By Mary Ellen Zangara, Special Writer
More than 190 local fans of Dr. Seuss showed up for the Manville Public Library’s Feb. 24 birthday party in his honor.
The birthday celebration in the community room at the library was organized by Children’s Librarian Ruth Bielanski and Jennifer Dietrich, of the library’s board of trustees. Weston School second-grade teacher Heather Aloi also helped plan the event.
”It is a birthday party, and we are continuing the birthday theme at Read across America March 2 at Weston,” Ms. Aloi said.
Mayor Lillian Zuza attended the event, reading Dr. Seuss’ “Happy Birthday to You.”
”I am happy to be here and to see how many people are participating this evening,” Mayor Zuza said. “It is encouraging, and this is a wonderful turnout. It speaks well as to how important education is to the children and parents in this town.”
Third-graders from Weston School came to read to the audience with Renee Lozier and Sammy Zuza reading “One Fish Two Fish” and the “Cat in the Hat” read by Shelby Slater, Marina Saburova and Monica Adamowicz.
The activities for the birthday party included a contest of dioramas and posters, children reading Dr. Seuss stories and the Weston teachers acting out a play. There were games of guess how many fish in the jug of fish, pin this and that on that cat, rhyme time, stack for the cat and toss a ball through the hole, that’s the goal. Children participated by having their names drawn from the fishbowl.
Weston School staff, including Principal Don Frank and teachers Karen Ziemianek, Tracy Fagan, Diana Lee, Ms. Aloi, Taryn Aloi and Rachel Tomson, gave a theatrical interpretation of the “Cat in the Hat.” Other staff members who participated in the games included Jennifer Griffiths, Rebecca Fosbre and Alicia Mathewson.
”We are bringing the school and community together again with this event this time we are reaching out through reading,” Ms. Dietrich said. “We have been reaching out through different areas of the curriculum. Heather and I worked together to bring the school together with the library.”
There were 83 entries for the diorama and poster contest with the winners, including poster winners Dave Janovsky and Clara Hung, both Manville High School students. The diorama winners were Christopher Dougherty (first grade), Alex Gonzales (fourth grade), Ashley Ellis (third grade), Emma Thompson (third grade), Eddie Morize (kindergarten) and second-graders Morgan Barry and Maria Solis.
A birthday cake was wheeled out, and the crowd sang “Happy Birthday” to Dr. Seuss with an added chorus for Ms. Ziemianek, also celebrating a birthday that day.
