What Kind of Mushroom Is This?

“My husband found this wild mushroom out in the woods. What kind is it?” The Newton Falls Public Library staff looked at the approximately 12” by 15” fungus in a bowl.  Large, ruffled, salmon, white, and orange it almost seemed to be something that belonged at the bottom of the sea.

The first places we looked were A Field Guide to Mushrooms, North America by Kent H. McKnight, The Mushroom Book and Mushrooms by Thomas Laessøe. Each of these books has a section that uses fruit body shapes and cap features to help identify mushrooms.  Upon initial examination the patron and the staff felt that her specimen belonged to either the family Corticiaceae or Polyporaceae. The photographs in the books were not exactly like her sample, so we continued the search online.

We did an image search for each of these families of mushrooms.  We found photographs from www.wildmanstevebrill.com for two Polypores which might be likely candidates, the Berkeley’s and the chicken. Continuing on, the chicken or Chicken-of-the-Woods (as per The Mushroom Book, p.69) looks almost exactly like the one sitting on the library counter. According to what was written this mushroom, when young, is safe to eat and supposed to taste like chicken.  As our staff members are not mushroom experts, we advised our patron to find someone more familiar with them to determine if our identification was correct and it was safe to eat.

Can You Find Me the Phone Number for Grey Duck Garlic?

“Can you find me the phone number for Grey Duck Garlic?” This was a question the Newton Falls Public Library librarians received earlier this year. “I want to sell the garlic I grew this summer and I’m not sure how much to charge for it.  Can you tell me how much organic garlic is selling for?” The staff, seeing how well the Library Sprouts’ garden was growing, could understand how the questioner was finding that he had enough to sell.

GreyDuck Garlic is certified organic and sells thirteen varieties of garlic. We were able to obtain their phone number and online order form for our patron.

Searching online for “mahoning valley garlic farm” we were able to answer the second question.  Miller’s Garlic Farm, a locally owned farm, has a small retail store at The Coin Shop located at 5160 Youngstown Poland Road. Their garlic may be ordered online.  The medium sells for $15 a pound, the large and extra large for $17 per pound. Our patron was happy to have the information he needed in order to price his product.

If you are looking for ideas for using your garden produce, check out the library’s Harvest display.  There is also a large selection of cookbooks which may be borrowed.

I Need the Lyrics and Music to the First Verse of God Bless America.

“Can you help me? I need the lyrics and music to the first verse of God Bless America.” The Newton Falls Public Library staff thought they were very familiar with the song, but did not realize there was another verse.

 We located the words to both the lesser known first verse and the more well-known second verse at www.god-bless-america-lyrics.com. This site said that Irving Berlin wrote the song in 1918 and revised it in 1938. According to the information there, the words to the first verse are actually a spoken introduction and are:

            “While the storm clouds gather far across the sea,

            Let us swear allegiance to a land that’s free

            Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,

            As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer.”

The website, SheetMusicPlus.com has an image of the music to the first verse and information for ordering. We informed our patron about it. There were also sites were the music could be downloaded to a personal computer.

Do Members of the Amish Community Ride Horses?

“As often as I have driven through the Amish communities in Trumbull and Geauga Counties, I’ve never seen anyone riding a horse. People are either walking or riding in buggies. Are they permitted to ride on horseback?”  The Newton Falls Public Library staff couldn’t remember if they had ever seen anyone riding either, but also was not aware of any prohibition of it.

We began our search with some of the books in the library’s collection but were unable to find anything addressing horseback riding. The book Who Are the Amish? by Merle Good is filled with interesting photographs, and on page 22 it shows two Amish children riding a mule in front of a plow.

Extending the search online, we located AmishAmerica.com, a website that directly addressed this question. The site also has a photograph of Amish children riding, and states that it is primarily young girls who ride. The author of the article quotes two sources:

Plain Buggies author Stephen Scott says “One will occasionally see a child riding a pony or a young man out for a ride, but almost never would a person ride a horse to church.  Obviously the problem of modesty is involved for women and, of course, only one or two people can conveniently ride a horse with room for very little baggage” (Plain Buggies, p. 43).

