Media
Area officials take time to put red noses in books
Post-Tribune correspondent - Friday, September 9, 2005
HAMMOND — When U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Merrillville, drove past Barnes & Noble
Booksellers a few days ago, he couldn’t bring himself to stop.
Having just returned from dropping his oldest son off at college, he couldn’t help but
reminisce about how the two of them would go into the store and read together, and it made
him sad. His best memories are of how he read to his sons, and that is why he was more than
happy to don a red nose from 10 to 10:15 a.m. Thursday in support of "Time Out for
Reading."
Visclosky was among the dignitaries at the event’s recent kickoff breakfast at the Main
Branch of the Hammond Public Library. In its third year, "Time Out for
Reading" marks a 15-minute period of time where schools and businesses literally
stop and celebrate reading, said Steve Watson, president of Hammond Reads Inc. and the
Northwest Indiana Literacy Project.
"It’s a way to get everyone simultaneously involved in reading," Watson said.
"It’s an easy act for everyone."
And an act that is picking up momentum.
Limited to Hammond just three years ago, the program has expanded through Lake County to
Porter, LaPorte and Jasper counties, Watson said, and South Bend also is looking to get in
on the fun.
Besides being a basic skill, reading does quite a bit more, said Bank Calumet CEO Cal
Bellamy, who emceed the kickoff.
"Did you know that reading has medicinal purposes and makes for better attendance at
sporting events?" he asked.
Hammond Public Schools Superintendent Walter Watkins said the schools use the program to
emphasize to students the importance of reading.
"More important, we want to impress the notion of reading to the parents," Watkins
said. "If we get the younger kids involved, they have a better understanding that
they’ll do well in school if they can read.
"There is nothing more essential than the ability to read, so we want students to get
the foundation early."
To that end, Hammond students participated in various activities, such as reading aloud
on radio station WJOB. Meanwhile, judges in the Federal Courthouse sponsored activities
such as translating the Preamble of the Constitution in Spanish. And everyone wore a red
nose to do it, Watson said.
"We chose the red nose to accentuate putting your nose in a book," he
said. "It was something different."
Reading is too valuable and too fun not to help share that gift with others.
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Munster, IN 46321