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COLUMBUS – Morris the Horse, the beloved landmark standing on the corner of Trade and Pacolet Streets, has represented Tryon since 1928. Local author Robin A. Edgar will share her children’s storybooks, The Day Morris Quit, with illustrations by Ronnie Mosseller, and the sequel, The Day Morris Went to School, at Polk County Public Libraries storytimes this month. She will be at Columbus Library on Wednesday, September 14 at 10:30 a.m and at Saluda Library on Tuesday, September 20 at 10:30 a.m.

A lifestyle journalist for over 35 years, Edgar worked for over 30 years with children as a professional actress, mime, and storyteller. Mosseller, the owner of the Mills Mosseller Studio in Tryon and maker of fine rugs and tapestries, worked as an artist and illustrator for almost 70 years. His work on The Day Morris Quit was his last creative endeavor before he passed away. Both books focus on a growth mindset message that you thrive on challenge and don’t see failure as a way to describe yourself but as a springboard for growth and development your abilities.

Today’s Morris is a replica of the wooden toy horse first built by two employees of Tryon Toy Makers, Meredith Lankford and Odell Peeler, to advertise the first horse show sponsored by Tryon Riding and Hunt Club and held at Harmon Field. After a car pulled Morris through town, he became a symbol of the community’s love of horses as well as a reminder of the legacy of the era when Tryon Toy Makers shipped their handcrafted wares around the country.

For more information about The Day Morris Went to School, go to Tree House Enterprises at treehouseonline.net or email 2robinedgar@gmail.com.

Polk County Public Libraries has two libraries, Columbus Library and Saluda Library, with books, movies, music, audiobooks, board games, STEM and craft kits, cake pans, Launchpad tablets, and downloadable eBooks and audiobooks available for checkout, as well as public computers and wireless internet access. PCPL also offers regularly scheduled virtual and in-person programs for all ages. To learn more, visit www.polklibrary.org.

Submitted by Jen Pace Dickenson