Superior kids celebrate the Chinese New Year

Nick Ianniello

Mineral Independent

Despite a small turnout, the Friends of the Mineral County Library put on an exotic party in celebration of the Chinese New Year at the Mineral County Library in Superior Feb. 4, complete with oriental decorations and chopsticks.

"It’s just something a little different for the kids to try out," said head librarian Guna Chabereck.

Three lucky kids showed up to the event, and got full run of the different activities set out by the Friends of the Mineral County Library.

Brother and sister Aiden and Molly Patko, who regularly attend library events, joined Aiden’s classmate Eric Tennant in checking out the different Chinese-themed activities.

After taking a minute to marvel at the dragon hanging from the ceiling and the other decorations in the library, the first activity the Chinese New Year revelers took part in was finding their Zodiac animal using their birthday.

Depending on the year a person is born, they are assigned a different animal that describes how their life might play out and what their personality will be like. Eric and Aiden were each rabbits and Molly was a monkey.

After figuring out what animal they were, the trio got medallions depicting their animals to hang around their necks.

They then proceeded over to tables equipped with gummy bears, fish and other animals and chopsticks. After a few minutes of practicing the delicate art of chopstick use, they raced to see who could pick up the most with their chopsticks before the plate of gummy candy in front of them was gone.

Afterwards the children decorated oxen with glitter, in honor of this year’s Zodiac sign.

They also enjoyed some fruit skewers and read about the Chinese New Year.

The trio learned that the Chinese New Year is a 15-day celebration that started on Jan. 26 this year and is the biggest traditional holiday in China. The Chinese New Year starts on a different date every year since the calendar is based on lunar and solar calculations.

Despite the small turnout, organizer Leslie Heppe said that they were excited to be able to show the children a little bit about the Chinese New Year.

"We’re trying to bring different cultures to our kids. Even though we just live in this little town in the middle of Western Montana, this is still important," said Heppe.

Chabereck said that since they held the program at 3 rather than 4 p.m. many children’s parents were likely unable to bring them to the library. She said most programs usually take place at four but they changed this one since it was an early-out day for Superior students.

"It’s just hard to tell whether people are going to come or not," said Heppe.

Chabereck went on to say that every other year the library alternates between a Chinese New Year Celebration and a Valentine’s Day Celebration.

Heppe, who has helped organize several of these programs said that they will likely only be holding programs around 4 p.m. from now on.

"We should have timed this a little differently," Heppe said.

The Friends of the Mineral County Library are also raffling off a large Valentine’s Day box of chocolates. Tickets are $1 and can be purchased at the Mineral County Library in Superior.