Dr. Jinny Sirard of Superior Chiropractic Associates will present “Reaching Your Full Potential with Chiropractic Care.” Dr. Sirard will discuss the positive health impact of chiropractic care for all ages and activity levels. She will also explain how chiropractic care can positively influence your health by ensuring that your nervous system, which is the vital communication between your brain and body, is free from interference. Participants will learn why chiropractic care is the third largest and fastest growing health profession in the world, and they will discover how this natural approach to health can be beneficial to everyone from tiny infants to the elderly. Hand-outs will be available.

The Natural Health and Wellness series is held on the second Thursday of each month. All library programs are free, and everyone is welcome. For more information, please call the library at 482-4570 or visit www.pldl.org.

Botanist Janet Marr will present “Green Invader: Garlic Mustard in the Copper Country” on Wednesday, May 9, from 6:30 -7:30 p.m. Garlic mustard is a non-native, extremely invasive plant that has just begun to show up in the Copper Country. It has been found in six Calumet-Laurium locations and eight other sites in Houghton County, mostly in the Houghton-Hancock area. It is not currently known to be in Keweenaw or Baraga Counties.

Once garlic mustard comes into an area it can cause huge problems when it invades forest floors, replacing native shrubs, tree seedlings, and wildflowers and also adversely affecting wildlife and insects. Out-of-control garlic mustard affects everyone who spends time outdoors from hikers to loggers, property owners and land managers.

Marr will show a 12 minute film entitled “Stemming the Tide: Garlic Mustard ID and Control.” She will explain how to get rid of garlic mustard as well as discuss what not to do with the plants. Marr will also have live garlic mustard plants for people to look at plus various brochures about invasive species including garlic mustard. She will also talk about a short field trip to a garlic mustard site in Laurium.

The best time to find and report garlic mustard is when it’s relatively sparse in our area and eradication is still possible. Please report any suspected garlic mustard plants in Houghton, Keweenaw, and Baraga counties to Janet Marr at 906-337-5529 or jkmarr@mtu.edu at the Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District. People may also contact Marr about RRIP-IT-UP: Eradicate Garlic Mustard in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, a new UP-wide garlic mustard eradication program that is funded by a grant from the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation which includes funding from the US Fish & Wildlife Service.

Library programs are free and everyone is welcome. For more information, call the library at 482-4570 or visit www.pldl.org.

“Education Under Fire” is a human rights campaign that aims to bring awareness to the Iranian government’s denial of the right to higher education for the past thirty years for all members of the Baha’i Faith in Iran. This situation is a violation of internationally agreed upon human rights treaties to which Iran is a state party.  The “Education Under Fire” campaign has the full support of Amnesty International, Nobel Peace Laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and President Jose Ramos-Horta of East Timor, and over fifty universities including Harvard and Stanford.

In response to the Iranian government’s ban on higher education for Baha’is, the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) was established to provide an opportunity for Baha’is in Iran to obtain their education. This peaceful institution was declared illegal in Iran and many of those involved in providing instruction have been arrested, detained, charged with criminal offenses, and imprisoned, some for more than twenty years.

This film presents the decades-long persecution endured by Iran’s Baha’is as well as tells the story of courage and commitment in the face of human rights violations. Members of the Baha’i Faith will lead a discussion after the film and explain how people can take action to urge the Iranian government to uphold its obligations under international law, to end the persecution of Baha’is in Iran, release prisoners of conscience, and to cease depriving Iranians of the right to education on religious grounds.

Library programs are free and everyone is welcome. For more information, you may call the library at 482-4570 or visit www.pldl.org.

Watson will describe outdoor plants that have specific historical meanings in cultures with an emphasis on Victorian England as a world center for botanical gardens. Watson will use Kate Greenaway’s 1884 book ‘Language of Flowers’ as a source that names over 100 species that grow in the Keweenaw. Many of these flowers are from the countries of Copper Country ancestors. Watson will review these plants and suggest where they can be planted in the home garden or in the cemetery. Michigan Tech’s Student Memorial Garden by the Rozsa Center is an example of this work. “When these flowers are given as gifts or are planted in remembrance, the gesture is even more memorable,” Watson explained.

