About The Eatonton messenger. (Eatonton, Ga.) 18??-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 2025)
» Your hometown newspaper since 1861 The Eatonton Alessenger THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2025 | C3 Putnam Reads partners with Dolly Parton Imagination Library Last summer, Ferst Readers of Putnam County decided to become an independent 501(c)(3) and formed Putnam Reads, Inc. Its vision was to continue promoting literacy in young children by providing free books, but also to open up more opportunities to provide literacy to others in Putnam County at some point. Fundamental to the nal Dolly Par tovdy MAGINAT10. TIBRARY initiative grew into an interna tional movement through a unique partnership between the Foundation, the publisher, fulfill ment centers, and the thousands of local organizations that adopted the program. Today, the Imagination Library continues as the signature program of the Dollywood Foundation. “Before he passed away, Rotary Raffle Week 13-15 WINNER Rotar Rotary District 6910 Rotary Club of Greene and Putnam Counties CONTRIBUTED Sponsor and Rotarion Robert Harwell, of Hancock & Harwell Collectible Coins, presented Rotary Raffle Week 13 winner Carol Kuhn with her prize of a collectible coin valued at $300. change, the former organization opted to pair with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library (DPIL). At Putnam Reads’ Seuss on the Loose celebration in March, it signed up many Putnam County children to receive books from DPIL, and those children will start getting their books this month. Almost everyone is familiar with Dolly Parton. The famed Tennes see-based country music star created The Dollywood Foundation in 1988 to inspire children in her home county to achieve educational success. Initial efforts focused on decreasing the dropout rate in the county’s high school. In the early 1990s Parton prom ised each 7th- and 8th-grade student there, she would personally give them $500 if they graduated from high school. This effort, called the Buddy Program, reduced the dropout rate for these two classes from 35% to 6%.More importantly, the program catalyzed the community to provide additional resources to sustain this significant improvement in the dropout rate. In 1995, the Foundation implemented Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Sevier County, Tennessee. This monthly book gifting program for children under five focused on inspiring a love of books and reading for all preschool children in the county. Eventually, what began as a local my Daddy told me the Imagina tion Library was probably the most important thing I had ever done,” Parton wrote on the Imagination Library website (imaginationlibrary, com). “I can’t tell you how much that meant to me because I created the Imagination Library as a tribute to my Daddy. “He was the smartest man I have ever known but I know in my heart his inability to read probably kept him from fulfilling all of his dreams,” she continued. “Inspiring kids to love to read became my mission. In the begin ning, my hope was simply to inspire the children in my home county but here we are today with a worldwide program that gives a book a month to well over 3 million children.” Putnam Reads is excited to be a part of the Imagination Library program and looks forward to continuing to put books in in the homes and hands of as many young Putnam County children as possible. We are always looking for volunteers from the community and encourage inquiries from any local business or organization about how they can help support Putnam Reads’ mission, too. Visit Putnam Reads online at putnam- reads.org to learn more about helping Dolly Parton’s dream for all children to grow up in a home full of books to come true. —Contributed Rotary Club of Greene and Putnam Counties WINNER CONTRIBUTED Lake Oconee Elks feed PCES Easter Games participants =1. 0 CONTRIBUTED The Lake Oconee Elks Lodge chuckwagon crew showed up April 18 at the Putnam County Recreation Center field to help feed kids participating in Putnam County Elementary School's Easter Games. About 200 PCES students participated in running relay races and taking part in different games throughout the morning. At lunch, the kids enjoyed hotdogs, chips, cookies, and juice boxes provided and prepared by Elks Lodge No. 2849 members. Rotarians Robert Harwell and Jennifer Pennington of Luxury Storage presented a $300 gift card from Luxury Storage to Rotary Raffle Week 14 winner Jeff Garrett, who was not available for the photo. Rotary Club of Greene and Putnam Counties WINNER Sond DaShuelle X-Prize Sponsor 1 m. k- mate-ah. Scene hlledel CONTRIBUTED On behalf of Lake Oconee Family Dentistry, Rotarian and prize sponsor Dr. Michael Miller with dental assistant Jessica Thompson presented the Rotary Raffle Week 15 prize of a 55-inch Samsung UHD 4K Smart TV worth $450 to winner Sandra DeShields, who was unavailable for the photo. C April 6, 15, 27 May 4, 18 February 16, 25 March 2, 9, 16, 25, 50 11:50AM to 1:50PM Adults $18.00 Children (Ages 5-12) $9.00 APPLY AT AMICICAREERS.COM COMPETITIVE PAY, MEDICAL AND DENTAL INSURANCE, PAID TIME OFF, 401K Stanly applet O E OCONEE 706-4 1 3-9600 IS BACK! ,ZAXBYS - 706-923-1910 i 120 WALMART DRIVE EATONTON, GA 12 hiss
