Project Read celebrates 20 years Project Read celebrates 20 years (October 19, 2005)

The public is invited to an October 22 fiesta celebrating the 20th birthday of Project Read-Menlo Park -- a nonprofit that has helped more than 2,400 adults learn to read and write English.

The party is set for 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Menlo Park Senior Center at 110 Terminal Ave. in the Belle Haven neighborhood.

Along with cake, ice cream and door prizes, the free event will offer live jazz; children's activities, such as face painting and balloon sculpting; free children's books; and free fingerprinting for kids, courtesy of the Menlo Park Police Department.

Guest speakers will include state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, whose father was a Project Read-Menlo Park tutor; Catherine Murphy, a Portola Valley documentary filmmaker whose topics include literacy; and Enrique Ramirez, a former Project Read student who is now a literacy activist.

Menlo Park Mayor Mickie Winkler, a former volunteer tutor with Project Read, will also say a few words.

Project Read pairs adult students and volunteer tutors for free one-on-one lessons. Over its 20 years, the local program has trained more than 1,200 volunteers to tutor students in the main Menlo Park Library and the Belle Haven branch library.

Among fiesta sponsors are Friends of the Menlo Park Library, Artemis Volunteers, Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Foundation, Safeway, Hobbees California Restaurants and Starbucks.

For more information, contact Roberta Roth, literacy outreach specialist, at 330-2525; or e-mail roth@plsinfo.org.

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