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PHOTOS: The Aldergrove library welcomes joyful sounds for its 60th birthday

A celebration with cake, costumes, and a cappella
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Aldergrove residents Mary and Kent Pollock danced hand-in-hand on their 49th wedding anniversary on Thursday, Oct. 10, to songs performed by Langley’s First Capital Chorus in celebration of the Aldergrove library’s 60th anniversary. (Sarah Grochowski photo)

The Aldergrove library was enlivened with music as it celebrated its 60th anniversary with cake, costumes, and a booming barbershop chorus.

Library-goers, young and old, dressed up as everything from dinosaurs to princesses, wizards, and magicians during the Thursday afternoon (Oct. 10) party.

Langley Township Coun. Petrina Arnason, who also serves as a Fraser Valley Regional Library (FVRL) board member, donned a velvet cape, a crown, and a magic wand for a picture in front of a green screen. She chose her portrait to be trans-ported into a colourful background.

Aldergrove community librarian Jacquelynne Garden, who manages the FVRL branch and its programming, remembers being a wide-eyed child who spent time in the library.

“I remember coming here and getting a big box of books every month to take home,” Garden reminisced.

Alder Grove Heritage Society president Tami Quiring stopped by to unveil an Aldergrove News front page story from December 1959, when reporters announced the soon-to-open library was “another step forward in the progress of Aldergrove.”

As one of five FVRL branches in Langley Township, Aldergrove’s has operated on the bottom floor of the Kinsmen Community Centre since December 1989 – making it the 30th anniversary for book-lending inside the building.

RELATED: Aldergrove library to celebrate 60 years in the community

Another date that was commemorated on Thursday was long-time Langley residents Kent and Mary Pollock’s 49th wedding anniversary.

As Langley’s First Capital Choir gathered at 3:30 p.m. for a set of tunes from the 1950’s, the same decade the library first opened, the Pollocks were reminded of their younger days.

“We just had to get up and dance,” Mary told the Aldergrove Star, after she swayed side-to-side with Kent among rows of colourful books.

“I still remember all the words,” she said.

The nearly 20 singers performed a cappella for over 20 minutes, doing hits from the Lion King like Can You Feel the Love Tonight, and In My Room, by the Beach Boys.

Lead singer Danny Tryon applauded the married couple for their many years of marriage.

“That was wonderful. Keep on dancing,” Arnason told the pair.

Singer Derek Sanft said seeing people come alive from their music “is their payback” for time spent practicing and rehearsing each week.

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Four-year-old Karen, of Aldergrove, dressed as Harry Potter during the event. (Sarah Grochowski photo)
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Township Coun. Petrina Arnason dressed up as a fairy godmother, and was transported to a colourful world using green screen technology. (Sarah Grochowski photo)
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