Lily Dumas feeds mom Kathryn Dumas a bite of her kick-the-can ice cream during Creswell Library’s final Summer Reading Program event for 2019. Gini Davis
More than 120 kids showed up at Holt Park on Aug. 14 to make kick-the-can ice cream during Creswell Library’s popular Ice Cream Social – the 2019 Summer Reading Program finale.
Volunteers mixed ingredients – half a cup of milk, a tablespoon of sugar, and a quarter-teaspoon of flavoring of the kid’s choice (chocolate, vanilla, banana and more) – before double-bagging the mixture and packing it with ice inside a new, unused paint can donated by Cascade Home Center.
Kids were then turned loose to kick, throw and shake their can for 20 minutes to set the ice cream, then opened the can and tasted their icy creation.
”Special thanks to Cascade Home Center in Creswell for donating the paint cans we used to make ice cream and to Trader Joe’s for donating milk and volunteers,” Caum said.
Ice Cream Social attendance edged out the Library’s Tie-Dye event, attended by about 110 kids, for the summer’s second-largest turnout. The Reptile Man’s appearance in June – which had Creswell Community Center packed to the gills – proved the most popular event of the summer.
In total, ”We had 1,365 people come to our Summer Reading events this year,” said Creswell Library youth librarian, Nick Caum. ”I’m not sure how that compares historically for us, but it’s the best attendance since I’ve been around. It was great to see so many people coming out for library events.”
More than 400 kids signed up for summer reading, ”which is a record,” Caum said.
Kids who turned in at least one reading journal (Early Reader, Kid or Teen) this summer will be entered into a prize drawing to win a drone. For each completed journal, kids earned a library dollar, which could be spent to purchase prizes or books on display at the library.
”As always, I am blown away by the vociferous reading habits of Creswell’s youth,” Caum said. ”Year after year, they continue to impress and delight all of the staff at the library.”
Despite several obstacles – no events could be held at the library because of the ongoing, expansion-related construction; reading journal prizes and books were crammed into a tiny room; and the times and locations of some events had to be changed on the fly – SRP was a great success this summer.
”I had a blast with the summer reading program,” Caum said. ”The support from the community has been great throughout the expansion process, and next year, I hope we can host some of the events in our library. Hopefully, the next time the Reptile Man comes, we can host him in our new children’s room!”