Watson is the head gardener at Michigan Technological University. She is also the owner of Interiorscapes, a company devoted to professionally helping homes and offices welcome healthy green plants into their living and work environments.

Library programs are free and everyone is welcome. For more information, Please call the library at 482-4570 or visit www.pldl.org.

The Friends of the Library invite everyone to the third annual Cinco de Mayo Salsa Contest on May 2 from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. To enter the contest, simply make 8 cups of your favorite salsa and label it mild, medium, or hot. Bring it to the library before

5:00 p.m. on May 2 where it will be placed next to bowls of chips for sampling and voting by the public. There will be door prizes and prizes for winners in each category.

Participants will also enjoy Mexican and Latin music compiled by local radio host Anthony Daniel for the event. Daniel is the host of Yearbook: the 1960s on WMPL.

Advance registration is not required to enter the contest but it would be greatly appreciated. Contestants may register by calling the library at 482-4570. This contest is open to all, and everyone is welcome to sample the salsas and vote for their favorite one.

Library programs are free and everyone is invited. For more information, please call the library at 482-4570 or visit www.pldl.org.

These programs offer adventures and activities that are suitable for families and kids age five to twelve. Programs include a 30 minute show followed by hands-on activities.

The next program in this series will be held on Tuesday, May 1, from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.

During “Dig into Isle Royale,” kids will become a geologist-in-training as they uncover stories that are written in rocks. Participants will time travel into the past with Ranger Justin Olson to discover how molten lava and icy glaciers helped form the landscape we see today. Activities include trying your skills at identifying rocks and minerals and testing your glacier strength.

Library programs are free and everyone is welcome. For more information you may call the library at 482-4570 or visit www.pldl.org.

Join Isle Royale National Park Ranger Valerie Martin on Saturday, April 28, at

10:15 a.m., for stories and songs about your national parks. Kids will learn about these special places and earn their own Junior Ranger badge.

Library programs are free and open to all. For more information, please call the library at 482-4570 or visit www.pldl.org.

This event is sponsored by members of Michigan Tech’s Circle K Service Organization and the Houghton High School Key Club. Circle K and Key Club students will read classic Dr. Seuss stories and lead the kids in decorating Cat in the Hat cookies with a Dr. Seuss-ish flourish. Gluten-free cookies will also be available for those who want them.

Circle K International Service Organization and Key Club look for opportunities for service, leadership, and friendship. Their wide range of projects includes activities such as picking up trash on highways, playing board games with the elderly, and doing storytimes.

Library programs are free and open to all. For more information, please call the library at 482-4570 or visit www.pldl.org.

 The Portage Lake District Library will host Dr. Thomas Werner on Tuesday, April 24, from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. for his slide show presentation on “Life in East Germany and the Fall of the Berlin Wall.”

Werner grew up in East Germany and will share his story about living a political double life in a socialistic country. He will describe what it was like having a spy who was trying to send his parents to prison and how his home country dropped out of existence overnight. Werner will give his eye witness account of these historic events and tell how he went to West Berlin the day after the wall was torn down. He will also have items from East Germany on display including uncirculated East German banknotes, two of which have a very interesting story.

Werner studied biology in Jena, Germany, and got his Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology in Umea, Sweden. He later moved to the United States as a postdoctoral fellow in Madison, Wisconsin. Werner is now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Michigan Technological University.

Library programs are free and everyone is welcome. For more information please call the library at 482-4570 or visit www.pldl.org.

Beginner and experienced stamp collectors as well as those who are curious about stamp collecting are welcome. People who want help organizing their loose stamps are invited to bring them to this meeting.

For more information, please call the library at 482-4570 or visit www.pldl.org.