NEWELL—Books are vital in helping you to escape into the world of imagination. But what happens when the library brings imagination to real life? That is what the Newell Public Library did when it hosted a real live emu for story hour on May 8.
The weather finally cooperated and the emu, named Galahad, got to come to town and meet all the excited kids and adults too! The third time is a charm in this case, as previous attempts to bring the bird to town were postponed due to bad weather. But finally, the much-anticipated meeting with the emu happened and the weather was warm and sunny.
Jenny Morse, Galahad’s owner, lives right outside Newell and takes in unwanted animals. “I have a female also, a lot of the animals on my farm are from when people pass away and of course, family doesn’t want anything to do with the animal, so they come to my house,” she shared. “So the female belonged to a petting zoo up in Lead, and when he (owner) passed away, they looked all over for a home, so I took her!”
Kids got to learn all about emus in person. There was an real, huge ostrich egg for kids to touch and see. Morse explained that emu eggs are similar in size and have shells that are super thick and the colors is not white, but they’re a beautiful dark blue, green. “One egg is equal to about 10 chicken eggs,” she said. “The female comes along and she lays the eggs and then the male comes along sits on the nest and he hatches the babies and raises them, it is the same with ostriches.”
We also learned that the emu actually has wings. Morse showed everyone Galahad’s wings.
You can find quite a variety of animals out at Morse’s place. “I’ve got the two emus. I got two alpacas, a goat and a Jacob sheep and ducks and chickens and cats and dogs and a peacock,” she said.
Patty Karas, who leads story time at the Newell Public Library, arranged for the animal visitor to come to the library. “I found her phone number and called her, and then she just tells me she’s got an emu and she’s got an alpaca and I’m going, ‘oh my gosh,’ because I used to read to the kids books about those animals.”
Stop by the Public Library and check out a book about emus! Or alpacas!
The Library is gearing up for their summer program. Library Director Matt Clausen shared, “So for the summer reading program, the theme this year is Unearth A Story—so like dinosaurs, archeology, that kind of stuff.”
The summer reading program will kick off on Friday, June 5 with a visit by the Dinosaurs of the Hell Creek Museum. You can expect to see and touch some fossils and hear a presentation.
Read the full issue of the Belle Fourche Beacon by clicking here.
