Fire Department story time

Jun. 21—OSKALOOSA — As firefighter Shane Glandon — wearing turnout gear and the large dog head of fire department mascot Sparky — made his way down the hall at Oskaloosa Public Library, he caught the eye of an energetic child.

"Hi," the boy yelled, waving enthusiastically. "Hi, tt's me, Steven!"

At the end of the hall was the room where Glandon and two of his colleagues — Fire Chief Scott Vaughan and firefighter Zack Myers — hosted story time for more than 100 children and their parents.

"Can somebody guess what our mascott's name might be?" Vaughan asked the children.

One child guessed, "Marshall."

"Marshall's a good one," Vaughan said. "How about Sparky?"

Vaughan and Myers took turns reading firefighter-themed children's books. Story time featured some fire safety messages for the parents, like the importance of smoke detectors in the home.

"We've got smoke detectors at the fire station," Vaughan said. "We will make sure you have them."

After the reading, children lined up to get their pictures taken with Sparky, and then to climb through a fire truck parked outside the library.

Jeff Wilford is a staff writer for the Oskaloosa Herald. He can be reached at [email protected].