Henry Hikes to Fitchburg is an award winning children’s book by D. B. Johnson. He bases his story on a passage from Thoreau’s Walden about a conversation between Henry David Thoreau, who lived in Concord Mass, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Ralph suggests that Henry “ …lay up money; you love to travel; you might take the cars and go to Fitchburg today and see the country”. Henry decides to walk for free instead and has many exciting adventures on his trip.
The Story Walk is intended to encourage children and families from Fitchburg to discover their own community by traveling like Henry and seeing the sights of Fitchburg, some of which are illustrated in D. B. Johnson’s book.Mr. Johnson has given our program permission to reproduce pages from his book.
Starting on September 9th, children may pick up their “Henry Hikes” Passport to Fitchburg at the MOC Fitchburg Community Partnership tent at the Fitchburg Farmer’s Market, or at the Fitchburg Public Library (or call 978-345-8549 x325) . Read the book and get ready to tour downtown Fitchburg.
Families will have six weeks, until October 21st, to stop at each of the eight Story Walk sites and have their Passport “stamped”. Any child who completes the Walk will receive a copy of the book and a “Henry Hikes” walking kit with a journal like Henry used, binoculars, and a magnifier also used by Henry on his walk of discovery.
We hope lots of Fitchburg families enjoy a great book, visit some places in town you may have never been in and above all, have fun with your family!
The Story Walk is sponsored by the MOC Community Partnership for Children program, a Coordinated Family and Community Engagement grant from the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care.
Interested in helping to produce community events this fall? We have just updated our listing of upcoming events with FIFTEEN sports and cultural events happening in the Fitchburg area! Click here to view the list and volunteer to help make them happen!
Community Access Preservation Act
Written by Shelley Wolfe
Tuesday, 03 August 2010 20:22
In an attempt to help preserve and protect Public, Education and Government (PEG) access channels, Wisconsin Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin filed the Community Access Preservation Act (CAP). The bill, filed on October 8, 2009, if enacted would:
• Allow PEG access fees to be used for any PEG-related purpose;
• End operators’ discriminatory treatment of PEG channels;
• Direct the FCC to study and report on the effects recent states’ video franchising legislation has had on PEG access; and
• Define all video services delivered to the home over wire as “cable” for the purposes of the act, regardless of the transmission protocol used.
The Alliance for Community Media (ACM) endorses the bill and is launching a campaign to gather co-sponsors, get a version filed in the Senate, get the bill passed by Congress and signed by the President. If you would like to help preserve PEG Access and FATV, please contact your Representatives and Senators. To make this process easy, the ACM has drafted a letter that you can use; simply visit www.alliancecm.org, under "CAP Act Update", click on “Support the Community Access Preservation Act Now”, click on “Support CAP”, and enter your zip code (in some cases, you may have to enter a street address). You’re Representative and Senator’s name will appear; you may amend the letter or simply leave it as it reads, enter your personal information, then click on “Send”. This action will result in letters being faxed to your Representatives and Senators.
Your attention to this matter is greatly appreciated and needed!
