JULY 15, 2020
News Advertiser PAGE 11
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Talk of the Town on the Reopening of Vegreville Centennial Library Rosanne Fortier News Correspondent The Vegreville Centennial Library reopened its doors on July 3 after being closed since March 17 due to health and safety concerns because of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The library will have some restrictions on the days and hours of operation. As well, they will be using other measures to ensure the safety of their patrons. When I asked citizens how they felt about the library reopening they had various reactions to this. Dellas Baxandall said she thinks the library reopening is a good thing. “They have to reopen. Everything has to start reopening. So, I think they are doing it in a really safe manner and they are doing it correctly. I am happy about it. Libraries are essential because there are a lot of people who don’t have access to the internet so they can use computers and the internet
through public terminals at the library. The library has a lot of essential things
are a lot of people who use the services that they have.”
so for it not to be considered an essential service is a bit surprising to me. They need to be open because there
Kim Kenward said she thinks it is great that the library is reopening. “I think there is a lack of spaces where
Outdoor Bread Baking in a Peeche at Vegreville Pysanka Festiva1 Rosanne Fortier News Correspondent Some of the traditions at the Vegreville Pysanka Festival continued by virtual means and curbside pick-up during the 47th annual event this past weekend. One of these was the outdoor bread baking which was done in a peeche on July 4. In other years in the Pioneer Village, people could observe how this bread was cooked through demonstrations on how the pioneers used to bake their bread. However, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and social distancing practices that need to be followed, the bread-making demonstration was online and people ordered the bread ahead of time where they received the bread by curbside pick-up at the Vegreville Cultural Association Centre on July 4. Pearl Kuhn, Director for Bread Baking, said she made the bread with many volunteers. This bread tastes different than the bread we make in a regular oven today because they use the wood from apple trees, willows, and cedarwood which has different flavours. “For the bread, we use two clay and one brick oven. We heat the oven with the wood and then it bakes from the heat that has gone into the oven. The heat goes into the mud and clay and the brick and that heat is what bakes the bread,” Pearl explained. “You can bake anything in a peeche oven; not only bread. The main thing is to get your temperature right which should be 350 F.” Altogether, 70 loaves of bread were sold to appreciative recipients.
Volunteers put the bread into the oven. (Rosanne Fortier/photo)
people can go and access resources and the library is a key one of those.” Another resident of Vegreville, Joyce Ziegler, is a big fan of the Vegreville Centennial Library and said she was just ecstatic when she found out the library was going to be open on July 3. “It was a beautiful treat to go to the library when it reopened! I started going to the Vegreville library when I was six-years-old. It has changed immensely, but the people who run it are usually the nicest people you could meet. It means a lot to me to be able to go there and browse, and to pick up good reading material and other good stuff. Most of all, I appreciate the people who work in the library, and I am so pleased they are back at work.”
