WHODUNIT??

Last night I helped to sponsor a teen activity at the library, "Mystery Night: The Theft of the Eureka Crown Jewels!!!" There were 23 junior detectives present trying to figure out who stole a million-dollar display of precious gems from the library. Three boys on the Teen Advisory Board helped me write the script, filled with a number of oddball suspects. I portayed one of them: Miss Mitzi Fritz, a ditzy roller skating carhop at Sonic Boom Drive-In, who had been working there for 40 years without a raise. (Nothing was mentioned, however, about the fringe benefits from her tightwad boss, Mr. Cheap Skates!)

When I retired, my friend the Library Lady talked me into being the adviser for the teen group she wanted organized. A nice new building was being constructed, and it would have its own space for "young adults"--something the old library was lacking. The board members named their area the Teen Lounge and got to pick the furnishings, books, and magazines. They help keep it clean and contribute artwork for the shelves. It is a work in progress. The kids, themselves, are a work in progress. Some volunteer to help at Story Hour; others recycle library trash or pull weeds in the garden area; a few write book reviews for the quarterly teen newsletter. Some just come to the monthly meetings and special activities and consume refreshments in mass quantities. It's a mixed bag.

Keeping teens involved and on task is not always easy in this day and age of cell phones and text messaging and mass confusion, but last night was fun--and more than one kid asked me when the next activity night would be. We'll probably have a Movie Night in October, but there won't be any more scripts to write and crimes to solve until next summer. And Mitzi Fritz, who was NOT the guilty party in our mystery play last night, is retiring her roller skates and acting chops before she falls flat on her ditzy face! (P.S. The computer nerd DID IT, of course.)