Time’s running short for everyone to go online to vote for their favorite in our Storybook Character Contest, a Ferst Readers event running through the month of May. Ten of our local citizens have given their time and talents to dress up in costume and present their favorite childhood books for our enjoyment and to raise money for books for kids.
We’re more than half way through and running out of time to vote! You can go to our Ferst Readers Facebook page (https://www.facebook. com/ferstreaderspc) to see all the videos and use the link there to vote for your favorite or use the QR code here. There is also this link to vote: bit.ly/PutnamReaders toLeaders. Vote as many times as you want for $10! The more you vote the more books we can give our young Putnam Co. children.
Our participant standings as of May 17th are the same as last week with Trevor and Pelar Addison as Papa and Mama from the Berenstein Bears leading in 1st place, Lynn Hudson is still in 2nd Place with Kibby from the Kibby series, and Mrs. Georgia Smith as Little Red Riding Hood is still in 3rd Place . Our other characters are Reva Alexander-Hawk as Anne of Green Gables, Colby Hunter as Piggie, Heidi and Bowie King as Mama & Baby Llama, Mrs. Becki Norrod as Pete the Cat, Hannah Parham as Pipi Longstocking, Coach Shaun Pope & Ava Kate as the Man in the Yellow Hat and Curious George, and Mayor John Reid as the Wolf from the True Story of the 3 Little Pigs. We’ll be counting the votes again on May 24th and will report them in next week’s paper.
Each contestant has one or more voting jars placed around the county. Our schools have a jar for each candidate so the kids can drop in their coins. In addition to the schools, you’ll find jars for various candidates at places like fast food restaurants, thrift stores, churches, local businesses, and of course the mayor’s office.
This is the first time we’ve held this fundraising event, and we’re excited about it. In Putnam County, Ferst Readers automatically enrolls all children up to age 5 who attend any daycare, pre-school or school in the county. Parents must enroll their younger siblings. The cost for us to provide 12 new, age-appropriate books to one child is $36 a year. That’s a great price, but multiply that by all these little children and it required constant fundraising to keep it going.
We are so grateful to all of you who support Ferst Readers of Putnam County in this important literacy endeavor. If you’re interested in learning more about the work we do, go to ferstreaders.org. Good luck to all our contestants!
-Contributed