The Milner Recreation Center celebrated its grand opening of the Story Book Trail with a ribbon cutting hosted by the McMinnville-Warren County Chamber of Commerce Friday. 

The Story Book Trail is a permanent addition to the Milner Recreation Center that features read-along signs and decorations based on children’s books. The themes for the Story Book Trail will be changed over time, but the current theme is Hugo and the Impossible Thing.

Funding for the Story Book Trail was provided by the Governor’s Early Literacy Foundation and was made possible through the efforts of the City of McMinnville, the Warren County Parks and Recreation Department, the Dolly Parton Imagination Library/Warren County Books from Birth and the McMinnville Warren County Chamber of Commerce. 

West Elementary School sent a field trip group to see the newly opened Story Book Trail and after the ribbon cutting students were allowed to walk the trail and read about the adventures of Hugo the dog. Students who attended the event were also given free books from the Dolly Parton Imagination Library/Warren County Books from Birth. 

“I love working for this program and promoting reading,” Program Coordinator for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library/Warren County Books from Birth, Christie Allison said. “Research shows that you will become a better reader if you read for only 20 minutes a day. Adults, if you read to a child every day for 20 minutes, you could be as stressed or tired, but I promise you if you take the time to read to that child it will change your whole demeanor.”

“This is a great addition to our walking path, and it allows our neighboring school, West Elementary’s, teachers and students to have access to a safe space,” Justin Scott of McMinnville Parks and Recreation said. “It allows them to enjoy reading and being outdoors, which is wonderful. Most of all I am excited for our community and the families this will serve.”