As a certain mid-April deadline approaches, queues for Foundation Communities’ Community Tax Center assistance at the library are lengthening, but not as much as you’d think. Ever since the sessions opened up back in January, area residents have been streaming in with hopes of completing their returns well and in a timely fashion.
For those among you fortunate enough to enjoy the smugness of early filing, there’s the pleasant option of penciling in an activity that–unlike the project assigned by the IRS–actually celebrates creativity. Coincidentally, I know of two that also feature April 15 completion dates:
For starters, you could rev up your imagination with the Round Rock Arts Council’s Have A Ball Contest. The idea is to create a work of art from a baseball (or multiple baseballs). You can even stop by ArtSpace at 231 East Main to pick up a free ball for your masterpiece. Categories include individuals, businesses and organizations, and elementary, middle school, and high school. Entries will be auctioned at the Round Rock Express game on April with proceeds to benefit art scholarships and the RRAC.
Just be sure to have your entry in by 3:00 P.M. on April 15–and prepare for some competition. From what I overheard just this afternoon–and naturally can’t divulge particulars about–the library’s entry will be eye-catching, a quirky transformation.
And it was only one of several unexpected inspirations generated by the creators’ discussion. Studying the same basic white baseball, everyone imagined distinctive possibilities for translating it into art. (I have to wonder if our library customers, known to comment on staffers’ grasp of titles, facts, and processes, suspect how much imagination and outside-the-box thinking swirls around in the same heads that appear always focused on library accounts and database selection).
Frank Campbell of the Round Rock Barnes & Noble just alerted us to another April 15 (that’s a Wednesday, 7:00 P.M.) event dear to the hearts of Harper Lee fans. Anticipating the July 14 release of Lee’s Go Set A Watchman, the La Frontera B&N will host a discussion of To Kill a Mockingbird. Where this classic is concerned, few folks contemplate the book without the movie (or vice versa), so both will be considered here. And a special TKAM trivia contest will be part of the fun!