Feature from October 2024 Messenger
At the end of August 2023, Category 4 Hurricane, Idalia, blew up along the west coast of Florida and made landfall at the small fishing and tourist town of Cedar Key, one of our favorite places to go to relax and eat some of the best sea food our west coast has to offer. Jutting into the Gulf in the Big Bend area of Florida, the tiny town has seen its share of major storms. Idalia sent major storm surge directly into the center of town and caused major water damage to many homes and businesses, a number of which are still being repaired over a year later.
Right about this time I was considering paring down my personal library so I contacted the Cedar Key librarian to ask if they would be interested in receiving book donations to replace any that were damaged in the flood waters. Luckily, many of the books had been moved to a more secure location inland, but the library itself suffered extensive interior damage that required a year of repair, remodeling, brand new electrical work and all new shelves at great expense. Seeing the full extent of the need, I opened up the donation drive to our members and was gratified by the swift and generous response that ultimately filled 18 boxes with books of all types and genres, and all in excellent condition.
Unfortunately, repairs to the little library dragged on for months as the flooded 1st floor was gutted, rebuilt, rewired, and repainted. At last, as the one year storm anniversary approached, a full set of brand new book shelves were obtained and set up, and the arduous task of returning and reshelving all the books began. In mid-September, Teresia and I rented a mini-van and drove the books up to Cedar Key. Ironically, the day proved to be wet and rainy, but the trip was made successfully and all the donated books arrived without incident and are now stacked neatly in a side hallway waiting to be sorted, labeled, and shelved along with the other returning books. The library’s goal is to open back up for their town readers by the end of this month.
Sadly, we saw in the news that a major part of the Cedar Key dock business area, including our favorite restaurant, Steamers, caught fire and was heavily damaged just a week before Hurricane Helene roared ashore with destructive storm surge. Please keep the folks of Cedar Key in your prayers as their strength and tenacity continue to be tested daily.
