Say Goodbye To Summer Reading With An Alligator

The Montville Township Library will say goodbye to its Summer Reading Program with a party at 7 p.m. on Aug. 17 in the Pio Costa Auditorium.

Bill Boesenberg of Snakes-N-Scales will bring over some exotic wildlife for the event, including a Mata Mata turtle, a water boa and Blue, the 6 and a half foot American Alligator. All of these creatures will be in the library for the children to see, under the supervision of Boesenberg.

According to Amy Reskinoff, who works in the children's section of the library and helped plan the party, the library decided to bring in the animals to keep with the theme of the program.

"The whole theme was water," she said. "We focused in on fish and water animals that you find in oceans and ponds. It's a great way to end things by having all the snakes and turtles and all kinds of things here, especially the alligator."

The children colored in fish on a worksheet for every 15 minutes they read to keep track of their time and to help establish the water theme of this summer.

Over 700 children signed up for the reading program for the second straight year. Reskinoff said it was a "great success."

"It was even more successful than we thought it would be," she said, "with over 700 people enrolled, including readers, non-readers and teams. The kids were very excited to come back each week. We had a lot of local vendors, who gave out coupons for each kid to choose from when they came. They were really into it because they knew they would get prizes."

The ages of the children that participated ranged from 3 to 13. The program has been going on for over 10 years.

Michelle Giasinger enrolled her son and daughter in the program and said it greatly benefited them.

"I thought it would be really good to help keep them ready for school," Giasinger said. "We're looking forward to going to the big sendoff. They love animals."

Her seven-year-old daughter, Christina, said she had fun with the program and is looking forward to the party.

"I read a lot [over the summer]," she said. "It was fun, I want to see the fish at the party. I want to do it again next summer."