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200: Religion
Re-Development Day 200 Religion
It was eight a.m. and the library staff was jamming the entrance of Keystone Hall, a combination ballroom and basketball court adjacent to the the Main library, used for community events and for the annual Re-Development Day. Staff Association ladies were doing a brisk business selling cakes, pies, cookies, and fudge, along with raffle tickets for handmade quilts displayed along the corridor. Long tables were set out with a buffet of fruit, breakfast rolls, pots of coffee, and pitchers of juice. Seeking out other guys in the room full of ladies, I headed toward the back to sit with the maintenance crew. They had been cleaning library buildings since three a.m. At the head of the table sat Knute, an immigrant from Amsterdam and a World War II merchant marine veteran. Knute was held in high esteem because he kept our antiquated equipment running. He was as handsome as he was modest, and in much better shape than most employees, despite being well past retirement age. Tom was a cowboy in a feedstore cap who worked at the library to support his farm and horses. Crapped-out next to Tom, like some rough beast in a safe place, Vern softly snored. Everyone else seemed to be talking and not listening, waving to one another and calling across the room. One thing I noticed from the back of the room was lots of hair, all kinds and styles; curled, straightened, colored, and au natural. A woman with prematurely gray hair pulled up in a tortoise-shell clip and falling to her shoulders. A rather severe looking lady dressed like