Councilwoman Nadia Zychal reads a page from the Storywalk, a children’s book with pages posted along the Mispillion River
On Friday, September 6, as part of Downtown Milford Inc. (DMI) First Friday celebration, a ribbon cutting was held for the newly installed Storywalk along the Mispillion River. Storywalk has pages of a children’s book placed along the Riverwalk that allow families to read the book as they enjoy a walk along the river.
“We are so excited to have this available for our community,” Neyda Albarran, who spearheaded the project as part of the Culture Club PR, said. “We cannot thank everyone enough for being here and supporting this amazing project. The book is not only in English, but we have translated it into Spanish and Creole.”
After the ribbon cutting, those in attendance walked through the Storywalk with several dignitaries reading the pages aloud. Sara LeBright, Executive Director of DMI, Maydelis Gomez of Read Aloud Delaware, Barbara Johnson of Delaware Readiness Teams, Councilwomen Katrina Wilson and Nadia Zychal, Mari Ward, Rene Diaz, Rony Baltazar-Lopez, Michael Moyer and Evelyn Shupe, daughter of State Representative Bryan Shupe were among the readers.
“This was a very cool event,” Debbie Long said on social media. “We walked around the Riverwalk and paused at various points to read a story that was in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole. Community members came together to make it a special time with many valuable lessons. Cayson was able to hold the ribbon for the cutting ceremony.”
The Storywalk can be found along the river by the Farmer’s Market area. Albarran explained that new stories will be added over time and there are hopes that additional sections of the Riverwalk will soon have their own Storywalk.
The Storywalk is already getting attention from children and adults, according to Albarran.
“We just installed the Storywalk yesterday. I had to go and reinforce several panels (something I will have to do often because I’m not super strong to drive them in deep). As I’m hammering, I look up and see a young man that has been reading the story,” Albarran said. “When he got to the panel I was working on, he expressed gratitude for it being in Haitian Creole, English, and Spanish… he spoke all three! I now know his name, he lives in Milford, and that he is looking for work. I also met a father and his two children, reading down the walk. Storywalk is not just for children. Take a walk, read a story, enjoy the colorful art/illustrations.”
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