Escondido Public Library LibraryYOU

All across America, people celebrate the first Tuesday evening in August as National Night Out Against  Crime.  The National Association of Town Watch invites communities to join forces to promote police-community partnerships, crime/drug/violence prevention, safety, and neighborhood unity. Over 37 million people in more than 15,000 communities nationwide attend this event.   Members of the public interviewed Captain Eric Skaja, a 20 year veteran of the Escondido Police force, in an effort to understand their local police force.”

Pop Up Podcast is back! While Pop Up Podcast started out as a free after-school activity for teens. In our second season, we welcome participants of all ages. Pop Up Podcast is an opportunity to tell your story, to engage with audio recording technology and to explore your own self-expression. Much like Season 1 of Pop Up Podcast, Season 2 invites members of the Escondido community tell their story, using the underlying philosophy that what is the most personal is the most universal. Our first episode of the new season covers the Olmstead family. Morse Olmstead managed Security First National Bank, which opened in Escondido in 1929 on the corner of Grand Ave and Broadway St. (The photo above is of the second location at 201 West Grand Ave which was built in 1951.) This podcast was recorded at an event celebrating the installation of a bench in Kit Carson Park to commemorate Morse and his wife Ida Olmstead. The project was initiated by their son Dave Olmstead, who in this recording tells his personal story along with accounts from his siblings and one of Morse Olmstead’s first employees. The podcast is hosted by Teddy Borja of the Pioneer Room Friends, a 501(c)(3) interest group supporting the Pioneer Room, Escondido Public Library’s local history archive. Produced & edited by Adult Services Senior Librarian Viktor Sjöberg.

Eighteen year old Watson landed with the first wave of the U.S. forces to hit Omaha Beach in Normandy, France at 7:27 am on June 6, 1944. He survived being blown up and wounded when his landing craft was destroyed by a mine that killed 50 of the 75 men on board. In spite of his wounds, he served for 28 days as a U.S. Navy Beach Master.Now 87 years old, Watson says that as long as he is able, he will continue to tell the story of the men who didn’t make it back. "What keeps me going are the 9,336 fine young American boys buried in that cemetery over there. The story of Omaha Beach needs to be told to honor all of the men who did not survive the invasion or the war."Find more information on these subjects in our library catalog: World War, 1939-1945 -- Campaigns -- France -- Normandy, World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, American Music excerpts from Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 2 in C minor.Podcast recorded and edited by Viktor Sjöberg.

Laura Johnston Kohl joined the Peoples Temple in 1970 and was an active and enthusiastic member until the day it ended. On November 18, 1978, 914 members of Peoples Temple died in Jonestown, Guyana. Laura was one of 87 survivors. This is her story of survival.Laura is an author as well as a public speaker about Peoples Temple and is on the Speakers' Bureau of the Jonestown Institute. Her book, "Jonestown Survivor: An Insider's Look" was published in 2010. Find it in our catalog.Additionally, Laura has compiled an extensive collection of photos from Peoples Temple and has made this collection accessible on Flickr.Find more information on these subjects in our library catalog: Peoples Temple. Peoples Temple -- Biography. Jonestown Mass Suicide, Jonestown, Guyana, 1978 Music from the Peoples Temple Choir album "He's Able", released in 1973 by Brotherhood Records.

Doris Martin, author of the book Kiss Every Step, recounts her miraculous survival and that of her family in Nazi Germany. Born in Poland, she survived Auschwitz and spent three-and-a-half years in a labor camp handling and measuring explosive powder to build mines for the Nazi war effort. Doris and her husband Ralph Martin founded the The Martin-Springer Institute at Northern Arizona University in 2000. Find her book, Kiss Every Step, in our catalog. Find more information on these subjects in our library catalog: World War, 1939-1945 -- Jews., Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), Holocaust survivors -- Biography.Music by V. Sjöberg New Jazz Ensemble.