Written by Denise Gary
Photographs © Denise Gary
The warmth of KNTR glows through our window.
We are so excited! September was a momentous month for Kids Need to Read—we moved into our first permanent office! Mesa/Phoenix has been an amazing home to KNTR, so we are here to stay. Phoenix Comicon, Bookmans Entertainment Exchange, Changing Hands Bookstore, GoDaddy.com, and all of the other wonderful folks in this community who have embraced us so warmly, we thank you all! We would also like to give a special nod to the folks at Phoenix Book Company who supported KNTR during our earliest days and with whom we still work.
“OneOhOne” on Main Street and MacDonald, in the quaint, original square mile townsite of Mesa, Arizona, provides the home for KNTR.
Mesa was founded in 1878 by Mormon farming pioneers and this area still has the original layout featuring wide streets to allow room for horse buggies and oxen carts to turn around. The building housing the KNTR office was once Mesa City Bank, built in 1908.
Mesa City Bank © unknown
It was the first bank in the city of Mesa and comes with its very own prohibition tunnel in the basement.
Moonshine was smuggled through the tunnel seen at the top of the photo.
Thank you, Joe Boudrie and the Boudrie clan (Jay, Jen, and Clark), for giving Debb and me a helping hand putting the furniture together. You made furniture assembly fun! (Did I ever stop laughing?)
Debbie Brown, Denise Gary, Jen Boudrie, Jay Boudrie, Clark Boudrie, and Joe Boudrie © Denise Gary
I know I told you it shouldn’t take very long, but yes, day did turn into night.
Y’all’s hard work transformed a mess into a pretty working space for us. It was a huge favor and we appreciate it so much!
We also thank Staples – Hampton Center and OfficeMax – Springs Power Center, both in Mesa, for giving KNTR some super sweet deals so we would have office furniture to work upon!
Many, many thanks to the incredibly wonderful folks who helped us move multitudes of books out of storage and into the space provided at OneOhOne! You worked unbelievably hard, but boy, we sure had fun. Why is getting dirty so much fun? And why does a conveyor belt bring out one’s inner child? Robert Tabb, Carol Tabb, Nacole Vickery, Carl Wagner, Krista Bricker, Michelle Bricker, and John Bricker – we cannot thank you enough for your kindness!
Front row, left to right: Robert Tabb, Denise Gary, and Krista Bricker
Back row, left to right: Debbie Brown, Carl Wagner, Nacole Vickery, Carol Tabb, John Bricker, and Michelle Bricker © Robert Tabb
Debbie and I are so grateful to everyone who has believed in KNTR and who has helped our organization grow. And now, if you will forgive us, we have a lot of work to do. Drop by and see us sometime . . . in our office!
Debbie Brown and Denise Gary
