The celebration of Ogden’s Bicentennial & Spencerport’s Sesquicentennial is the perfect time to create a unique children’s book paying tribute to our town and village. That’s the first thought I had when I saw a copy of Goodnight Little Rock, an illustrated book my cousin Barbara Running Barrows told me about in 2015. Her husband and award-winning photographer, Paul, has a picture in the book about Arkansas’ capital. The text that would become Goodnight Spencerport! immediately began to percolate in my brain and soon I began writing the story.
I considered finding a local illustrator and quickly realized the process of illustrating would not fit the tight schedule we had if we wanted to have the book ready for the Fall of 2017. That’s when I found local educator and photographer, Joe Pompili. I saw his fabulous photograph of the moon rising over the Trimmer Road high bridge on Facebook and knew he was the person with whom I wanted to collaborate.
Joe has been a wonderful collaborator. It was a new experience for him and a new application of his photos, and he was willing to work together to create our book. Right from the start I could see that the thousands of images he already had taken were what we needed to tell the story of our community. He shot over 300 more pictures so that we had a good selection from which to choose. His photographs are crisp and vivid, capturing moments and places that we see every day but may not have really noticed. Our book gives us the opportunity to share the beauty of our community and to tell the story of living here in 2017.
Of course, even in 36 pages, it is impossible to show every place, person and organization that makes our town and village special, so we had to make tough choices. We wish we could have included more, but we also know that the images we have chosen are representative of the best of all of us.
Another fun feature of the book is that there is a tiny yellow daylily (the official flower of the town and village) on every two-page spread that children will have fun looking for.
Like Goodnight Little Rock!, Goodnight Spencerport! is inspired by the beloved children’s favorite Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd. Our rhyming story takes the reader on a picturesque journey through our town and village as we say “goodnight” to some of our favorite people, places and organizations.
The book is a Bicentennial Sesquicentennial Limited edition suitable for children, new neighbors, new babies, teachers, visitors, SHS graduates and alumni, and as a keepsake for this historic year.
The 32-page, soft-cover book costs $15 and will debut with a book signing and sale at the Ox-Pig Roast & Hoedown at Colby Farms Saturday, September 9, 3:30 to 10 p.m.
Also at the Ox-Pig Roast & Hoedown, Ogden Town Historian Carol Coburn will be taking pre-orders for the book she is compiling to commemorate this historic year. It will be 100 pages of historic and current photos entitled “Changes through Time.” A detailed history of Ogden/Spencerport was last published in 1967.
Coburn’s book will be a focused update comprised of eight chapters, each with an introduction followed by pictures, that tell the story of changes that have occurred.
There will also be a reading and book signing of Goodnight Spencerport! at the Spencerport Depot & Canal Museum on Saturday, September 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Goodnight Spencerport! will be read at 1 p.m. with a book signing before and after the reading. Daylily plants will also be sold at this event.
Other locations where Goodnight Spencerport! can be purchased are The Unique Shop and The Spencerport Depot & Canal Museum. A portion of the sale of every book will be donated to the Ogden Historical Society.
For additional information, email www.goodnightspencerport@gmail.com.
Teresa Schreiber Werth is a local retired communications specialist and author. She has lived in Spencerport since 1969 and has been a frequent contributor to the Suburban News.
