Hats Off to Reading, Recreation and the Reds! Cincinnati Recreation Commission & Public Library to March Together in Opening Day Parade on April 6 March 20, 2009 - Staff members from the Cincinnati Recreation Commission (CRC) and the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County are marching together in the Findlay Market Opening Day Parade on April 6. To add to the fun two special guests will also be marching with them—the Library’s Mascot, Rufus the Reading Dog, and a Pomeranian pooch named Prince, owned by Kelly Kerr, Manager of CRC’s Millvale Community Center.

Members from the CRC’s Millvale Community Center will be orchestrating a dazzling “Top Hat” theme, Hats Off to Reading, Recreation, and the Reds, designed to pay tribute to the success of each organization. Participants will be dressed to match the theme wearing red, white and black garb topped off with top hats and canes while marching alongside a float decorated by the Millvale Community Center— also to be adorned with a huge top hat.

A pre-parade rehearsal for the Community Angels Dance Group, Rufus the Library Reading Dog (from the Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County) Kelly Kerr, Manager of Cincinnati Recreation Commission’s Millvale Community Center, and Kelly’s Pomeranian pooch Prince, helps prepare them for their Opening Day marching routine.

Loyal customers from the Millvale Community Center who frequent the facility and have excelled in specific areas, such as an Olympian boxer, a National Honor Society student, members of a top-rated middle school football team, and the Community Angels Dance Group, shown to the left, will also be marching as part of a “Menagerie of Success.” Likewise, some students (and their tutors) who have found success by making use of the Main Library’s Homework Central Department will also be marching in the parade.

“Through the years the Cincinnati Recreation Commission and the Public Library have partnered together on a number of programs to promote awareness for reading and recreation, both essential to the well-being of our community,” said Phyllis Hegner, Community Relations Manager for the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. “We are excited that the CRC has invited us to march with them in the Opening Day Parade—to once again showcase the strengths of both of our organizations while paying tribute to the Cincinnati Reds, who have been very supportive of our efforts over the years.”