The Camp Verde Community Library is moving forward with its summer reading program while it waits for a new more modern library to be built next door.
There’s a theme for the program but a key part of it involves bringing people together to share stories of notable Camp Verde residents who have died.
“[The library’s] celebrating summer with Every Hero Has a Story, by choosing to introduce kids to local heroes rather than comic book superheroes,” Library Director Kathy Hellman said. “The adult summer reading program, Escape the Ordinary, goes a step further with a series of talks focusing on ordinary people who have made an extraordinary contribution to our community.”
The three residents who have made an impact on the town are all women: Bea Richmond, Dorothy Wood and Kay Watkins.
Richmond worked a lot in the community to advance the arts and education in Camp Verde.
She also worked with local groups like the Clear Creek Cemetery Board, the group that helps maintain the old cemetery which is home to the final resting place of many members of early Camp Verde pioneer cemeteries.
She was a familiar sight as she often walked the roads around town, sidewalks or not.
Wood was another important figure in the community and an ardent supporter of the library, once saying that she just wanted to live long enough to see a new library built. She didn’t quite make it but she did see efforts put together to make sure that wish would become a reality.
To read the full story, see the Wednesday, June 3, edition of The Camp Verde Journal.
