Serving the City of Redlands, California since 1894
On Tuesday, September 6 at 6:30 pm in the assembly room, you are invited to explore the practice of Heartfulness meditation. Heartfulness relaxation and meditation techniques are proven to be effective in reducing stress and anxiety, improving sleep, enhancing emotional intelligence and exploring the heights and depths of human consciousness.
Acclaimed polka musicians Fred Mlakar and Frank Rote will lead Smiley Library guests on a musical journey with songs and dance melodies tracing the evolution of polka music from a European to a distinctly American style. The free event, part of a growing series of musical events called Smiley LIVE!, will take place at the Library’s Contemporary Club at 6:30 PM on Wednesday, August 31. Polka dancing was the rage in Europe in the 19th century. Immigrants first brought polka to North America in 1844, where it soon became popular in ballrooms and dance halls. Playing vintage diatonic, chromatic, and piano accordions, Fred and Frank will also explain how accordions evolved through the years.
Fred Mlakar is a third-generation accordionist, whose band has entertained at festivals, wedding receptions, private parties, and dance clubs for over 50 years. Fred and his band recorded albums with his late father Joe Mlakar, an honoree of the Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame who was also the proprietor of a polka night club in Fontana, the Elbow Room. Fred currently lives in Irvine.
Expert accordionist Frank Rote is a band leader and Director of the Fontana Slovene Button Accordion Club. When not performing, he repairs and refurbishes vintage accordions at his home workshop in Rancho Cucamonga.
This September, to celebrate Library Card Sign-Up Month, we encourage you to open your world with an A.K. Smiley Public Library card. Your card lets you check out materials from the library and access all of the Smiley’s digital offerings, including ebooks, audiobooks, streaming movies, databases, job-searching resources, and much more!
Celebrate the one-year anniversary of the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial Shrine’s cannon on Saturday, August 20 at 10am in Smiley Park, between the Shrine and A.K. Smiley Public Library.
Manufactured by Trail Rock Ordnance of Tennessee and donated by the Nies family, the reproduction Model 1857 Napoleon 12-pounder field gun was dedicated in August, 2021. Overseen by the 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery, the inaugural firing demonstration took place in Smiley Park with over 150 spectators in attendance.
Displayed in the park for the past year, the cannon will once again be fired at this year’s celebratory program, which will include a brief introduction to the use of artillery during the Civil War by members of the 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery, music by the Camp Carleton Cornet Band, and an appearance by President Abraham Lincoln presenter Robert Broski.
This event is free and open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and/or blankets. Large umbrellas are discouraged.
The Lincoln Memorial Shrine is located at the A.K. Smiley Public Library campus, 125 W. Vine Street, Redlands. For more information, call the Heritage Room at (909)798-7632 or visit www.lincolnshrine.org.
Through his record-busting construction career, Henry J. Kaiser continually pulled off the impossible. When he announced his plans to enter the wartime shipbuilding business and mass-produce steel in the small agricultural town of Fontana, experts were shocked, but his determination made him a national figure. “Miracle Man Kaiser” built a steel plant in record time, and it churned out more than 1 million tons of the invaluable metal for the 1940s war effort. In an industry rocked by disharmony, his company adopted the slogan “Together We Build,” and his skill in navigating labor relations made it a powerhouse. Join author and historian Ric A. Dias as he highlights the successes, failures and limits of this trailblazer’s dreams.