Book Fest director Jen Clark with Melissa Brown, a board member and Hudson city school teacher.
By Amy Krzanik of Rural Intelligence
A great cause deserves a great turnout, so it’s always a pleasure to see a large crowd of supporters congregate at the annual cocktail party fundraiser for the Hudson Children’s Book Festival Literacy Fund. Held at Stair Galleries on Warren Street for the past three years, the party is a way to assure that each Hudson City School District student is able to attend and to purchase a book of his or her choice at the summertime Festival. As the Fund’s co-founders, Chris Jones and Susan Simon, reminded the audience at the April 1 event, 73 percent of Hudson’s children live in poverty. The Fund, which became a certified 501(c)3 this year, has so far given away more than 2,000 books in its quest to instill the love of reading in area students. Along with last year’s creation of the Thumb’s Up book review program, the project has added a Young Writers Program, and the crowd was treated to readings by two of its participants — high school students Karrie-Ann Silvernail and Ingrid Kildiss. In addition to these ventures, the Fund works to bring a diverse array of authors to speak in classrooms, add new books to and replace much-loved classics in the city’s school libraries, and more. This year’s Festival is set for Saturday, May 6.
Melissa Brown, Peter Meyer, Ellen Thurston, host of the Thursday Afternoon Show on WGXC, and Janet Kealy
Liz Nealon, Wendy Schmalz Wilde, Seymour Simon and Greg Powell
Arthur Baker, board member Agi Clark, Jacqueline Wilder, Martha McMaster and Sheldon Evans
Darcy and Carolyn from 2 Note Hudson, also on Warren Street, supplied the ambience.
Hudson Area Library volunteer Lucy Nathanson with the Library’s director, Emily Chameides
Kylie Heidenheimer, Jonathan Lerner and John Hunka
https://ruralintelligence.com/parties/hudson-childrens-book-fest-literacy-fundraiser
