The magic of reading

WASILLA — The first annual Yule Ball, a Harry Potter-inspired event at the Wasilla Library brought in about 50 people of all ages, making it one of the biggest events at the newly built library since the grand re-opening, according to head of Youth Services Sara Saxton.

“It’s universally magic,” Saxton said.

The Yule Ball featured several Harry Potter-themed events including trivia, Diagon Alley Crafts, History of the Magic Team, a Horcrux Hunt, and Dancing in the Great Hall.

Lincoln Worley is 10 years old. He heard about this event and showed up in a full Slytherin costume, complete with a green scarf made by his mother. He was not alone. Out of the more than 50 people of all ages that came through, most of them arrived garbed in their respective house colors.

“That’s half the fun; you’ve got to wear your duds,” Saxton said.

Worley said he wasn’t entirely sure why he liked the Harry Potter series so much but he knew he really liked it.

“I don’t know. It’s just addicting, almost,” Worley said. “I like the whole idea of it, another realm I guess.”

Wasilla Library part-time substitute Diane Firmani helped Saxton by overseeing the Harry Potter trivia section of the event.

“That Sara, she just brought so much to library,” Firmani said. “The summer reading program is so huge now. You know how they say, ‘if you build it they will come?’ Well, they came,”

Adult friends Nikki Hyson and Jennifer Garcia attended the event together. Wearing her yellow Hufflepuff outfit, Hyson said that she saw the event posted on Facebook and wanted to check it out. She said that her favorite theme from the book is that good triumphs over evil. She noted that the widely successful series encouraged countless people around the world to pick up reading as a hobby.

“It’s making people read. I think that’s awesome,” Hyson said.

Black Birch Books owner Taylor Jordon volunteered her time at the Yule Ball, overseeing the wand-crafting station. Attendees were encouraged to make their own wands out of chopsticks, duct tape, cord and other materials.

Jordon opened her store on Main Street back in May. Her bookstore carries much more than books. It has odds, ends and unique gifts made by her and other local artisans. She said she creates custom wands on a regular basis. She donated two of her custom wands that were bundled with other prizes in the event raffle.

“We always have wands on hand because everyone needs a little magic in their life,” Jordon said.

Jordon said she was proud to be Wasilla’s community bookstore in light of Annabelle’s Books retiring three weeks after her own grand opening. She said that the magical world author JK Rowling created with the Harry Potter series became such a worldwide phenomenon because it’s so easy to get lost in and the themes are so universally relatable.

“That’s kind of what book are [magic]. They magically take you to another place,” Jordon said.

Firmani recognized Worley as a regular visitor and sure enough, as the event was wrapping up, the young boy was seen with his mother checking out a pile of books varying in genre.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com