Third Thursday's Surprise Event Will Bring A Bit Of The Dickens Out Of You-October 18, 2012

 

What the dickens is going on this Third Thursday in beautiful Summerville? While Charles Dickens has long been famous for coining some of the most creative character names in English literature and propelling hundreds of new words and expressions into our language, he is not credited with coining the word dickens. Where am I going with this and what the devil does dickens have to do with Third Thursday? If the question is leaving you somewhat "flummoxed", the answer is going to give you "the creeps." Hopefully, the partakers won't experience a case of "butter-fingers."

Summerville DREAM, our illustrious host of Third Thursday, is teaming up with Art and Soul of Summerville for the presentation of a somber procession based on a character fabricated by Charles Dickens. They will be putting to rest the money-loving business partner of Ebenezer Scrooge, Jacob Marley. It will begin on Short Central near OLacey's Pub promptly at 6:00 pm. Short Central is a fitting setting for this Dickens inspired event. Its brick pavement, little shops, and local pub gives it a somewhat English flare, with a little imagination thrown in. Now, if the weather cooperates and produces a misty fog, the scene will be near perfect. The procession will proceed up Short Central and end at Richardson Square where a eulogy will be delivered and a dirge will be had at 6:30 pm. Hopefully, Marley will stay put, but I wouldn't be so foolish as to put a wager on it.

After paying your respects to Marley, take a short walk to 112 S Main Street. It is the address of  A Very Little Bookstore. When I visited this bookstore for the first time, it reminded me of  The Shop Around The Corner from the movie You Got Mail. In the movie, The Shop Around The Corner was a small, privately owned bookstore that suddenly found itself competing against another bookstore called Fox Books, a conglomerate similar to powerhouses like Amazon, Borders, and Barnes and Noble. It was a quaint store where the owner and customer knew each other personally and was a central part of the community. The staff was knowledgeable and neighborhood children were entertained by scheduled book readings.

When I walked through the door of A Very Little Bookstore, I got the same impression. The store inside and out screamed kids. The walls were lined with cabinets of different heights and shapes and packed with books of varying sizes and colors written by many different authors. Co-owner, Natalie Sober, was out on the main floor talking to the patrons, fielding questions about book titles, and sharing her own personal viewpoint on favorites. Children were sitting at small tables thumbing through their chosen picks.

During my brief conversation with Natalie, she emphasized the popularity of children's books by local writers and the numerous requests she gets for them. The bottom line for this little bookstore, adjacent to Hutchinson Square on Little Main, is the satisfaction it gets from promoting to children the joy of reading and then seeing the excitement on their faces when they take the book into their hands.

So, take that short walk and meet the Sober's. Smell the print, feel the paper, see the story. No better time to immerse yourself into someone else's wonderland than on a Third Thursday. And bring your little dickens with you.

That's not all. Summerville DREAM has conjured up more for your entertainment. Everywhere you go, every corner you turn in downtown Summerville this coming Third Thursday, there will be a street vendor fair and performances by Summerville's Got Talent contestants. Now, all you have to do is show up and show support for our local businesses. And don't be a Scrooge about it either.

Final note: The word dickens is often used as a substitute for devil or an imp, and in reference to children usually used affectionately.