Cat in the Hat was a huge success!
The Thirteenth Presentation
of “Cat in the Hat” at Madison
Each year
we hear the students attending saying, “This is the best year yet!” It
seemed to be the consensus of all involved at the 2015 annual event.
Students and adults were delighted with the new addition of the Farm Scene and
Chicken Dance.
The event
is co-sponsored by The Madison County Museum and the Madison Public Middle
School. Co-chairmen Sandy Maybon, Dawn Johnson, and Carol Robertson
appreciated the excellent cooperation by volunteers and those attending.
Travis
Jordon as the Grinch greeted each group and Dawn Johnson provided the wonderful
cast of helpers and Seuss characters that made the day a success! They
are listed with the photo of the cast of characters and escorts for the day.
A new
feature this year was the farm scene which Dawn Johnson, Breanna Johnson, and
Tara Jordan shared with students.
Community
volunteers Marilyn Moyer, Cindy Schmidt, Betty Geary and Sally Schroeter
assisted with the day long event.
The guests
were Amanda Sorensen and Jessica Ternus’ Madison Public Preschoolers; Reva
Siegel and Joye Shaffer’s Madison Public Kindergartens; Jane Lafeur and Katie
Eischeid’s Madison Public First Graders; Monette Osten and Teryn Rother’s
Madison Public Second Graders; Annie Rumsey and Samantha Wietfeld’s Trinity
Lutheran students; and Laura Sobotka and Tammi Janssen’s St. Leonard’s
students.
After each
group was finished visiting the twelve different activities they then released
balloons with notes attached with names of the schools, classes and an email
address to let participants know where the balloons had been found.
When
launched, the balloons all seemed to be headed in a northeasterly direction, so
everyone was surprised to receive an email indicating that one had been found
the same day of the “Cat in the Hat” event in Omaha, Nebraska. Greg
Rieger had found the balloon and sent a picture with the following
caption: “Hello, Mrs. Osten’s second-grade class! Greetings from
the Benson neighborhood in Omaha, NE! We are Greg and Reiko.” “I
found your tag today about 5:30 as I came home from work. That must have
been some kind of super-express east wind!” “It sounds like you have a
fun class and teachers! Students, make sure you pay attention to them!”
“Cat in the
Hat” is presented the first part of March near or on the birthday of Dr. Seuss
who introduced “Cat in the Hat” sixty-one years ago to readers. Using
only two hundred thirty-six different words, Theodor Seuss Geisel changed the
way American children learned to read. The Seuss books were designed to
catch the reader’s attention and imagination stimulating the desire to read the
intriguing adventures Seuss created. In one month 200,000 copies of “The
Cat in the Hat” had sold. By the end of 1960, sales had hit two million.
Since then, many Seuss books have been written and are still a favorite
of readers of all ages. The Seuss books are now on display as a temporary
exhibit at the Madison County Museum in Madison.
This fun
reading experience in Madison actually began to encourage more reading activity
by people of all ages and also to draw attention to the fact that Madison is
one of the few communities with a Carnegie Library on its original location.
Many people in Madison still recall fond memories of going to that library in
years past. If you have an interest in the future of this building,
please contact the Madison County Museum at 402-992-1221.
