It was Florence Parry Heide Day in downtown Kenosha . . .

By Robin Rhodes

Photography courtesy of Studio 17 - Marnie Bigelow

The children woke in great excitement. It was Florence Parry Heide Day in downtown Kenosha. I had been psyching them up all week about it. The number one draw – Free ice cream. I assured them there was more to do than just eat ice cream.

My youngest, 4 year old Spencer, said, “Ice cream!”

I shook my head and ushered them through breakfast and got them dressed. Unfortunately they had woken late and getting them ready put us behind schedule and left Grandma waiting in the car. We did not arrive until 10:15 am as the mayor Keith Bosman made his mayoral proclamation making September 26, 2009 “Florence Parry Heide Day”. Florence was all smiles which continued throughout the day.

I convinced the children that 10:30 was a bit too early for ice cream as we walked past the already crowded ice cream cart outside of Scoops, a local ice cream shop that had graciously donated the yummy treat. Of course, Grandma, in her infinite wisdom overrode my statement and got them in line.

As they ate their “snack” little Spencer spotted two young ladies sitting at a bench, each with a book in hand. He smiled recognizing the opportunity for double attention and walked up to them, chocolate ice cream dripping down his arm. The ladies smiled and lifted him to sit between them and opened one of Florence’s “That’s What Friends Are For” to read to him.

My oldest, Katrina, stood beside me while Lucais, my 7 year old pulled Grandma away to look at other things. I took this opportunity to look around me. Every 20 feet or so sat a bench with wonderful volunteers reading stories like the two girls with my son. The street and sidewalks were crowded with nearly as many adults as children. I overheard several conversations of adults recounting memories of reading and owning the books, some debating over which book is the best. I also admired the amazing paintings of the book covers that were done on the windows of the shops by local volunteers.

Spencer climbed down off the bench and waved goodbye to the young ladies, flashing his adorable dimpled smile at them and we went off in search of Grandma and Lucais. We found them at the Sunny Squads booth at the far end of the street, Lucais coloring a picture of what he would do to make the city a better place. The other two children sat down at the picnic table and start their pictures.

After turning in the pictures, we walked the short distance to the Florence Parry Heide Children’s Garden. to pose for some photos and admire the beautiful flowers. The garden was dedicated to Florence by Keep Kenosha Beautiful.

Wandering back down the street, the kids stopped to sign the gigantic card for Mrs. Heide and then we continued on to sit with Susan Larkin, who was playing her guitar while children sat around playing percussion instruments. Glancing at my watch and knowing we had one more stop to make, I dragged the children away from the music.

It is off to Heim’s Toy Store. The day would not be complete without purchasing a book or two and a few fun toys. The store was packed, but we managed to make our way to the books, where only a few of Florence’s books were left. Grabbing The Shrinking of Treehorn, I let the children wander the store, looking for a small token of their visit. The store has a variety of educational and fun toys as well as a large bank of bins filled with inexpensive trinkets. Each of the kids picked something from the bins and handed them over to me for purchasing. I ushered them out of the store with their Grandmother and made the store just a little bit less crowded. The cashier laughed as I approached. Spencer had found a small toy bug and she had seen him wandering the store running it across all the shelves. His delight in the little toy was astonishing.

I greeted the children outside and hand each of them their toy. I leave them to play while I meet up with other members of the Kenosha Writers Guild to present Mrs. Heide with a token of our appreciation. She poses for a quick photo and we chat for a few minutes. She tells us that she would love to visit our group and Lisa promised her to let her know the details.

The day was a huge success putting smiles on many people’s faces, children and adults alike. Perhaps the biggest smile was on a 90 year old lady, by the name of Florence Parry Heide.