11-21-2025

Prairie Lakes Library System held its Tri-County Final Competition this past Saturday, November 15 at Yerkes Observatory and I was in it.

I’ve written about the puzzle competition before both this year and the spring/summer of 2024 when it began. Each library in the PLLS is able to host a competition and send three teams to the county competition which sends three teams to the system competition. Only one person in East Troy seemed interested but wasn’t available, so I worked the event last year.

This year a patron visiting from Williams Bay as part of the Ink & Imagination passport program and I got to talking about the competition. She’d come directly from Barrett Library’s competition where her team had placed fourth. I let her know East Troy didn’t have a team and she asked if I’d like to join hers as having a third member would increase their chances at Delavan’s competition a few weeks later. That’s how I became the member of a team for Aram library with a Barrett employee and patron. We took second at the Walworth County Semi-Finals and advanced to the PLLS’s Finals. I’ll just leave the puzzling part at that as people who have only met twice don’t develop the type of strategy needed to win it except to say, I did finish the puzzle and it is on display in the library.

The venue was amazing. I had never heard of Yerkes Observatory before this competition. It is beautiful and fascinating. Contestants started the day with an abbreviated tour from a very enthusiastic Director of Programs. The facility is now run by the Yerkes Future Foundation which continues work to restore the building and grounds. They host events year-round for visitors and continue to make the two reflector telescopes available to astronomers.

I will definitely be back for their World’s Tallest Glass Tree Festival, just paused to purchase tickets, next month. Perhaps I’ll also be back next year for PLLS’s next competition. Dawn, this year’s team captain advised I simply schedule a competition and teams will find me rather than trying to find them. Look for it on the schedule in August or September of 2026. In the meanwhile, perhaps families can practice over the holidays.

This week the library received our materials for Disney On Ice: Frozen & Encanto and Monster Jam! Their Reading is Cool and Rev Up To Read programs provide libraries with vouchers for up to two free children’ tickets per family with the purchase of an adult ticket for each voucher. To earn the ticket, children ages 2-12 must read and return five library books. The voucher is then redeemed at the Fiserv Forum box office. Tickets are on sale now through the performance dates, but may sell out. Monster Jam is on January 31, 2026, while Disney On Ice is February 16, 2026.

Reading Now: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans per MANY patron recommendations.

Listening to Now: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas