The Big Read

Tonight was the kick-off event for The Big Read in Waterbury. You can't tell from the photos, but the Silas Bronson Library was packed with people. I arrived a couple minutes before it started, so I had to sit in the aisle. But at least there were still seats left--a couple dozen late-comers were stuck standing in the stacks.

When I got to the library, the mayor and the chief of police (both of whom read excerpts from To Kill a Mockingbird) were standing on the sidewalk giving directions to someplace in Wolcott to a woman in a very large SUV with out-of-state plates. It made me giggle. I wondered if she had any idea who was giving her directions. It's such the quintessential small town image--the mayor stopping to give directions to out-of-towners.

The Big Read calendar of events is online at www.mattatuckmuseum.org/bigread/.