Wilford Welch (E. Pier) opened his talk on the climate crisis last Thursday evening in the Council Chambers at City Hall by asking everyone to close their eyes and envision a fire coming over the ridge, noting that they would undoubtedly jump into action. He then asked why people are not jumping into action in the face of climate change which will have even greater consequences if we all do not reduce our fossil fuel emissions. Just as he was finishing his remarks, City Librarian and Communications Director Abbot Chambers ran into the room and asked everyone to race into the library and deal with the consequences of severe flooding caused by rain.
The library was closed when he discovered the leak at 8:00 p.m. Wilford and nearly everyone in his audience, including Mayor Janelle Kellman, responded to the call and helped save books that would otherwise have been ruined.
Later, Abbot extended his heartfelt thanks to the attendees of the library–sponsored lecture. One of the attendees commented, “the group effort to move books from the unfortunate leak was a great example of ‘it takes a village’. All in all, a good night out.”