Penny Noble of Hayner Library, left, administers the Armchair Traveler series, which will feature Geet Vanaik, who is originally from India, on Monday, Feb. 27. Both are wearing decorate bindis on their foreheads.

Vicki Bennington|For The Telegraph

Armchair Traveler will be presented Monday, Feb. 27, in Hayner Librarys performance room at Alton Square Mall, featuring Geet Vanaik, who will display dresses and accessories from India, along with a presentation and Indian food.

Vicki Bennington|For The Telegraph

Let the good times roll in Alton

Celebrate Mardi Gras in Alton. You dont need to travel to New Orleans or Soulard to observe the festivities.

New Orleans-style jazz will fill the Ahlemeyer Auditorium in the Trimpe Building at Lewis and Clark Community College at 6:30 p.m. on Fat Tuesday, Feb. 28.

Sponsored by Hayner Public Library and LCCC, the event will Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler (let the good times roll), featuring Bud Shultz and the You Cant Beat Experience Jazz Band with its program, Fat Tuesday Celebration.. Yankee Style.

Band leader and clarinetist Bud Shultz is joined by trumpet player Don James, trombonist Jim Sawyer, pianist Bob Picker, drummer Ken Link and bassist George Koprivica for the show.

The auditorium will be decorated and set up cabaret style with round tables of 10. Soft drinks and light refreshments are on hand. If you dont have beads .no worries. There will be plenty at the celebration, as well as parasols for the parades youll be invited to join several times during the evening.

In the South, Mardi Gras is the closing of the period of time called Carnival and is the last fling before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. Parties and parades abound in the Gulf Coast, beginning in January. Groups of party lovers, known as Krewes decorate floats and organize festivities.

Youll hear tunes like Bourbon Street Parade, Thats A Plenty and When the Saints Go Marching In, hymns like Just A Closer Walk With Thee and Precious Lord Take My Hand, and more contemporary music like Georgia On My Mind and Crazy.

Admission is free, but reservations are recommended. Call 800-613-3163.

Two times a year, the Hayner Public Library District gives people the chance to virtually visit another country.

Whether you are planning to visit or want to discover the intimate details of another culture while sitting comfortably in the librarys local performance room the program offers insights and sometimes, lesser known facts and practices, divulged by a person who is truly in the know.

Penny Noble, who administers the ongoing series for Hayner, said that she recruits speakers who were born in another country from the richly diverse Riverbend and St. Louis metropolitan area.

The program helps give people who cant afford to travel, or who are unable to travel, a chance to really delve into a specific culture, Noble said. Some people who are interested in visiting a specific country or are trying to decide where to visit, come to find out more details too.

Geet Vanaik, originally from India, will present a talk and digital presentation on her native country Monday, Feb. 27, and she plans to bring along some of the intricate handmade and beaded gowns, jewelry and other accoutrements that are part of her birth culture.

Vanaik first came to the United States in the late 1990s when she was in the fourth grade, staying with her grandmother in St. Louis for a year. She returned to India, but came back to the U.S. two years later when her parents immigrated to the Alton area.

Fast forward a few years and Vanaik started school at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. She earned a bachelors degree in biology and a masters in biotechnology management. She went to work in the biotech industry in Nebraska for awhile.

But she came back to SIUE where she has now worked for several years, currently in the Office of International Affairs as the lead immigration coordinator, which she said suits her perfectly.

There, Vanaik has found her true passion helping others who come into the country as immigrants. She is currently pursuing her degree in higher education administration at Maryville University.

A large percentage of international students at SIUE are of Indian decent. Vanaik speaks four dialects and has been fluent in English since her grade school years, when English fluency was a requirement.

I think it helps with my job for me to have a background of a different culture because it helps the students feel comfortable, and Ive been through a lot of it myself, Vanaik said. And meeting people from so many different countries, you have a whole new perspective on a lot of things.

Her primary role is to ensure that international students have the services and support they need to adjust, become successful and live a happy life in the U.S.

And shes no stranger to public speaking either, often presenting programs about India to various classes at a number of universities.

I love to talk about India, she said.

During the Hayner presentation, she will also talk a little about the various religions in India where many are Hindu; some practice Buddhism or Jainism, and others, like Vanaik, are Sikh.

I like to increase awareness about religion and different perceptions and beliefs, she said.

Several of Vanaiks family members still live in India. Consequently, she travels back and forth about twice a year.

