The Chief, Capilano College and the Squamish Public Library are presenting a first-ever literacy promotion, Squamish Reads. In conjunction with National Family Literacy Week, all proceeds from every Chief newspaper sold Friday (Jan. 25) will go towards literacy initiatives administered by the college and library.
The money raised will go twice as far thanks to the help of MLA Joan McIntyre, who has secured matching funds from the provincial government. Capilano College Squamish Dean Casey Dorin said the extra funds will make it easier to support local literacy.
"It's going to have a big impact on the variety of initiatives available to the people of Squamish," he said.
McIntyre will join Dorin in Squamish on Jan. 25 to personally sell newspapers at various high-profile locations around town as part of a celebrity newspaper carrier team, along with Mayor Ian Sutherland, MP Blair Wilson and Capilano College President Dr. Greg Lee.Delivery day helps kick off a number of local events for National Family Literacy Week.Regional Literacy Coordinator Michelle Lebeau is presenting Literacy in the Sea to Sky at the Squamish Social Planning Council AGM on Thursday (Jan. 24) at the library.
She will give an overview of the programs and services availability in the corridor and discuss how literacy applies to people's well-being.
"The definition of literacy has changed over the years so we're talking about what it means to have low literacy skills versus high literacy skills and what impact it has in terms of employability and health," she said.
Other events include a Book and Art Auction on Friday (Jan. 25) at Pepe and Gringo's Restaurant and a Scrabble for Literacy Fundraiser on Saturday (Jan. 26) at the library. The 8th Annual Breakfast of Champions on Wednesday (Jan. 30) will also be held at the library and will include guest speakers such as Literacy BC's Diana Twiss.
Chef Big D's Restaurant is hosting a Little Authors Pajama Party on Tuesday (Jan. 29) where kids are invited to read their own stories or just enjoy those written by others. And those with particularly proficient penmanship can look forward to submitting entries for the 2008 Sea to Sky Literary Contest run by the Squamish Writers Group.
There will be five categories: Long Fiction (5,000 words), Short Fiction (1,500 words), Outdoor Rec. Creative Non-Fiction (1,500 words), Poetry (2 to 4 poems), and a poetry or prose youth category for writers under 18 years old.The top three winners in each category will be chosen by a jury and top entries will be featured in a spring literary journal published as a supplement to The Chief.
"Squamish has never done this before," said Jude Goodwin of the Squamish Writers Group. "It should be pretty cool."
For more information on these and other literacy issues and initiatives. watch for a four-page wraparound section in the Jan. 25 edition of The Chief.
