5 FEATURE 042321
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‘PARK AND READ’ PROJECT PROVIDES ACCESS TO BOOKS BY ESPERANZA HERNANDEZ-MUNOZ Entertainment Editor
The Park and Read project, which gives donated books to communities in need, was started 6 years ago by Mickey Ditmore and her husband. “The project impacts families in communities that may have limited access to resources. Through Park and Read, children of various ages have access to a wide variety of literature which in turn helps with reading comprehension and vocabulary expansion,” said Ditmore. Ditmore was inspired by a public library she saw during a 2014 trip to New York City with her husband. The library “had taken carts of books and placed them outside in Bryant Park where children were playing,” she said. “It made so much sense to me! It inspired me to create this program in Lodi with a focus on communities that are often overlooked,” Ditmore said. Ditmore also worked at the Lodi Public Library at the time, which gave her easy access to books the library was getting rid of. It seemed like a great way to not let the books go to waste. Before the pandemic, Ditmore had a set routine of how she got the books into the hands of children which involved her being able to interact with the kids.
Mickey Ditmore parked her book cart in front of her house after the pandemic restrictions prevented her from gathering in parks. PHOTO BY ESPERANZA HERNANDEZ-MUNOZ
“Pre-COVID, I would take my cart of books out to parks and invite kids to take as many as they’d like. Often times they’d stay close by and read their new (to them) books, and we’d end up talking about the book or having an impromptu
story time. It was a lot of fun to interact with the kids and talk about literature,” said Ditmore. As much as everything else this changed after the pandemic, she could no longer interact with the kids as she did before and had to come up with new
ways of getting the books out to them. “Since the beginning of the pandemic, I have not done a park gathering and I have missed it tremendously. Instead, I have parked my cart in front of my house and posted in local Facebook groups for families to come check out the little book cart,” said Ditmore. She has also been able to find partnerships during the pandemic through a Facebook group she is a part of, some of which have led to increased donations. Ditmore and her husband’s Park and Read project is currently partnered with the Lodi and Galt Starbucks. “The Starbucks partnership is fantastic! I am in a few local Facebook groups with a lot of great local folks, and it just so happened the person that manages all of the Lodi and Galt Starbucks stores saw the Migrant Center library project and wanted to get involved,” she said. The new partnership is set to last through the month of April and Starbuck customers can leave their book donations in the donations basket. This partnership has gained traction and recognition for the Park and Read project, as more and more people see the basket and are compelled to donate themselves. The project has done well through the partnership as Ditmore has picked up book donations recently at a Star-
bucks in Lodi and she says the donations made were able to fill up her trunk with about 100 books. As for any previous partnerships the Park and Read project has remained busy before and during the pandemic. One partnership that was very important and close to the heart of Ditmore took place just last month. “Last month we partnered with a local Girl Scout Troop and Changing Faces Theater Company to build, paint, stock, and erect a free little library at the Harney Lane Migrant Center,” Ditmore said. She also described this project as a “personal passion” as she is the daughter of immigrants herself, she felt very grateful to be able to give back to this particular community. Now people looking to donate their books can drop them off in the little library at the migrant center. “Our goal is to continue to work to expand literacy by making books more accessible and finding ways to make reading exciting,” Mickey said. “We are getting ready to start building another little library to place on the East Side of Lodi this summer. I am hopeful that we will be able to start gathering in parks again soon and we look forward to our continued community partnerships.” For more information on how and where to donate children’s books visit @parkandreadlodi on Instagram.
NorCal Reptile Expo resumes after pandemic-caused break BY NOAH VANDYKE Staff Writer
The NorCal Reptile Expo hosted its first show since 2019 this past weekend at the Lodi California Grape Festival grounds. The expo was hosted at the grounds on April 17 and 18 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Ticket prices for entry were $10 for adults, $7 for ages 4-12, and free for anyone under the age of 3. The expo featured more than 30 reptile vendors from across the northern valley area and even a few from Southern California and other regions of the state. Specialized reptile breeders as well as reptile-themed novelty item vendors were exhibited at the event. Attendees could also get up close and personal with some of the animals, as some of the vendors had reptiles available for petting, holding, and taking pictures. The expo also featured shows where the audience got a close-up view of a variety of reptiles as well as other animals.
One show featured venomous snakes including a cobra, a water moccasin and a rattlesnake. The show was hosted by Loma Linda University instructor and researcher Carl Person. Person and his assistant displayed the snakes and explained the differences in their venom’s potency. Person demonstrated to the audience how quickly a cobra can strike by taunting it with a blown up balloon. The cobra popped the balloon within seconds. Safari Encounters is a nonprofit organization that hosts educational and interactive shows featuring their exotic animals. Brandi Blue is the owner of Safari encounters, and hosted one of the other shows at the expo. She introduced to the audience an alligator, a snapping turtle, a lemur and a sloth. While not all of the animals Blue showed were reptiles, they were certainly exotic. Robert Prado is the owner of Maverick Pythons, a ball python breeding business. Prado was a vendor at the
Sunday at the expo had a lower attendance than Saturday, allowing for comfortable social distancing. PHOTOS BY DOMINIQUE WILLIAMS
event. Prado said that Saturday was a busier day for him than Sunday. Prado said that at one point on Saturday he had 6 people at his booth at a
time wanting to ask questions or make a purchase. Sunday was a much more relaxed day and vendors had more time to engage with their customers.
From left: Jerry Sickler from J & S Reptiles company displays one of his Ball Phytons as customers look at a collection of reptile skin and bones. Robert Prado from Maverick Phytons holds a morph. Carl Person demonstrates how fast a cobra can move. Brandi Blue of Safari Encounters holds a sloth who loves blueberries.