Included in her presentation will be photographs from her December trip to her homeland, when she visited the Taj Mahal and other locations, taking lots of pictures that shes eager to share. She also plans to provide a taste of Indian music and dancing.

I also want to touch on Indian movies and Bollywood, and its popularity, she said.

And she will contrast and compare different customs, food and clothing from the north as versus the southern part of the country.

Bindis are a fashionable adhesive jewel that Indian girls wear on their foreheads.

Traditionally, red is an indication that you are married, Vanaik said. The bindi has many different meanings, often rooted in religious beliefs, but Vanaik said in modern society, women often wear them when they want to dress up or as a fashion accessory, not necessarily on a daily basis, and not always making a specific statement. She will also present a demonstration on tucking and folding a sari.

It takes time and care, and some of my family members still wear them every day, Vanaik said, though she herself tends to wear more westernized clothing.

But I love to wear the handmade Indian dresses, too. They are so beautifully made, she said.

Pami and Steve Singh, who own Taj India Cuisine in Edwardsville, will provide Indian cuisine from the north and the south that attendees can sample during the program.

The Republic of India is the seventh largest country in size, but the second most populous, with more than 1.2 billion people.

SIUE embraces cultural diversity, and Vanaik said the university holds an annual India night in April, complete with Indian dancing and food open to the public.

Armchair Traveler, now in its second year, previously featured Ireland and Cuba, both drawing large crowds. Vanaiks India program will be presented at 6 p.m., Monday, Feb. 27 in Hayner Librarys performance room at Alton Square Mall. Admission to the program is free. To register, call 800-613-3163. Seating is limited to 100.

Penny Noble of Hayner Library, left, administers the Armchair Traveler series, which will feature Geet Vanaik, who is originally from India, on Monday, Feb. 27. Both are wearing decorate bindis on their foreheads.

http://thetelegraph.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_HaynerArmchairtravelerpenneyandgeet2836.jpgPenny Noble of Hayner Library, left, administers the Armchair Traveler series, which will feature Geet Vanaik, who is originally from India, on Monday, Feb. 27. Both are wearing decorate bindis on their foreheads. Vicki Bennington|For The Telegraph

Armchair Traveler will be presented Monday, Feb. 27, in Hayner Librarys performance room at Alton Square Mall, featuring Geet Vanaik, who will display dresses and accessories from India, along with a presentation and Indian food.

http://thetelegraph.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_HaynerGeetVanaik2821.jpgArmchair Traveler will be presented Monday, Feb. 27, in Hayner Librarys performance room at Alton Square Mall, featuring Geet Vanaik, who will display dresses and accessories from India, along with a presentation and Indian food. Vicki Bennington|For The Telegraph

http://thetelegraph.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_MardiGrasBudShultz.jpgFor The Telegraph

Let the good times roll in Alton

Celebrate Mardi Gras in Alton. You dont need to travel to New Orleans or Soulard to observe the festivities.

New Orleans-style jazz will fill the Ahlemeyer Auditorium in the Trimpe Building at Lewis and Clark Community College at 6:30 p.m. on Fat Tuesday, Feb. 28.

Sponsored by Hayner Public Library and LCCC, the event will Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler (let the good times roll), featuring Bud Shultz and the You Cant Beat Experience Jazz Band with its program, Fat Tuesday Celebration.. Yankee Style.

Band leader and clarinetist Bud Shultz is joined by trumpet player Don James, trombonist Jim Sawyer, pianist Bob Picker, drummer Ken Link and bassist George Koprivica for the show.

The auditorium will be decorated and set up cabaret style with round tables of 10. Soft drinks and light refreshments are on hand. If you dont have beads .no worries. There will be plenty at the celebration, as well as parasols for the parades youll be invited to join several times during the evening.

In the South, Mardi Gras is the closing of the period of time called Carnival and is the last fling before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. Parties and parades abound in the Gulf Coast, beginning in January. Groups of party lovers, known as Krewes decorate floats and organize festivities.

Youll hear tunes like Bourbon Street Parade, Thats A Plenty and When the Saints Go Marching In, hymns like Just A Closer Walk With Thee and Precious Lord Take My Hand, and more contemporary music like Georgia On My Mind and Crazy.

Admission is free, but reservations are recommended. Call 800-613-3163.

Reach writer Vicki Bennington at [emailprotected] or Twitter @vicben1.

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Armchair Traveler: Alton's Hayner Library offers opportunity to 'travel' world - Alton Telegraph