Library brings history to life

• At Lee County Library, participants will learn how to glean personal stories about World War II from friends and family.

Cathy Higgins

LEESBURG — This weekend, Lee County Library will host “Coastwatcher” author Elise Weston as she presents the program, “Growing Up in Wartime: Then and Now.”

The free program starts at 2 p.m. Saturday.

It will feature Weston’s comparison of what children went through during World War II with what goes in the world of today’s children.

Weston first delved into wartime through the eyes of a child with “Coastwatcher,” a novel published in 2005 through Peachtree Publishers.

The children’s book follows Hugh, an 11-year-old boy, and his family as they head to the South Carolina coast in the 1940s in an effort to escape Charleston’s polio epidemic.

A mystery unfolds when Hugh discovers evidence that enemy soldiers are in the area, but no one believes him.

With that mystery, Weston gives young readers a glimpse into the World War II era.

Saturday, she’ll talk about that history and show participants how to uncover similar stories through members of their own family.

“After the presentation, participants will have time to interview their family members and/or friends,” states a recent news release.

Saturday’s program kicks off the library’s monthlong program, “History is All Relative.”

“The purpose of the ‘History is All Relative’ project is to promote literacy as a family-unit tool,” the release states. “The project will allow participants to learn about family members and friends who have been involved in any way, or are currently involved in any way, in wartime activities. Participants in the project will not only learn about their families and friends before, during and after the war, but will also learn the importance of recording stories and memories so they can be shared through the generations.”

The program’s next installment is a writing workshop 10 a.m.-noon Aug. 16, in which participants write stories and memories.

On Aug. 30, the program’s finale will feature local historian Imogene Gunnels, who will share her own childhood memories of World War II. The event will be held 10 a.m.-noon.

For more information, call (229) 759-2369.

More SouthView>>