Patchwork of stories invites writers to celebrate North Salem

NORTH SALEM, N.Y. - There’s one for the annual Christmas tree lighting. Another shows a swan floating serenely on the Titicus Reservoir. There’s a horse, of course. And ones depicting historic Delancey Hall, St. James Episcopal Church, the famed Balanced Rock, and many other North Salem scenes.

Taken together, the 14 lovingly handmade squares of the quilt that’s hung in the Ruth Keeler Memorial Library for nearly 40 years are a narrative of the town’s past and present in fabric and thread.

Made in 1988 to mark the town’s bicentennial, it is now getting the chance to inspire even more creativity.

The library has been closed since February for mold remediation and long-overdue renovation work.

In the meantime, the town, various organizations, and individuals have stepped up to help keep its programs going.

To acknowledge those valiant and generous efforts, and to celebrate its planned fall reopening, the library and the North Salem Historical Society have pieced together a summer event – Patchwork of Stories.

Writers of all ages are being invited to use the scenes on the quilt squares as “prompts” for their own stories or poems, said one of the organizers, Lauren Rankel.

They don’t have to be about North Salem, and can be in any genre … fiction, non-fiction, whatever.

(Also busily part of the Patchwork sewing “bee” are RKML Director Cathleen Sulli, Assistant Director Jennifer Gileno; Cynthia Curtis, NSHS trustee and past president; and Donna Taylor, NSHS president.)

(They have created coloring pages based on the quilt squares so little ones can participate.)

Submissions must be received by Sept. 1. To get started, email RKMLquiltwriters@gmail.com.

The works will be bound together in book form and donated to the library.

Rankel was an English major in college and had always loved creative writing. She was also good at math and science.

An advisor eventually convinced her that she would make a better living as a math teacher and so she reluctantly put writing aside.

Rankel, who now has two grown children, moved to North Salem about six years ago.

She joined a local writers workshop at the library basically because it was a way to meet people in her new community.

But it quickly became so much more.

“It reignited my love of writing,” Rankel said, adding: “Now I feel I’ve gotten part of my life back.”

During COVID, she wrote a free ebook titled We Can All Be Helpers, which was a social narrative designed to comfort children and relieve their fears of people wearing masks. It was illustrated by her friend Elizabeth Barksdale.

Rankel's work has been featured on ScaryMommy.com.

Her return to writing helped her become more imaginative and observant.

She’s also grateful for the library, which she calls a true community “hub” or “third space,” where folks can gather, work, learn, and relax outside of home or work. It also connects residents to vital services, technology, and educational tools.

“I really appreciate the fact that it has reintroduced me to something that I love,” Rankel said, adding that Patchwork is “just like giving a small gift back.”