Community Corner

Mural Planned at Library in Honor of Ailing Resident

Resident Sara Thier has kicked off a fundraising campaign for a mural to be painted at the Newtown Library Company's children's room in honor of resident James Alfieri.

 

James Alfieri was a regular at the s Saturday morning story hour. When his daughter, Sophia, was a toddler, they would pack up the wagon almost every week and head from their Newtown Borough home to enjoy that special time together.

While Sophia has now outgrown the story hour, friends of the Alfieri family are working to ensure the library will always hold a memory of her and her father, who two years ago was diagnosed with ALS. Often called Lou Gehrig’s disease, ALS is an incurable neuromuscular disease that attacks nerves in the brain and spinal cord, resulting in paralysis.

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Sara Thier, a friend of the Alfieri family, is spearheading an effort to have a mural painted on the walls of the children’s reading room at the Newtown Library Company in honor of James. 

Thier, whose daughter and Sophia are longtime friends, said she had been thinking of a way to honor James. Immediately the library came to mind. “I know he used to take Sophia there all the time,” she said.

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So she contacted the library to see if it would be possible to have a plaque in honor of James put up in the children’s room. Mayor Dennis O’Brien, who is on the library board of directors, agreed to work with Thier on the project and suggested it could go beyond a simple plaque. The idea for the mural was formed.

After some searching, Thier located muralist Jon Laidacker of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. He will paint an 18-x-8 foot mural on the wall of the children’s reading room.

When coming up with the design, Thier said she wanted something that would incorporate the spirit of the library, James’ relationship with his daughter and the whimsy of children’s literature.

The sketch prepared by Laidacker features Almira Sharp, the longtime reader for the children’s story hour, reading to the children on one side. On the other side is James with his family. And in the middle are fictional characters from popular children’s books, like The Cat and the Hat and creatures from “Where the Wild Things Are.”

“It is so realistic,” Thier said.

The mural, which will likely take six months to complete, will be sketched on paper. Then Laidacker will lead the members of the community in helping to paint the sketch. The final product will be put up like wallpaper, explained Thier.  

Thier is working with the library to iron out the final details on the project. In the meantime, she has launched an online fundraising effort to help pay for the mural. She hopes to raise $4,000 and said she plans to make a generous contribution herself.

“It’s a beautification project for the library. Hopefully it will bring people into the reading room,” Thier said. And most importantly, she added, the mural will serve as a lasting tribute to a friend and father. 

Click here to visit Thier’s online fundraising page.


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