“How tall does a child have to be to ride the rides at Wonderland Park?” We field a variety of questions here at Rhoads Memorial Library, but this definitely was a new one.
The query was posed by an anxious father whose young daughter had won a grand prize at the end of our summer reading program. She was about to choose the pass, kindly provided free to us by Wonderland as a grand prize.
Striving to be your fullservice library, we investigated the Amarillo waterpark’s website and discovered that various heights are required for various rides. We measured her height with our trusted tape measure and noted that she qualified for most of the rides.
She took the prize and the family departed, happy with her choice. Other youngsters claimed their prizes and thus ended the 2023 version of our annual summer reading program for youngsters through age 17.
A total of 98 youngsters registered for the event, almost returning to pre-COVID triple digits’ numbers. Held in conjunction with our reading program was Terrific Tuesdays, whose final session of the year featured Egypt with youngsters creating their version of a pyramid. Leader Felice Acker, local agent with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, led the popular sessions throughout the summer.
Todd Thompson of Farm Bureau provided another opportunity for fun as he read a story touting agriculture and provided a treat. “I Love Strawberries!” was the featured book he read before serving ice cream and strawberries. We thank him and Castro County Farm Bureau for donating the book to our library, which we added to our Easy Reader children’s collection for checkout.
Adults may peruse several books donated to us that are ready for checkout, including: -Everything We Didn’t Say” by Nicole Baart is a novel “following a mother who must confront the dark summer that changed her life forever in order to reclaim the daughter she left behind.”
-”On Mystic Lake” by Kristin Hannah is a novel following Annie Colwater and her quest to reclaim happiness after her husband of 20 years confesses his love for a younger woman. This announcement comes on the same day that their only child has left home for school abroad.
-”The Couple Next Door” by Shari Lapena is a suspenseful thriller that features a young couple who attends a dinner party next door where a terrible crime is committed. It is touted as a “chilling tale of deception and duplicity that will keep you breathless until the final shocking twist.”
Until next week, Happy Reading!