Greetings friends,
Dog, Big Dog, Little Dog.
These are some of the first words a kid will ever read. One of my all-time favorite books is Go Dog Go. Over the last few months, it has been so special to see the pride of my 3½ year old grandson as he starts to learn to read and the feeling of accomplishment. It’s just magic and the doors that will open to a world of amazing things are unlimited. The written word starts your own imagination and opens up new worlds. Reading is really the foundation of everything. I remember my daughters devouring the Harry Potter books, enjoying the scholastic reading competitions and the global knowledge that that have acquired by reading.
This month we are really focusing on the real world, the things that we can “go out” to do and enjoy with kids, friends and family. In a world where people swipe by little pieces of news and information on their phones, there is little chance that readers will understand the full context. There is cause to celebrate, at least a little, to see the resurgence of the vinyl record, where you actually listen to a full side of music. The popularity of road trips encourages travel and exploration create questions and answers about the world around us.
The support that our community gives to our libraries is wonderful and we are beginning a new fund drive to improve it. Bookish is a new bookstore that is capturing the imagination and support of our community that will be a great resource. As a parent, teacher or grandparent, and even great grandparents, encouraging reading is so important will be a lifelong skill. When our daughters entered the International Baccalaureate program, I asked a question about what kind of person will succeed in IB. Their response was simple, “Loves to Read, Love to Write”. This skill opens new worlds.
The importance of reading is even more obvious when there are attempts to ban books. This never ends well. There is the written history of our civilization, the good and the bad, but is it wrong to just pretend that if the books don’t exist, then it didn’t happen. Education, understanding and critical thinking are the key to our success. This also underscores the need for a strong local press, shining sunlight on our community. The founding fathers were educated, scholars, scientists, publishers, diplomats and people with valuable leadership skills. They weren’t making America just for them, but for the future.
Making Modesto for the future is what ModestoView is all about what we are doing now that makes our community better for our kids, and their kids. There are things we do that deliver results right now, but most of the planning, investment is for what we will be.
Our family is so very proud of Mike McNulty. He is an example of working hard for the future. Married with small kids, working full time, he went to night school for ten years to get his degree and that changed the course of his future. His future was important for our family, and his granddaughters followed in his Modesto High footsteps and it is wonderful that his great-grandchildren will see his photo as a member of the Modesto High Hall of Fame as they walk down those hallowed corridors of education.
Let’s celebrate getting out in our community, exploring our surroundings, supporting our local businesses and getting involved. Let’s encourage kids’ curiosity and help explain the world to them, how we keep it safe, green, successful and leaving it in good shape for the next generation. My friends, this is our job, to leave this place and our families in a better place.
Thank you for being the kind of person that sees the good in our community.
And by the way, I do, I do like that party hat. Good bye, Good bye.
With gratitude,
Chris Murphy
Founder & Publisher – ModestoView
chrism@modestoview.com<mailto:chrism@modestoview.com>
