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Canfield Library hosts ugly holiday sweater competition
By Kalea Hall
YOUNGSTOWN
You can hear Linda Lanterman as she walks through Canfield Library.
You can definitely spot her, too, because of her holiday spirit.
Her “Christmoose” holiday sweater has the essentials: a tacky felt moose character with sparkles and a gaudy bow.
To top it off, Lanterman donned antlers with her homemade sweater.
Lanterman and other clerks and librarians celebrated the holidays with a fun and festive sweater competition. From Thursday through Saturday, library visitors were asked to vote for their favorite ugly sweater worn by a library staff member. One ballot will be pulled and that voter will receive a $10 gift card to the Inspired Caf by Kravitz inside the library. The staff member with the most votes will receive a special holiday gift too.
The goal is to engage with the public.
“It has definitely worked,” said Lanterman, the library’s head clerk. “People come in with their kids and they walk around and look at everyone’s sweater.”
The librarians and clerks got creative for this competition, which was inspired by Joanne Bundza, a clerk and the party planner.
“She likes to come up with creative things to do,” said librarian Renee Beverly. “It makes it more enjoyable for everyone when they come in.”
National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day actually took place during the competition, on Friday, Dec. 16. The trend of ugly sweaters for the holidays isn’t new. Through the years it is said to have been fueled by pop culture. In the 1980s, sitcoms and movies like Chevy Chase’s “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” made the ugly holiday sweater popular. The popularity of the ugly sweaters died down, but it has come back again with help from holiday parties with the ugly sweater theme.
Now, a quick web search for homemade holiday sweaters shows easy ways to turn a simple sweater into a bold holiday masterpiece with bows, garland and bells.
Library clerk Bonnie Wingard planned on making her own sweater by just attaching a bunch of bows to one she had in her closet, but she decided to borrow a tree hat and sweater from a friend instead.
Another staff member made a fruitcake sweater.
Beverly chose to buy a nerdy penguin sweater.
Some visitors have come in and were excited to show the library staff the sweaters they’ve worn for ugly sweater parties.
“It’s very popular,” Beverly said. “It’s enjoyable.”
Another holiday event put on by the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County is the Gingerbread House Holiday Program taking place at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. School-age children are invited to sip hot chocolate, listen to holiday music and build a miniature gingerbread house. Registration is required; call the Poland Library at 330-744-8636.