NPS Ranger Katherine Freeman holds a copy of the children’s picture book “Okra Stew: A Gullah Geechee Family Celebration,” by Natalie Daise. Submitted photo

Read With a Ranger on Saturday in Port Royal

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Staff reports

In partnership with the National Park Service’s Reconstruction Era National Historical Park, the Saturday, Dec. 7, edition of DAYLO’s monthly Teddy Bear Picnic read-aloud will feature a very special guest reading at 10 a.m., with an encore at 11 a.m., as the Read With a Ranger program returns once more for the holidays.

NPS Park Ranger Katherine Freeman will be reading from the children’s picture book “Okra Stew: A Gullah Geechee Family Celebration,” by Natalie Daise. The book invites young readers to learn about Gullah family traditions and foodways. Inspired by Okra Stew, there will also be an art project for attendees to reflect on their own family traditions, just in time for the December holidays.

“A loving family, a verdant garden, and Gullah Geechee traditions are key ingredients to this delightful stew of a story,” praised Kirkus Reviews is a starred review of Okra Stew.

DAYLO student volunteers will be assisting with Read With a Ranger, and also reading other children’s picture books throughout the morning, from 9:30 a.m. to noon, at the Farmers Market by the gazebo in Naval Heritage Park, 1615 Ribault Road, Port Royal.

Founded in 2021 at Beaufort High School, DAYLO, or Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization, is a student-led book club and community literacy service group with chapters across South Carolina. DAYLO has been recognized with awards from the American Association of School Librarians, the South Carolina Library Association, and the South Carolina Education Association, as well as being featured in national media.

As an ongoing community service project, the five Beaufort-based DAYLO chapters host free read-aloud events — called the Teddy Bear Picnics — for young children and their families at the Port Royal Farmers Market on the first Saturday of each month, in collaboration with the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center.

To learn more about DAYLO, please visit www.instagram.com/beaufort_daylo. To learn more about the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park, visit www.nps.gov/reer. To learn more about the weekly Port Royal Farmers Market, visit www.portroyalfarmersmarket.com.

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