Sean C. Morgan
The Knights of Veritas stormed Sweet Home Saturday to vanquish the the myths of theatrical sword fighting and demonstrate historically accurate, real-world battle techniques.
The group, which appeared in the Boys and Girls Club gym Saturday afternoon, Jan. 28, is based in Ellensburg, Wash.
It was founded as a nonprofit in 2001 and provides interactive educational demonstrations of medieval arms, armor, combat, knighthood and chivalry for schools, libraries and other educational partners throughout the Pacific Northwest.
The Knights of Veritas were invited as part of a series of programs celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Sweet Home Public Library.
They were already scheduled to appear at the Albany Public Library Saturday, said Sweet Home Library Director Rose Peda.
“We were contacted by the Albany Public Library to see if we wanted to share travel expenses to bring them here.”
More than 60 people attended the presentation.
Up next is “Take Your Child to the Library Day” on Saturday, Feb. 4, with activities throughout the day, Peda said. This is the fourth or fifth year of this program, encouraging adults to bring their children to the library.
“This year, we’re doing a scavenger hunt and something similar to Build a Bear,” Peda said. Children will be able to stuff a penguin or polar bear, name them and get a certificate, “and they get to go home with a stuffy.”
Registration gets started at 10 a.m. The scavenger hunt runs from 11 a.m. to noon.
“We have two levels of scavenger hunting,” Peda said. Children will need to locate items on the list within the library and answer questions.
“Learn with Legos” runs from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.
“We’re going to challenge them to build a bridge with Legos that will support books,” Peda said, although the challenge will depend on the general age of children attending.
The Friends of the Library paid for the Knights of Veritas and Take Your Child to the Library Day.
Also scheduled for 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., for teens and adults, the library is hosting “Connecting U.S. 20 with Sweet Home,” an interactive art event focused on “social good (see below).”
“This is our 75th year of operation,” Peda said. “So we are doing lots of programming this year. We’ll probably do one or two programs a month. I just thought it would be kind of fun to commemorate the library.”
Upcoming events will include artists, speakers and entertainers, Peda said. March 2, it will host ukulele lessons. In May, the library will host an outdoor concert.
After that, the Summer Reading Program, with the theme “Build a Better World,” begins, Peda said.
For more information, call the library at (541) 367-5007.