Vol. 12, Issue 2/September 2012

From the Desk

of the Director

T h e s t a t e o f

Michigan is a state

blessed with the riches

of unspoiled nature,

the world's longest

freshwater coastline,

lakes that feel like

oceans, shimmering

beaches, glorious sunrises and

sunsets, daytime skies of the deepest

blue and nighttime skies scattered with

stars. I do hope you took the time this

summer to visit the many beautiful

sites and sounds of PURE Michigan

and enjoyed quiet reading time for

pure enjoyment.

Speaking of great places in

Michigan, do you have a favorite

place or activity to do with children in

our community? We want to hear

your ideas for our future local

community children's book entitled

"Z to A in the Great Lakes Bay". See

page 4 for more detail on this exciting

project sponsored in part by Great

Lakes Bay Publishing (publishers of

Great Lakes Bay Regional Lifestyle

Magazine), the Dow Chemical

Company and READ.

Here it is September and school is

now in session. May the 2012 - 2013

school year be filled with a rewarding

learning environment for the over

30,000 school children in our County.

Many children struggle to learn to

read, as it is one of the hardest skills

to master. Continue to donate your

time or help us recruit new volunteers

for this school year so that children

have every opportunity to become

better readers.

Although the former Reading is

Fundamental (RIF) grant has been

Board of Directors

Eric Rutherford, Chair

Jan Merriam, Vice Chair

Trish Burns, Secretary

Janet Hoffman, Treasurer

Carol R. Lechel, President

Lindsay Eggers, Immediate Past Chair

Peter Bagley

Steve Canole

Mary Goedert

David M. Hall, Ph.D.

Derrick Harge

Marisa Horak Belotti

Kimberly Johnson

Sheri Leaman-Case

Jeff McCulloch

Matt Peterson

Michelle Porra

Elinor Saunders

Sue Smith

Karen Vasold

READ Association of Saginaw County

100 S. Jefferson, Suite 401

Saginaw, Michigan 48607

Phone: (989) 755-8402

Fax: (989) 755-8404

Hours: T, W, Th. 9am-3pm

or by appointment

Director/President:

Carol Lechel

READinSaginaw@sbcglobal.net

Administrative Assistant:

Sara Larsen

READassoc@sbcglobal.net

Office Assistants:

Lori Hausbeck

Kathy Rogers

www.READinSaginaw.org

NEW

Donate Online

For your convenience we now offer you the opportunity to make a donation to the READ Association of Saginaw County using a credit card or PayPal account. To make an online donation, visit our website at www.ReadinSaginaw.org and click the DONATE button on the Home Page or the Support READ page.

We hope you find this a helpful

and convenient donation option.

eliminated from the federal budget, the

READ Board of Directors is

committed to raising the additional

dollars needed to continue a book

giveaway program for children served

in our program. The importance of

offering students the ability to choose

and own books they want to read

builds literacy success. As children

begin the new school year, let's

continue to bring the joy of reading to

children in our community through our

time and financial generosity.

Carol Lechel

Director

2 READ Association of Saginaw County________________________________________________________________

Thanks to a wonderful partnership between the Saginaw YMCA Strong Kids Campaign,

Longfellow Elementary Teachers, and the READ Association of Saginaw County, 20 boys and girls from Longfellow Elementary School experienced all the benefits that summer residential camp had to offer this past July 22 – 27.

The fifteen 3rd, 4th and 5th grade boys who attended the week at Y Camp Timbers in West Branch also participated in 2 hours of daily literacy activity. Mission: READ Camp included reading and hands on activities about survival in the woods, cooking outdoors, learning to use a compass and map, and building a shelter. Each camper also wrote in their journal each day and then concluded with a photo journal to take home. There were many teachable moments and a multitude of opportunities, as many of the students came to camp with a very limited knowledge and experience in the great outdoors.

Warm sunshine, animals, books and lots of great volunteers made it a great day at

the 11th annual DEAR at the Zoo - Drop Everything and READ event held on June

13th at the Children's Zoo at Celebration Square. Over 1850 children and their

families visited the literacy activities throughout the entire zoo, stopping in between to

enjoy the zoo animals who love the company of children having fun.

