By By BEN RAYMOND LODE / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- The Harry Potter circus is one week away from hitting town.
And when it does, Majerek's bookstore in downtown Niles, in cooperation with the Niles Main Street Initiative and downtown merchants, will open at 11 p.m., Friday, June 20, to 1:00 a.m., Saturday, June 21, for the midnight release of the latest Harry Potter book.
The new book, called "The Order of The Phoenix," will be offered at a 20 per cent discount at Majerek's, but only during the hour when the book is sold.
She has ordered 400 copies of the new book and hopes it will be enough to meet demands.
In addition to the book sale, costumed characters from the Harry Potter books will roam the book store and prize drawings will take place every five minutes, she said.
At a quarter to twelve there will also be a surprise concert outside the bookstore, she said.
Grzegorek hopes the effort to turn the book release into something more than just that – a book release – will attract people who might otherwise have gone to Mishawaka or South Bend to buy the book.
Lisa Croteau, Downtown Development Authority director, is also hoping the book release will attract a lot of people to the downtown area.
To describe next Friday's event, she said it might be Niles' own little bit of "hometown magic."
Darlene Jackson, a children's librarian at the Niles District Library, is among those who will be dressed up in costumes and walk around in the book store next Friday.
She will depict Madame Pince, who is a Hogwort's librarian.
Hogworts, for those who don't know, is the witchcraft school Harry Potter attends in the books.
She is looking forward to the event and hopes it will be a success.
Asked what she thinks of the Harry Potter books, Jackson said she believes the Harry Potter books are good for children.
She also said when they use their strengths and knowledge, it's usually to get themselves out of trouble.
Maybe some of those qualities rub off on children as they read the books?
In addition to the book release event beginning at 11:00 p.m., a band called Reagan will play at the Amphitheater at Riverfront Park.
Lisa Croteau said the band plays mellow music that should appeal to families.