A storybook trail is a new addition to the Edgewater Park Hicks Outlook, a small park located near Edgewater Park. It aims to promote reading skills while getting people out in the fresh air.
Pages from the featured book are displayed on markers along a quarter-mile grassy trail in the park located off McKinley Beach Road. Those walking the path can stop and read them.
Two members of the 2025 Beaver Dam Chamber of Commerce leadership program, Chelsea Deaton and Jen Hiley, decided to create the trail as part of a broader set of improvements to the Beaver Dam Library. That $2.25 million library project began in 2024 and wrapped up in May.
While the library had the original goal for the storybook trail, the members of the leadership team picked the goal up as their class project. That project has several goals, including enhancing a city park that is affordable for community members and supporting early childhood literacy, Deaton said.
People are also reading…
“We also wanted to have people interact with children, caregivers, grandparents and parents,” Deaton said. “It is just an intergenerational project that is timeless, something that can be added onto.”
Right now, “Mother Bruce” is the book that is featured on the path, Beaver Dam Community Library youth librarian Sam Jones said. A new book will be switched in every so often, most likely when the seasons change.
“It is just great for kids, families and all ages to get outside and read some fun books,” Jones said.
From left, Jennifer Hiley and Chelsea Deaton answer questions being asked by Tracy Propst on Wednesday about the Storybook Trail at the Edgewater Park Hicks Outlook.
Brandon Krause, the principal of Beaver Dam Middle School and a member of the library board, was also on hand during a ceremony to dedicate the trail.
“It is a great opportunity for early literacy skills and to be out in nature away from screens,” Krause said. “It is a great opportunity to engage in literature in a unique way that is not just sitting down in a lab and reading a book. The books will be changed out for the season so come out and see what the new books are for our students and families in the community.”
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