The Cameron Village Regional Library here in Raleigh, NC, is
one of forty libraries selected to host the traveling exhibit, Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World. The (free) exhibit is based
upon a larger (non-free) exhibition developed for the Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary. It opened in town last Wednesday, but the
official kick-off was Friday evening 15 February, with music in the library's
atrium and snacks upstairs in the exhibit room. And, of course, a visit from Ben Franklin, who kissed my hand
when he found out that I write under a pen name, as he does.

Franklin was deftly portrayed by Art Yeaman, a performing
artist from Florida who has been doing Ben in excess of ten years and feels
"called" to the task. He
brought a kite with him and engaged children with the story of
Franklin's encounter with lightning. As
for the exhibit, it consists of six sections of freestanding panels that
showcase the many talents and interests of one of the country's most well-known
founders. Throughout the six weeks that
the library hosts the exhibit, patrons will hear from subject-matter experts on
topics such as fashions in Colonial America, diplomacy and social life in
Paris, and journalism and the free press. In period costume, my family and I will attend a Revolutionary tea party
on 9 March. What fun!

Meanwhile, I'm still writing away at the Chocolate Challenge
and added over 15,000 words to the first draft last week. That brought my total to more than 30,000
words. If I keep this up, I should have
most of the first draft finished by the end of the month.