Pictured, left to right: Sparky, Jennifer Harvey, regent; Eric Smith, Carol Mingle, Caffie Clark and Patty Parks
The Chief John Ross Chapter, NSDAR, presented Eric Smith with a DAR Literacy Champion award.
Officials said, "Eric Smith created the Literacy Garden on purchased property and dedicated the space to his mother and father who couldn’t read. Mr. Smith speaks of how difficult their lives were while raising their family and doing laundry and scrubbing floors. With them in mind, Mr. Smith created a beautiful, peaceful space where community members can come and read. The garden is in its second year of existence and has already developed into a place where people can spend time discussing books, building comprehension and confidence to become better readers.
It is a nice calm enjoyable space that is the right place to enjoy reading. Mr. Smith says that reading changes lives and provides the population with more opportunities to better themselves and help them to lead better lives. For this reason, he received the award."
The NSDAR Literacy Promotion Committee, created in 1989, promotes adult literacy and involvement in literacy programs for children and adults. The goal of the committee is to bring attention to illiteracy’s root causes and seek ways to improve and promote literacy in communities and our nation. Literacy Promotion falls within the society of objectives of Education, Patriotism and Historic Preservation and is promoted by DAR chapters within their communities.