Story Walk damaged in storm but will come back

FAIRFIELD — Saturday night’s storm that went through Fairfield knocked over a literature installation that Fairfield Youth Services Librarian Alecs Mickunas had put up earlier that day in the Neff Wetlands.

The installation was a Story Walk, where pages of a book were laminated and put on stakes placed along the Fairfield Loop Trail through Neff Wetlands on the southeast part of Fairfield. Mickunas said it was done in conjunction with the Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce’s trail bike ride held that morning. He hoped cyclists, especially children, would stop to look at the pages along the trail.

Mickunas was disappointed that the Story Walk stayed up less than 24 hours due to the storm, since he hoped it would stay up until July 1. Nevertheless, he is not going to give up on the idea, and plans to reinstall the Story Walk later this summer, perhaps at a different park. He hopes someday he will be able to put a Story Walk on a more permanent structure that can survive Iowa’s strong winds.

“I’ll work on applying for a grant to purchase wooden housing for a more permanent Story Walk, and work with Park and Rec on the best location for it,” Mickunas said. “It could be in Chautauqua Park or at the reservoir, wherever we can reach the kids in town.”

This particular Story Walk contained 17 signs, each with a few pages from the book “Chirri & Chirra” by Kaya Doi. The book is about twin girls who ride bicycles through the woods and encounter creatures who share their treats made from nature, like a lizard who gives them rock candy and bees who give them honey buns. Mickunas said the book fit in with the surroundings of Neff Wetlands.