Around 1,000 people -- including upwards of 800 children -- packed the Gantcher Center yesterday afternoon for Tufts' 10th Annual Read by the River Carnival.
The event, sponsored by Tufts Hillel, was intended to promote childhood literacy and featured Dr. Seuss readings by New England Patriots running back Kevin Faulk and Medford Mayor Michael McGlynn.
McGlynn read "Green Eggs and Ham," while Faulk presented "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish" and signed autographs.
Twenty organizations from Tufts and its host communities had activity booths set up during the event, creating the carnival atmosphere in Gantcher. Over 250 volunteers from Tufts helped out.
Greek organizations had a particularly strong presence by leading programs like Alpha Phi's face painting booth, Chi Omega's beanbag toss, Delta Upsilon's Simon Says game, Delta Tau Delta's zoo masks and Zeta Beta Tau's jellybean jar guessing game. Even McGruff the Crime Dog made an appearance to tell kids to "take a bite out of crime." The cotton candy booth drew a line longer than that for Faulk autographs.
Read by the River began in 2000 when a group of Alpha Epsilon Pi brothers and members of Tufts Hillel decided that they wanted to do something about illiteracy. The first event drew about 100 young attendees, targeting just Medford students. This is the first year that the event has featured students from both Medford and Somerville.
This year's turnout was the largest ever, according to senior Benjie Moll, who chaired the event.
"They really enjoy it," said mother Kelly Allen, a first-time Read by the River attendee, who joked that her daughter Erin, a first grader, spent about half an hour picking out a book. She ended up settling on "Hayley: The Rain Fairy" (2007) by Daisy Meadows.
It was also the first Read by the River for Valerie Warren and her son Henry Sprick, a fourth grader. Henry told the Daily his favorite book is Rick Riordan's "The Lightning Thief" (2005). Sprick excitedly described the book's plot, which follows the story of a modern-day son of Poseidon sent to demigod camp.
The planning process for Read by the River began last semester, with volunteers going to local schools to promote the event. They also gave interested students a book report to fill out, which served as their ticket to get in yesterday and receive a free movie pass. Children were also treated to their choice of a free book from a large selection donated by Scholastic.
As to how Read by the River managed to get the notable speakers to come, Moll said that Tufts Hillel has a connection with the Patriots and the event's planning board got in contact with the mayors of Medford and Somerville.
Moll said the day proceeded smoothly.
"It was extremely successful," he said. "It just went really well."
