By Kristine Thomas
Reading is magic. Don’t believe it? Just ask educators and community members how reading has made a tremendous difference in their lives.
“Reading gives all individuals the ability to gain knowledge on their own,” Mount Angel Superintendent Troy Stoops said. “Knowledge is power. Knowledge is opportunity.”
Stoops shared he didn’t like to read when he was a kid. Now, he said, he mostly reads books for professional growth.
Author of The Crying Tree, Naseem Rakha said she could probably walk around her house a little easier if she didn’t have books. And she would not have bookshelves and backaches everytime she had to pack up the books to move.
“On the other hand, I would not have other’s dreams to walk into. I would not have new points of view to slip inside of, wear, laugh with, cry with,” she said. “Books are my friends. Bookstores are my church. And story is lens though which I see and understand life.”
To celebrate the importance of reading, Silverton Together has organized Read Across America Day on Friday, March 2 in Silverton. The event is held on Dr. Seuss’ birthday. Silver Falls Library will have a special event from 3 to 5 p.m. followed by First Friday festivities in downtown Silverton from 7 to 9 p.m. where there will be a variety of activities.
A few others shared their thoughts about reading:
Kennedy High School Football Coach Randy Traeger would read anything he could get his hands on as a child. His favorite memory is reading his grandparents’ encyclopedia books and National Geographic magazines.
“Every chance I would get I would pour through them. I think seeing that there was a big world out there beyond our little town of Mount Angel helped spark my intense desire to obtain more knowledge about it,” he said. Traeger encourages parents to read to their children for two reasons.
“One, it is both quality and quantity of time spent with a child, and two, it sends them the right message about the importance of learning,” Traeger said. “Reading is the framework of knowledge on which hangs the door that the blessing of wisdom can enter.”
Scotts Mills School Principal Marilyn Annen said “Reading transcends generations and brings people together. I have always loved reading and that love of reading helped me connect in a special way with my mother near the end of her life. With 13 children, my mother had very little time to read to us as we were growing up. During the last two years of her life when she was ill with a brain tumor, listening to stories was one of the few things that gave her respite from her pain and suffering. Reading aloud to her became a favorite activity. She remembered Anne of Green Gables fondly from her childhood, as did I, and we enjoyed many a happy hour reading and laughing about the exploits of ‘Anne with an e.’ But even more memorable was reading Blueberries for Sal, Robert McCloskey’s timeless classic. She so enjoyed how the two mothers, one bear, one human, wisely kept their distance from the other’s offspring, but how carefree and unafraid Little Sal and Little Bear were of the other’s mother. I still cannot pick up that book without a tear in my eye and fondly recalling this special time spent reading to my mother, who has been gone now for 11 years.”
Kevin Palmer, principal at Butte Creek Elementary, and Stacy Palmer, executive director of the Silverton Chamber of Commerce, read to their children when they were little every night – “not only to instill a love of reading, but to expand their view of the world. It started with children’s books like Goodnight Moon, Dr. Seuss and Captain Underpants and then moved to kids mystery books like the Happy Hollisters and reading a chapter a night. As a parent, there’s nothing better than hearing ‘please, Dad, just one more chapter.’ Our kids are adults now and both love to read, one loves vampire stories, politics and recipes and the other is more into science fiction, magic and current events, but we know the love of reading started with a few minutes each night cuddled up with a good book!”
Naseem Rakha, said reading Harriet the Spy inspired her to “become a kind-of spy. That is, the kind of person that tries to notice everything – an essential quality of any writer (or CIA agent.)” She has many favorite memories reading with her son, Elijah, including reading The Dragon Rider.
“On the cover was the picture of a red moon. We did not understand the significance of it until one night, while camping in the Ochocos we got to the passage about a lunar eclipse, and how it turned the moon into a gigantic red glowing ball. That very same night, there was a real lunar eclipse, and Elijah and I woke to watch it. The lining up of the moon and sun and mother and child, lake and tent and stars… it felt magic.”
“Reading opens minds to possibility. It informs us about our world and universe and the ideas and beliefs that range between. It delights our senses, builds empathy and feeds the core of who we are and who we can become. There is not an endeavor I can think of that would not be served by the action of reading. It focuses the mind, builds self-esteem and courage, it broaden the scope of our world.”
Mary Grant, co-owner of The Glockenspiel in Mount Angel, said life without books would be lonely. “I am always a little sad when I finish a good book. I feel like I have lost a friend. Reading is entertaining, educational, and restful.”
Beth Davisson, principal of Robert Frost Elementary School, loves all types of books from adventures to biographies and English literature to science fiction. “I love to read! I can’t imagine not loving to read! When I was a kid, and was totally enthralled with my latest book, I would even use a flashlight under the bedcovers to read at night when I was supposed to be sleeping! When I first moved to Silverton, I was 11 years old and it was summertime. I didn’t know anyone in town, but I found the Silverton library (at that time it was located on the second floor of City Hall), and I spent the summer reading every Agatha Christie book they had. My love for reading began because my parents read to me every night when I was small, and they set a great example because they were avid readers themselves!”
Darby Hector, teacher at Mark Twain Middle School, said her favorite memory about reading is “that when I was 10, I began reading the Wizard of Oz series, which my mom owned. She loved them and shared her enthusiasm with me. They were old books with fabulous illustrations and wonderful stories. My best friend Connie also read them. We enjoyed talking about them and still share that memory today.”
