LETTER: Thanks for the good reads
Tony Lavalle holds up a few books outside of his bus earlier in the spring semester. Mr. Tony to his students, Lavalle encourages children to continue reading over the summer by distributing donated books from the community to his 72 passengers.
FILE PHOTO
Hello.
My name is Mr. Tony, school bus driver Rt. 29 Moses Lake School District and I want to give my most heartfelt appreciation of thanks to all those who donated a box of books to my book program. Many were dropped at the transportation office and at Fredrick’s Jewelry.
My Groff Elementary students had such a fun time looking at the books on each seat for some summer reading. I saw their eyes light up with excitement, and their voices at times too, on finding Harry Potter, or a dinosaur book or just one that looked cool and fun. I witnessed students sharing their boxes with others in the seats near them and helping one find any book from the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series. My bus was nicknamed the bookmobile bus for a couple days.
With the generous donations, I was able to share books to four other buses; Mrs. Carol, Big John, Leah and Mr. P all benefited from the anonymous donors.
Handing out books will encourage our younger generations to read, expand their minds away from screens and become encaptivated in a fictional tale of adventure, mystery or a humorous life lesson.
I could not have done it without all the support of my community, OUR community of Moses Lake, Wash. Again, thank you so very much.
Lastly to all my students of Route 29, thanks for a wonderful year, and have a safe and excellent summer break.
Be well and be kind,
Tony Lavalle, Rt. 29
Editor's Note: Thank you for the letter, Mr. Tony. When we published the story about your book drive a few weeks ago, I received several calls and emails from parents and other community members. Each of them said they were grateful for your support of their children's reading habits and the positive attitude that you pass on to their children each day. Thank you for being a bright point in our community and doing everything you do for the community of Moses Lake and the Columbia Basin. — R. Hans "Rob" Miller, Managing Editor