Teens have a Minute to Win It this Saturday at MPL

Teens can compete in a series of 60-second competitions during the Mentor Public Library’s version of Minute to Win It at 2 p.m. this Saturday at the Read House, which is next door to the library’s Main Branch at 8215 Mentor Ave.

Children who are 12 and older will compete in several different challenges, depending on what time allows. The challenges include:

• Face the Cookie, in which people need to move a cookie from their foreheads to their mouths, using only the muscles in their faces.
• Dicey, in which teens will balance as many vertically stacked dice as they can on a popsicle stick. Not difficult enough? They will be holding the Popsicle stick in their mouth.
• the Cookie Unicorn, where teens will balance as many cookies as they can on their forehead without letting them fall.

And participants will only have 60 seconds to complete each challenge.

The competitors who win the most challenges will receive prizes.

You can sign up for the competition on Mentor Library's web site.

Try to balance as many cookies as you can on your forehead while competing in Cookie Unicorn.

While you’re at the library, you can sign up for summer reading too.

For every book you read or library program you attend between now and Aug. 1, you get a raffle ticket and a chance to win cool prizes like Captains Tickets or gift cards to Panera, Target, Amazon and more. You can even register online.

See you at the library.

Don't drop your dice or things can get... dicey.

Teens Only Need a Minute to Win It this Saturday

Teens will face off in a series of 60-second competitions during our version of Minute to Win It from 1:30 to 3 p.m. this Saturday, Aug. 3, at the Read House.

Children who are 12 and older can compete in 10 to 12 different challenges, depending on what time allows. The challenges include:

• Nose Dive, in which competitors will use a bit of petroleum jelly on their nose – and just that – to move as many cotton balls as they can from one bowl to another.
• the Princess Race, which will test the teens’ posture, speed and dexterity. They will need to complete an obstacle course while balancing a book on their head.
• Kick Off, where competitors will try to punt as many cans as they can into buckets. The farther away the bucket is, the more points each kick is worth.
• Dicey, in which teens will balance as many vertically stacked dice as they can on a popsicle stick. Not difficult enough? What if they have to hold the popsicle sticks with mouth instead of their hands?
• Hot Air, where competitors will use a balloon and their own hot air to knock as many cups as they can off of a table.
• the Cookie Unicorn, where teens will balance as many cookies as possible on their forehead without letting them fall.
• Face the Cookie, in which teens will need to move a cookie from their forehead to their mouth using only their facial muscles. (You can never have too many cookie-related contests.)

And, of course, participants will only have 60 seconds to complete each challenge.

The competitors who win the most challenges will receive prizes, including gift cards and some other surprises.

Those who wish to compete in Minute to Win It can register by calling the Mentor Public Library's reference desk at (440) 255-8811 ext. 247. You can also sign up on the library’s web site, www.mentorpl.org.

Speak Softly & Carry A Duct-Tape Sword

Our Anime Club made duct-tape swords and shields -- and I think I see a scythe back there -- during their most recent meeting Saturday.

My love for our anime club is pretty well documented here; and, while I hate to feature a club to the exclusion of others, the anime club keeps doing awesome stuff!

At their most recent meeting on Saturday, July 27, they made swords, shields and scythes out of duct tape.

They also perfected their warrior faces.

And they're still wearing costumes. This time, Meagan McLaughlin came dressed as Terezi Pyrope of MS Paint Adventures.

Yes, I had to Google "Pyrope" to make sure I spelled it right.

The Anime Club's next meeting is August 24. They'll be watching one of Hayao Miyazaki's classic Studio Ghibli films. (They haven't decided which one. My vote's for Totoro.) They will also make candy sushi.

Drop by if you like. You can register here.

We have a lot of other fun events for teens coming up in the next week or two, including:

• Storyteller Jim Kleefeld will share macabre and miraculous true stories later today (July 30) during Tales from Beyond.
• We close out our Mentor’s Rock Roots: Celebrating Homegrown Bands concert series with a split performance by Cheap Clone and Hedgehog's Dilemma on July 31. (As you probably guessed from its name, the concert series features bands from in and around Mentor).
• On August 3 (this upcoming Saturday,) teens can compete and win prizes in our Minute-to-Win-It Competition. (Register here and dress for a mess.)
• Then, on August 9, teens can celebrate Holi on our Read House lawn. Holi is a Hindu festival of color in which people celebrate the salvation of Prahlada, a follower of Vishnu who also happens to be the son of the great king of demons. People celebrate by surprising one another with brightly colored paint and powders. (In that way, it's a bit like paintball.) Feel free to join our celebration, but bring a white shirt and old clothes you don't mind getting messy.

You can always check out our event calendar at www.mentorpl.org to see more programs for teens, kids and adults.