Special thanks to the Zoo Staff,

the booth sponsor agencies and

organizations, Boy Scouts and

their leaders, our generous

donors, Michigan author Nancy

Shaw and all the enthusiastic

volunteers that make DEAR at

the Zoo such a quality family

event each year. Mark your

calendars ... next year's date is

Wednesday, June 19, 2013.

Fall Orientation For all Returning Mentors

Wednesday, September 26 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm Saginaw YMCA

1915 Fordney St. - on the corner of Rust Avenue (M-46)

YMCA tours available before and after orientation.

OR

Thursday, September 27 10 am - 11 am

Historical Society of Saginaw County Castle Museum

500 Federal Ave.- on the corner of South Jefferson Ave.

Parking available behind the Museum, on the street, or in Hoyt Library parking lot.

Museum tours available after orientation.

Guest speaker Mary Goedert will speak on "Understanding the Classroom of Today." Today's classroom standards and expectations, and children's values based on family economics, can make a difference in the way children learn. Mary is a retired educator with a Masters in Reading Instruction and over 30 years of education experience. She served as a teacher and a principal during her career, and is truly a reading enthusiast!

Fall Orientation provides a great opportunity to meet other volunteer mentors, share ideas, and receive new supplies and materials to help you during your mentor sessions.

4 READ Association of Saginaw County________________________________________________________________

Sharing the Good Works of READ

Since you already

support READ, you

already know the

good works of our

mission: to help students

improve their reading skills and

discover the joy of reading. We need

YOUR help to spread the word....tell

others why YOU support READ with

your time and/or financial donation.

Especially now, we need new

individuals to commit to serving as a

volunteer mentor for the school year.

It's just a one hour commitment one

hour per week OR join with a partner

and volunteer one hour every other

week. If you know someone that you

think might consider volunteering or

making a donation, please let us know.

Congratulations to our volunteers

who did indeed refer a friend in May

and June and were entered in our Prize

Drawing. The winning names that

were drawn from the 39 entries are:

First Prize - $50 Meijer Gift Card:

Bonn Washington

Second Prize - $25 gift certificate to

the Children's Book Company:

Mary Goedert

3rd Prize - READ bag filled with

books: Margaret Dashner

We want to hear your ideas for our future local community children's book entitled "Z to A in the Great Lakes Bay", sponsored in part by Great Lakes Bay Publishing (publishers of Great Lakes Bay Regional Lifestyle Magazine), the Dow Chemical Company, and READ.

Each letter of the alphabet will feature ideas of locations in the Great Lakes Bay Region, which includes Saginaw, Bay City, Midland and Mt Pleasant areas. We want to hear your favorite places to visit and things to do in this community. For example you might suggest C for the Children's Zoo at Celebration Square, D for Downtown Saginaw Farmer's Market, or M for Mid Michigan Children's Museum - the list goes on. We challenge you to submit an idea for every letter of the alphabet.

The preferred method to submit information is to "LIKE" the READ Association of Saginaw County on facebook and list your ideas at www.facebook.com/READinSaginaw. If you do not have a facebook account you may email to ReadinSaginaw@sbcglobal.net, submit by phone 989-755-8402, or mail to READ, 100 S. Jefferson Suite 401, Saginaw, Michigan 48607. All submissions are due by September 30.

Say YES to reading in the Great Lakes Bay!

A to Z IN THE GREAT LAKES BAY

You can make CHANGE happen by funding the building blocks for a self sufficient life. Instead of focusing on a single issue, United Way of Saginaw County supports 32 programs at 19 partnering agencies throughout our community including the READ program. Thank you for supporting the United Way. Together, UNITED, we can inspire hope and create CHANGE in our Saginaw County community.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_________________________________________________________________________________ September 2012 5

Special thanks to the following individuals and organizations who have contributed to the READ

Association during the period of May 24, 2012 through August 23, 2012. Thanks for Sharing!