The Riddle of Amish Culture author Donald Kraybill notes that it is “generally discouraged because it borders on a worldly form of sport” (Riddle, p. 70).

Multiple sites also mention the Amish training horses for both driving and riding, so one would assume that they are ridden in order to be trained.

I Need President Obama's NDRP Executive Order

“I need to have a printout of President Obama’s executive order. It has to do with NDRP and I was told it was controversial.” While the Newton Falls Public Library staff has heard of presidential executive orders, they were unfamiliar with this particular one.

For the most current information about information relating to the President, the staff went to the White House website, www.whitehouse.gov.  This site has information relating to all aspects of our government. Using the search words “executive order ndrp” brought up the Executive Order -- National Defense Resources Preparedness. The order was issued by President Obama on March 16, 2012 and “delegates authorities and addresses national defense resource policies and programs under the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (the "Act").” We were able to print the full text of the order for our patron.

When Was the Newton Falls Police Department Created?

“Can you tell me when the Newton Falls Police Department was created?” The Newton Falls Public Library staff knew exactly where to look for this information.

We immediately referred to the History of Newton Falls by Ella A. Woodward [Revised 1977 Edition, pages 150-152]. In 1872, H. S. Roberts was hired as the town marshal for the hamlet of Newton Falls, Ohio. On March 12, 1873, H. C. Morley was hired as a township marshal. In 1884, the office changed to include the duties of night watchman and lamplighter with a salary of $35 a month.  The first police officer hired by the new village government, which was established on December 13, 1887, was C. S. Medley.

A police department was created by the Newton Falls Village Council on May 7, 1929. “It consisted of one first class and two second class officers who would be appointed by the mayor and approved by the city council. The officers would be subject to dismissal at the mayor’s discretion.” [p. 150]

Our patron may also wish to visit the Library’s Local History Room. The Police Department has placed on permanent loan to the library a variety of historical items including an old radio and a jug which was used by moonshiners during prohibition.

Why Do They Play Neil Diamond’s Song, Sweet Caroline at the Boston Red Sox Games?

“Why do they play Neil Diamond’s song, Sweet Caroline at the Boston Red Sox games?” Baseball fans on staff at the Newton Falls Public Library said they had wondered about the story behind that custom as well.

Searching online, we found that it is a frequently asked question with several versions of the reason the song is played before the bottom of the 8^th inning. The website, Boston’s Pastime was very useful with details of the legend and the reality. “Legend has it that former Red Sox public address announcer Ed Brickley requested the song to be played as a tribute to the appropriately named newborn daughter of Billy Fitzpatrick, who worked in the Fenway Park control room for 20 years.  In reality, the song got its start at Fenway Park thanks to Amy Tobey, who was the ballpark’s music director from 1998 to 2004. She was responsible for choosing the music . . . At first, Tobey played the song at random games sometime between the seventh and ninth innings, and only if the Red Sox were ahead. Tobey considered the song a good luck charm and it soon became something the fans anticipated. But it wasn’t until 2002, when John Henry’s group bought the Red Sox, that Sweet Caroline became an official Fenway tradition. That’s when the new ownership requested that Tobey play the song during the eighth inning of every game.”

Columbia University’s News Serviceonline article, feels that too many teams are now using this song. The Bleacher Report has the article, Boston Red Sox: 5 Songs Ready to Replace “Sweet Caroline” at Fenway Park by Robert Fucile (Correspondent, May 15, 2012). Fucile feels that it is now time for the Red Sox to select a new song and offers five alternatives. They are Rock and Roll Band by Boston, Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen, Back in the Saddle by Aerosmith, I’m Shipping Up to Boston by Dropkick Murphys, and Paradise City by Guns N’ Roses.