Excerpt from M-U-M Magazine, March, 2001, page 39:
SHARE THE MAGIC
Ed Popielarczyk, October Hero
Ed Popielarczyk, who is a member of Springfield Massachusetts Assembly 17,
has been performing magic for over 18 years, fulltime for the past six. As
you can see by the photo he works very well with kids- they all have fun.
For the past several years, in celebration of National Magic Week, Ed has
generously donated magic kits to public libraries in western Massachusetts.
Ed first became interested in magic in his youth as a result of reading magic
books from the library in his town. This is his way of expressing his thanks
to libraries forgiving him his start and of giving something back to his
community. He has given away various brands of sets, including the Lance
Burton magic set.
Ed's gifts have inspired the Western Massachusetts Regional Library
Service to promote magic and National Magic Week among their libraries during the
month of October. Through their Youth Services Newsletter they have shared
various ways that librarians have used magic to stimulate kids to read books.
As a part of these activities the magic sets donated by Ed were given
to young, aspiring magicians. And, in writing up these events in their
regional newsletter, the Western Massachusetts Regional Library System named
Ed Popielarczyk their "October Hero".
Not only do we report these events to salute member Ed Popielarczyk, we
also want to encourage assemblies to consider providing library programs and
displays, and perhaps even donating magic sets to libraries as Ed has done.
Actually these need not be commercial sets. It is entirely possible to make
up some simple magic kits with inexpensive props and instructions for tricks
using everyday objects.
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