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Council takes time to promote literacy

During Unplug and Play Week, Salmon Arm council did its bit for literacy.

During Unplug and Play Week, Salmon Arm council did its bit for literacy.

Council members chose a short piece to read aloud in council chambers.

Their selections were as varied as there are ways to promote literacy.

Coun. Ken Jamieson’s selection was to read a poem by Mary Oliver, The Summer Day.

Coun. Chad Eliason’s choice was How to Ruin Your Life, by Ben Stein, to which he added the disclaimer that “it has nothing to do with my life.”

Coun. Tim Lavery read a short poem by Ogden Nash, A Word to Husbands, noting with a smile he thinks it’s applicable to politicians too.

The opening passage of The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, was the selection of Coun. Louise Wallace Richmond.

Coun. Kevin Flynn read part of an article from one of the local newspapers regarding what a stress and strain on resources a bomb threat in a school brings.

Coun. Alan Harrison used an overhead projector to read King of the Playground by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, a book he said he shares in September with grades two and three students, explaining it shows students how they can look after themselves in the playground.

Mayor Nancy Cooper spoke of her admiration for the Dead Poets Society movie and character John Keating, who quoted poet Walt Whitman – as she did in council chambers. She said when she taught at the college she too liked to do things differently.

 



Martha Wickett

About the Author: Martha Wickett

came to Salmon Arm in May of 2004 to work at the Observer. I was looking for a change from the hustle and bustle of the Lower Mainland, where I had spent more than a decade working in community newspapers.
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