Smilin' Sam Smoke Frequently Asked Questions ( FAQ )
Who is Smilin' Sam Smoke?
Smilin' Sam Smoke is our library dragon. He is 21 feet long (curled around the front of his castle) and sports bright hues of blue, purple, pink and green. He resides in the southeast corner of the children's library underneath a window that gives our youngest patrons a fun place to watch the comings and goings outside the library.
How old is Sam the Dragon?
Sam the Dragon's birthday is in March when his castle and lair were dedicated along with the newly remodeled Children's library. This special event took place on March 16, 1985.
How did you get Sam at the library?
Jane Wilson-Woolf and her parents Allan and Louise Wilson created the Dragon. Jane was asked to create something special for a corner of the Children's library that was being remodeled. The story goes that she came to the library, took a look at the corner of the room to be filled and noticed a window. She thought, "If I was small I would want to look out that window. Maybe we could put a castle in that corner. And what is a castle without a dragon?" The idea for Sam came to her mind.
Jane and her parents worked many hours to create Sam, starting in November 1984 and continuing for four months. This talented trio worked a total of 653 hours to complete Smilin' Sam Smoke.
What goes into the making of a library dragon?
If you are a Sam trivia fan you might be interested in the following information. Three hundred seventy-three hours were spent working on the dragon, castle and adjoining wall. One hundred fifteen hours just on the castle and wall in eight days. One hundred ninety-three hours went into building the frame that is inside the dragon and castle.
There were 32 yards of canvas, 240 glue sticks, 3200 staples, 525 yards of thread, 70 yards of carpet padding and an unknown amount of lumber and nails used to construct Sam.
Who are Sam's Aunties?
Smilin' Sam Smoke has a host of friends as can be seen every day if you'll just peek around the corner where he lives in the library. We have even had people who were former residents of our service area who have stopped on vacations just to see if Sam still "lives and works" at the Holdrege Area Public Library. A special set of friends is Sam's Aunties.
Sam's Aunties are Mary Kay Nelson, Hattie Dannull, Pat Lynch and Edith Ann Sims. These friends of Sam put in an unknown amount of their time and talents into rejuvenating Sam in 1999. Sam was looking very worn and these ladies (along with a host of other community volunteers) took on the project of giving Sam a facelift in preparation for Jane Wilson-Woolf's visit late in the summer. Jane helped the library complete the project by airbrushing Sam's new skin as a part of his makeover.
Now for some fun questions…
Can Sam fly?
Although library staff has never seen him fly we're not so sure that he doesn't buzz around the library looking for books to read late at night.
Does Sam bite?
Of course not! He looks fierce but dragons are supposed to look fierce to protect their castles. Actually, Sam loves to have kids and their parents come sit on his lap and read books.
Is Sam a he or she?
Sam is a library dragon and at the library being a he or she doesn't matter. If you enjoy learning new things and reading exciting stories that's all that matters and Sam is very good at both.
Does Sam snore at night?
Since none of the rest of the library staff stay overnight we don't know if Sam snores at night or not. We do think that Sam does rest sometime because how else would he be able to enjoy his visits with all of the families that come to the library every day?
How many kids can sit on Sam's lap at one time?
We have never tested how many can sit there at once but there are many times that two or three children and sometimes a grown person who likes to read children's books all sit on Sam's lap to share a story. Come try it out for yourself!
If you have any other questions about Sam you can call us at 308-995-6556 or stop at the library and ask Sam yourself.
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