Contributed Article
A StoryWalk® featuring the book ‘The Kissing Hand,’ by Audrey Penn, is up and running in the commercial district of New Hartford. Posters displaying each page of the book have been placed in the storefront windows of local businesses so that families can stroll along Main Street and read the story through the windows as they go. The StoryWalk® will be available to viewers from July 15 to August 18. There will be a culminating celebration of the event, free of charge, at The Beekley Library on August 18 from 10:00 to 12:00, and all are welcome to attend.
Fran Stoffer (on left) and Corrin Tangarone
Created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, Vermont and developed in collaboration with the Vermont Bicycle & Pedestrian Coalition and the Kellogg-Hubbard Library, the StoryWalk® concept has inspired others to post similar projects in a number of other locations. In New Hartford, local resident Fran Stoffer was looking for a way to honor her friend and neighbor, Lee Tangarone, who passed away in April. Lee had been actively involved in many civic organizations and had served as the leader of both The New Hartford Business Council and BookFriends, a support organization for the Beekley Library. A StoryWalk® for kids seemed like the perfect fit.
A page at Peddlers’ Junction
The StoryWalk® path takes viewers from one end of the business district to the other. Participants can start at the Head Shoppe on Main Street, then continue to Passiflora, The New Hartford House, Chatterley’s Restaurant, Hoffmann Hardware, Torrington Savings Bank, The Muddy Moose, New Hartford Wine and Beverage, Artistic Dental Medicine, Charlie J’s Barber Shop, and end at the Peddlers’ Junction. A final poster with an illustration from the end of the book will be posted at The Beekley Library.
May Stoffer designed the Lee Tangarone StoryWalk® poster, and Goulet Printery printed it. Corrin Tangarone, Lee’s granddaughter, helped to assemble and post the story. Corrin and Fran will hold the culminating celebration at The Beekley Library on Central Avenue in New Hartford.
The Lee Tangarone StoryWalk® was made possible by generous grants from Goulet Printery, YTBN Women’s Group and the Stoffer family.
A page of the book displayed in the window of Chatterley’s Restaurant. Photo: Maria Moore
