, plural.  All four libraries in Berkeley County will offer a series of programs for teens this summer – as our theme this summer is Heroes, look for the “Unmask” series in upcoming Summer Reading Program fliers.  Here’s a smattering of what’s to be:  MakerSpace with crafting, creative writing, 3D Printers, and Green Screen technology; improvisational dance; author workshop; outdoor training day; exploration trailer from James Rumsey Technical Institute; free movies; more more more and the Reading Credit Book Sale at the end.  Stop by your library with a friend, alone, with family, and see that, though we’ve built our reputation on free books to borrow, we are SO MUCH MORE THAN BOOKS!

Will Eisner Week

WILL EISNER WEEK March 1st  – 7th 2015

Will Eisner is a pioneer in the comic industry, known in professional circles not as ‘comics’ but as ‘sequential art’. Beginning his career in the 1930s, Eisner authored, illustrated, and produced great graphic novels when the genre was in its infancy. Eisner also taught cartooning at the School of Visual Arts in New York, forging the talent of many of today's graphic novelists and industry professionals. Every year at Comic Con International, outstanding graphic novels of the year are selected for the Eisner Award, considered the Oscar of the comic world and honoring the “Father of the Graphic Novel”, Will Eisner.

Join us Thursday, March 5th, at 6pm for an informal discussion about graphic novels. Bring your own, or peruse our shelves – we’ll have many out on display.

At 6:30 we’ll show The Spirit, based on Eisner’s comic of the same name, from the director of Sin City, co-written by the comic mogul Frank Miller, and starring Gabriel Macht, Samuel L Jackson, and Scarlett Johannson.

(Rated PG-13, 103 minutes)

 

Will Eisner Week is an annual celebration in March promoting graphic novel literacy, sequential art, free speech awareness, and the legacy of Will Eisner.

Follow the links below to find out more about Will Eisner and the Eisner Awards. http://www.willeisner.com/

http://www.comic-con.org/awards/eisner-awards-current-info

Black History Month Display

Visit the Martinsburg Library and view the Black History Month display in the lobby!

Display done by Tamesa.