Summer Celebration!

We had our kick-off for the "One World, Many Stories" summer reading program Friday morning from 9-11:30am.  While it was hot, it wasn't too windy.  I was responsible for the giant tic-tac-toe game and gave away a few over 200 books to players.  Quite a fun morning and it feels good to know that those 200+ kids each have at least one book to call their own.

Some people don't like bagpipes, but the pipers we had this morning were awesome!  I climb stairs (for exercise) sometimes and often listen to pipe and drum marches.  That aside, these gentlemen from McPherson were very enjoyable.

There was a story teller from Lindsburg whose tales were both entertaining and educational.  She talked about life as a plains settler.  My kids had a tough time coming up with answers to challenges she posed.  Those early settlers had to make many hard decisions about the simplest of issues - such as, "If you had to choose just one thing, what would you bring with you in the wagon on the way to your new home?"  This was a revelation to our kids who are used to bringing all sorts of toys and books on car trips.  They had a hard time coming up with what would be most important to them to bring along.

We now have over 500 young people signed up for the reading program along with more than 70 in the young adult program.  If all of those who signed up actually finish the program that would mean nearly 6000 books will be read over the summer!