Lily (again)

Hi! It's me again! Evan's daughter!! I cant wait for the book and the events that are happening soon!!!! I hope some people can make it!!!!! Thank you!!!! Bye!!!! 4 April 2009

Elissa

My daughter, who last read the Oz books years ago (she's almost 11) just pulled them off her shelf and started reading them all again. She knows every book, every character, what story each appeared in . . . she's delighted at the thought of revisiting. 31 March 2009

Mark

I was born and raised in Weirton, WV, and like so many children of the same era, our family would gather around the television and watch “The Wizard of Oz” movie. I can remember when I was 8 years old watching it in color for the first time. In 1984, I moved from Pittsburgh, PA to Syracuse, NY. After a couple of years, I found myself in a small village about 10 miles east of Syracuse, called Chittenango. One of the first things to strike me about the village was that the sidewalks were made of yellow bricks, and several of the businesses had names such as “Over the Rainbow”, “Aunt Em’s”, and ‘Oz Cream”. There was even an L. Frank Baum museum in town. Curiosity got the better of me, and I was soon informed that Chittenango is the birth place of L. Frank Baum, and that each year, they held an annual festival (Oz-Fest) to celebrate that event. As time passed, I became more and more interested in L. Frank, Oz, and Oz-Fest. As a member of the Chittenango Volunteer Fire Department, I helped organize pancake breakfasts for the festival. Every year during the festival, our village of 3,500 would explode as 10 to 20 thousand people would come to celebrate. I have met fans from Sweden, Poland, China, and England, as well as from every state in the US. I have had the great pleasure of sitting down and visiting with some of the Munchkins from the 1939 movie.. In 2002, when my wife decided to open up a restaurant, we chose “Emerald City Grill” as the name. Today, I find myself a committee member for that very festival; now called “Oz-Stravaganza!” 2009 will mark our 31st consecutive year for the event, making it the longest running Oz-themed festival in the world. The weekend of the festival is just magical. Thousands upon thousands of people all in one location to celebrate the works of a man who never came to realize what a legacy he had created. To see the faces of the costumed children, it allows you to understand just how endearing and everlasting his words have become. 27 February 2009

Caryl

The bleaker the economic news, the more most of us turn nostalgic. And what better way to remember "the good old days" than a return journey down the yellow brick road. For most of us, the first time we read or heard this Baum classic is etched in memory. Now it is time for us to share the classic with the next generation and help them to have special memories about "the good old days." We may age but this classic story never does, and it continues to enthrall today's youngster much as it did for us. Let's change have you hugged your child today to "have you shared the wonder of Oz lately?" 18 February 2009

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