FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Children experience live reptiles at library program

Ron Cromer and his reptile friends visited 134 children and adults on July 21 in one of the many programs presented during the Summer Reading Program. Cromer, a North Carolina native, gave audience members the opportunity to touch and hold many different snakes, including a black snake named Julius Squeezer, during the “Snakes Alive!” program at the Downing-Gross Cultural Arts Center.

Presenter Ron Cromer shows Tarzan the Iguana to the audience at the "Snakes Alive!" program presented by Pearl Bailey Library on July 21.

Ron Cromer and his reptile friends visited 134 children and adults on July 21 in one of the many programs presented during the Summer Reading Program. Cromer, a North Carolina native, gave audience members the opportunity to touch and hold many different snakes, including a black snake named Julius Squeezer, during the “Snakes Alive!” program at the Downing-Gross Cultural Arts Center.

Pearl Bailey Library presented the program as part of Newport News Public Library System’s Summer Reading Program for children, “Be Creative @ Your Library.”

Cromer taught audience members to recognize the markings on venomous and nonvenomous snakes. He also explained that snakes smell with their tongues and hibernate during the winter. For the program’s grand finale, eight adults held up 14-foot-long Penelope the Python for the children to touch as they exited.

The Summer Reading Program continues through July 31 with free opportunities for adults, children and teens to win prizes and express themselves creatively with special events and contests. The Summer Reading Program is sponsored by the Friends of the Newport News Public Library, Library of Virginia, Captain D’s, Fazoli’s, McDonald’s, Hardee’s, Red Robin, Shoney’s, Starbucks and Outback Steakhouse. For more information, visit the Library’s website at http://www.nngov.com/library/resources/srp.

###