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Who will you hear reading a story at the Family Reading Rally?

Mayor Jim Bagley, Publisher Jess Allred, School Superintendent Pat Brown Dempsey, General Stanley, Owen Gillick, CMC Board Member Phil Fultz, Radio Station Owner Duane Hoover, and Administrative Secretary, Town of Yucca Valley, Barbara Jorgensen. Here's some information about some of our readers:

Owen Gillick has called Twentynine Palms home since 1954 when he and his wife came here on a set of USMC orders. Gillick has served the community in many ways, including serving as executive director of the Friends of Copper Mountain College, and as a member of the Twentynine Palms Water District Board of Directors.


 

"Those who cannot read, whether it be from books or computer monitors, will be stuck in dull jobs," says Gillick, adding, "Those who don't enjoy reading will lead dull lives in an increasingly impersonal and chilly society."

"From my earliest memory I loved books and magazines. My favorite teacher taught me how to write and to love reading."

You can listen to Owen Gillick read at 11:30am

Major General C.L. Stanley shares one of his secret joys of reading, "Reading allowed me to travel when I was financially unable to travel," He continues, " I read all the time. I used to walk several miles to a bookmobile that visited our area once a week." General Stanley see reading skills "Absolutely essential" for the 21st century. General Stanley will be reading at 11:00 am.


Radio Station Owner Duane Hoover enjoys sports car racing, international travel, and of course, reading. "I remember my mother teaching me to read when I was 4 or 5. In 1st grade I read to the class (I was teacher's little pet!)".

Hoover stresses, "Reading today is as important as ever. In a world of over-abundant information, it is more important than ever to have good reading skills to sort the good from trash", he concludes, " In the 21st century, an illiterate person is a helpless person, lost to access the very world they live in." Duane will read at 12:30 pm.


Barbara Jorgensen is scheduled to read at 1:30pm. A member of Soroptimist International of Yucca Valley, Jorgensen works for the Town of Yucca Valley as the Administrative Secretary to the Town Manager. She and her family felt very fortunate to move to Joshua Tree almost 4 years
ago. In her free time she loves to hike the National Park with my husband,
garden, and, of course, read.

" My early memories of reading were being read to by my parents: Twas the Night Before Christmas every Christmas Eve by my Dad; I read the whole series of Wizard of Oz books and also Marguerite Henry's horse books "Justin Morgan Had a Horse," "Born to Trot," etc. (I still have the books) and I think I read every Nancy Drew mystery! "

Jorgensen adds, " Reading as a skill--19th, 20th, 21st Century--no matter.  If you can't
read and read well, you really can't learn all the subjects that require reading."


Jess Allred is the publisher of Hi Desert Star, The Desert Trail, Hi Desert Shopper, and The Observation Post. He has over 44 years in the media business, to include:  newspapers; television; commercial printing; book publishing.

You can hear him read "The Forest Has Eyes" by local artist Bev Dolittle at 9:30am.

" I have been a reader for as long as I can remember", Allred says, "  'Run, spot, run' seems to come to mind as the earliest reading memory.  In elementary school I couldn't get enough of the 'Hardy Boys Mysteries' and the 'Zane Gray' series.  Thanks to the public library, my thirst for reading was momentarily quenched.  My family read voraciously (newspapers, books, periodicals, etc.), which is probably why I read as much, and as well as I do."
 

Allred offers these thoughts about reading and the 21st century, " Development of reading skills must be the number one requirement for all children and adults, and it is absolutely imperative that government, private enterprise, schools, organizations and citizens do everything necessary to ensure that not one person in our society is left with the inability to read! " He adds, " It is a travesty that an estimated 23,000,000 people in the United States are functionally illiterate.  If we cannot read, we cannot succeed, as individuals or as a society!"

I agree.


Patricia Brown-Dempsey has been working in education for almost 30 years. Her experience includes being a teacher, a principal, assistant superintendent, and her current assignment of Superintendent of Morongo Unified School District. She graduated with a BA and MA from UCLA, and earned her administrative credential from Cal State Northridge.

Dempsey recalls reading stories with her grandmother. "I took her to my first grade class when I won a 'Book Worm' award!"

Demsey stresses, "Reading is a critical skill for all of the citizens of the twenty-first century," adding, "The internet has connected us, but it has also made reading even more vital. To use the computer or other technological tools, everyone must be able to read."

Mrs. Dempsey will be reading a story at the Family Reading Rally at 9am.


In addition to his full-time position as Management Analyst at Marine Corps Community Services Directorate at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center , Mr. Fultz was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the Copper Mountain Community College District. Fultz has a long history of devotion to the cause of literacy, most notably as Founding Director Morongo Basin Coalition for Adult Literacy. He also is a tutor and trainer of tutors for that organization. Fultz shares,  "My only clear memory of my dad, who died just before I was six, is that he used to put my brother and me on his lap on Sunday morning, after church, and read us the Sunday comics.  After a while he noticed that I could tell when he skipped something, so he never read the Sunday comics to me again. After that day, I read the Sunday comics to him! "

"It is the only clear (and very treasured) memory I have of him.  I'd like to help share that joy of reading."

Mr. Fultz will be sharing some of that joy of reading at 1pm.

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