Pooh pounces into Northfield library

By Kara Swarbrick
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

Local residents were invited to the Brown Public Library on Sunday, Oct. 14, to celebrate 75 years of Winnie the Pooh.

Calling it a “Pooh read-a-thon,” Sharon Bartram, Northfield Library Director for the past 15 years, said they “invited a number of people in town to come and read for five or 10 minutes and people.” Local residents were also invited to hear the readings.

Some of the readers who participated were volunteers of the library and long-time members of the library’s board of trustees.

“The idea was to have, throughout most of the two hours of the birthday party, people reading various selections from Winnie the Pooh,” said Richard Suitor, a trustee for the Brown Public Library, adding that he read “the chapter on Poohsticks in The House of Pooh Corner.”

Hazel Moot of Northfield, who was the Chairman of Trustees for the library for eight years and is now an Emeritus Trustee, said they read “when Eeyore loses his tail.” Moot read along with her husband, Dick Moot, a volunteer of almost five years.

“We have a Pooh heritage in this house,” said Mr. Moot. Each one of the five members of the Moot family is a different character in the Winnie the Pooh series. “I’m sad old Eeyore,” said Mr. Moot.

“Each Pooh animal has a different set of characteristics, and so the youngsters can identify with any of the characters,” added Mr. Moot. “It’s great for the youngsters.”

Along with the Pooh read-a-thon, the library had snacks, games, coloring, puzzles, and displays, including the three glass cases containing Winnie the Pooh memorabilia, all of which belong to the Moots.

The collection was started when the Moots’ middle daughter, Candy, was in kindergarten and just went from there, according to Mrs. Moot.

A puppet show is also on the schedule for Sunday’s events. “We’re planning to have a Winnie the Pooh puppet show;” Bartram said they also included a “Pooh cake, Pooh cookies and Pooh punch,” along with a Winnie the Pooh puppet show.

This event was for people of all ages, according to Bartram. “I think there are a lot of adults that appreciate Pooh.”

All of the participants involved in Winnie the Pooh’s birthday volunteered for different reasons. “[The committee] decided to sponsor it, and that’s why I’m involved,” said Pat Babcock of Northfield, President of the Friends of the Brown Public Library, a library volunteer and big fan of Winnie the Pooh.

“I am a long time devotee of Pooh,” Suitor said. “And this was brought up at a trustees’ meeting, so I probably would have signed up just to be supportive.”

“We got an invitation,” said Mrs. Moot. “[Sharon Bartram] knows that we’re very involved with Pooh. We’re just a Pooh family.”

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