Sherry Chandler

I’ll be at the Clay County Reading Celebration tonight from 5-8 at Burning Springs Elementary School, so if you happen to be in the Manchester area, drop in. Lots of reading activities for school children of all ages. Here is Judy Sizemore’s description of the event:

The Clay County Reading Celebration is an amazing event. Sponsored by a group of parents and citizens in an Eastern Kentucky county that had one of the highest rates of functional illiteracy in the nation, the mission of the event is simple – to celebrate reading, particularly parents reading to children.

The annual event is attended by over 3,000 people – that’s more than turn out for basketball games! One elementary school is the host school, but every school in the county participates, taking responsibility for decorating “theme rooms” where they present plays, demonstrate dances from around the world, play games, or lead other activities, all with a literary basis. “Authors’ and Illustrator’s Row” features local and regional authors and illustrators as well as student authors.

How did such an event come to be? The idea was proposed by a seven year old girl, Virginia Alley. She was the top reader in a reading program at her elementary school and she asked her daddy why there wasn’t an event for the top readers like the events to honor the best athletes. When he asked her what she had in mind, she told him. There should be an award ceremony with prizes for the best readers from all the schools followed by a party with free popcorn and soft drinks for everyone. The party should be all about books, with decorations on the walls and people dressed up as storybook characters.

The more her father, Levi Alley, listened to her, the more he realized that she was right. An event like she was describing would inspire more children to read, would emphasize the value of reading. Levi, who was the manager of a local discount store, suggested the idea to some of his friends and business associates, and they agreed to help. When he first approached the school board, he was met with skepticism, but his enthusiasm soon won them over, and the first Reading Celebration was held in May 1999.

Since then the event has grown each year. Over 300 volunteers transform the host school into a wonderland about books. Local businesses contribute over $16,000 for prizes, supplies, signs, free refreshments, free t-shirts and free books for every child in the county.

And the impact of all this?

— District reading and writing scores on the state assessment tests have increased.

— It has also impacted the Accelerated Reader program. Since the inception of the Reading Celebration the numbers of books points and numbers of students with book points has dramatically increased.

— The Public Library has commented that the number of library cards applied for has dramatically increased since the inception of the reading celebration, as well as the number of books that are checked out. The library accepts applications at the Celebration.

In Clay County, a small group of concerned parents and citizens are making a difference because they believe that the readers of today are the leaders of tomorrow.

TR will be at Mayfest 10-6 on Saturday and 11-5 on Sunday at Gratz Park at Third and Broadway, Lexington.

The eleventh annual Traditional Bank Mayfest celebration returns to Downtown Lexington this year featuring more than 100 visual artists and craftspeople exhibiting and selling their wares, a variety of performances on two stages to appeal to every taste, children’s activities and food vendors.

Also scheduled this year: a wine tasting, free carriage rides, strolling entertainment, tours of historic Gratz Park, a performance by the Lexington Children’s Theatre, a traditional Maypole dance, and much more.

For more information, check the Downtown Corporation site here.

I met Jane K. Kretschmann, the author of this week’s cat poem, at the Kentucky Women Writers Conference earlier this year, and she graciously agreed to share “Variations on a Theme.” This poem won 1st Place in the Pets category of the Arizona State Poetry Society contest. It was published in Sandcutters, Dec. 2004.

The kitten is Bubba, at home in my husband’s studio, aka his woodworking shop.

Variations on a Theme

“My dog does not read Plato.” Cathryn Essinger

Like Cathy Essinger’s dog, my cats
never cared much for philosophy,
preferring instead the finer art
of Italian opera.

Chessie worships Caruso.
When he sings “la donna é mobile”
Chess hums along,
her big eyes rounding,
sure he sings of her fickleness.
But she sits sphinx-like, quiet,
for love of the celestial Aida
or the pain in Pagliacci’s heart.

Lucky prefers the ladies—
Amelita, Luisa, Lucrezia,
Geraldine. Perhaps he recalls
how in one of his earlier lives
he curled at the diva’s feet
as she sat in her dressing room
or brought her half-dead gifts
before she returned to the stage,
to collapse into her lover’s arms or
confess to murdering a hated husband.

Bear was also an aficionado
especially of La Bohème,
at home in the artists’ studio,
a feline poet, painter, pleased
to share the privation of
Rodolpho, Marcello, Mimi.
He now attends La Scala, I’m sure,
enjoying a life of exquisite art
where arias flow like fountains.

                –Jane K. Kretschmann