GRANT

Michigan CardioVascular Institute

Saginaw Celebrates Summer sponsored in part by Hemlock

Semiconductor

SPONSOR A CENTER

Charles and Adeline Barth Charitable Foundation

2012-2013 BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP

Novel Sponsor

Citizens Bank

BOOKMARK

Judy Carr

Marilyn & Bob Filter

Jan Hennink

John & Mildred James

Marilyn Ludgin

GENERAL CONTRIBUTIONS

Alpha Delta Kappa—Alpha Sigma Chapter

Altrusa International of Saginaw & Rotary Club of Saginaw-

Bee for Literacy Proceeds

Anonymous

Catholic Federal Credit Union

First Congregational Church of Saginaw

Frankenmuth Jaycees

Bill & Sue Johnson

Leo A. Kahan & Emelie O. Kahan Charitable Foundation

Carol R. Lechel

Morgan Stanley

Loraine Stindt

Dee Storey

Jim & Marie Stuart

IN MEMORY OF FROM

Jacquelyn (Fry) DeBeau Joyce H. Jessmore

Mike Houlihan Ed & Mary Andrus

Clarence Kroah Jim & Sue Kessler

Mary Lou Moll Lawrence H. Moll, Sr.

Sheryl Courbier Virginia Anderson

Donna Bacarella

Christine Becker

Jacquelyn de Regnaucourt

Linda DuShane

Sally Kolekamp

Margaret Mason

Jacqueline O’Polka

Deborah Quillan

Barbara Savage

C.J. Thon

Mary Jo Tidey

Raquel Van Dam

IN CELEBRATION OF FROM

Jean Grey’s 90th Birthday Mary Lou Ederer

Roselynn Ederer

Sally & Dick Haines’ Nancy Kraus

60th Anniversary Nancy MacRae

Margaret Snelling

LIVE UNITED. READ is grateful to all those who support

the United Way of Saginaw County. We would like to recognize

and thank these individuals who designated their contributions

to READ during the 2011-2012 United Way Campaign:

Linda Babechenko

Ryan Ball

Ann Marie Batkoski

Heidi Behnke

Jennifer Blehm

Margaret Breasbois

Ruth L. Copp

Lindsay Eggers

Susie Emond

Jonathan M. Gardey

Anthony Greanias

Lori Hausbeck

Stephanie Hecht

Dana Hill

Thomas E. Hollerback

Kimberly E. Johnson

Richard P. King

William G. Koepke Jr.

Sharon Leaman-Case

Carol L. Likam

Sushil Mankani

Patricia A. McLellan

Celia A. Miller

Beth Moeller

Ashley Hilbrandt Pockrandt

Tracy A. Seyuin

Ken Spencer

Sue A. Sulfridge

Patricia A. Taylor

Christine Tiderington

Thomas J. Weadock

Dianne Willett-Dalton

I/We would like to make a donation in support of the READ Association of Saginaw County:

Amount Enclosed: $25 $50 $100 Other $_______

Name(s) _____________________________________________________ (Please list name(s) as you would like to be acknowledged)

Address ________________________________________ City ______________ State _____ Zip _________

This Gift is made: In Memory of In Honor of In Celebration of _________________________________ Person(s)/Occasion

Send acknowledgement to: Name(s) _____________________________________________________________

Address ________________________________________ City ______________ State _____ Zip _________

Please make checks payable to: READ Association Mail to: READ Association 100 S. Jefferson Ave. Ste. 401, Saginaw, MI 48607

Share the Gift of Literacy:

The READ Association of

Saginaw County is a 501 (c)(3)

non-profit organization whose

mission is to help students

improve their reading skills and

discover the joy of reading.

“Reading is a basic

tool in the living

of a good life.”

-Mortimer Adler

READ Association of Saginaw County

100 S. Jefferson, Suite 401

Saginaw, Michigan 48607

Upcoming READ Events:

Fall Orientation Meetings for Returning Volunteers:

Wednesday, September 26 Thursday, September 27

6:30pm - 7:30pm OR 10 am—11 am

Saginaw YMCA Historical Society of Saginaw

County Castle Museum