PLACES TO GO Around the Neighborhood Page 2
WEST SIDE STORIES Verne Lundquist
INSIDE Camp Guide Pages 19-24
Page 6
VOLUME 36 ISSUE 3 - SINCE 1986
W E S TA U S T I N N E W S . C O M
MARCH 23, 2023
Tarrytown Teen Authors and Illustrates Ocean-Themed Book By Anne DeVries Jing Graber, a 17-year-old senior at Regents High School, recently held a launch party for her children’s book, “Can you Sea Me?” at her home in Tarrytown. The event was attended by her friends and family, who gathered to celebrate the young author’s accomplishment. The book features Jing’s love for the ocean and its inhabitants and was still the topselling new children’s book on Amazon in the second week of March. Jing’s passion for the ocean and her fascination with sea creatures began when she was a child. Her love for art, coupled with her curiosity, inspired her to write and illustrate the book. “Can you Sea Me?” showcases each ocean animal’s natural habitat and displays how it blends in with its environment, challenging readers to find the disguised animals while providing interesting details. At the launch party, five-year-old Channing was impressed by Jing’s work, exclaiming, “Jing drew this? What in the world? It’s way too good! You mean she drew all the animals and did all the colors? Oh my gosh! Did she
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write all the words too?” Jing was adopted from China at three months old by her parents, Julie and Cameron Graber, who also adopted her older sister MeiMei. The sisters grew up in Tarrytown and attended Regents School of Austin. Jing’s preschool teacher at Good Shephard, Mary Morgan, and teachers from Regents attended the book launch, along with Ester Fedorkevich, the owner of the Fedd Agency, who published the book. Fedorkevich was proud of Jing’s accomplishment, stating, “Working with Jing has been an incredible experience, and we’re so proud of her and the book! It’s not often that we work with such a young author, and we can’t wait to see where her talent and passion will take her.” Jing plans to study Marine biology and minor in art after graduation. She is still undecided about where she will attend college but knows that writing and illustrating are in her future, as is authoring another book. In her words, “There is just so much to discover, which is why I hope to share a taste of the sea with my community in Austin, as well as those beyond."
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It’s My Park Day for Cub Scout Pack 59 at Highland Park By Alana Moehring Mallard More than 75 volunteers with Cub Scout Pack 59, including girl and boy Cub Scouts, families, and friends, with beautification efforts at Highland Park Elementary and Perry Park as part of It’s My Park Day on March 4. It’s My Park Day is Austin Parks Foundations biggest volunteer event of the year. Pack 59 Community Chair Peter Ruggero said the Austin Parks Foundation donated 20 cubic feet of mulch and loaned tools to the Scouts’ efforts at Highland Park. “I’m taking it to the trees and dumping it out,” said Cub Scout Niles Cunningham as he pulled a load of mulch heaped up on one of the black plastic sleds borrowed from Austin Parks Foundation. As the morning’s work wrapped
up, dozens of playground and school grounds trees and shrubs – oaks, sycamores, pecans, yaupon, crepe myrtle -- had fresh mulch spread under them. Pack 59’s Tiger Den leaders are Steve Walkup, Belinda Arumbula, and Elizabeth Huffmaster. Pack 59 is chartered by Covenant Presbyterian Church on Northland. Cub Scout and first-grader John Walkup likes volunteering he said, and likes Cub Scouts. What does he like about being in scouts? “We go camping and we learn to tie knots,” John said. This year, 3,301 It’s My Park Day volunteers worked on 84 park projects totaling nearly 10,000 volunteer hours, giving much needed care to ice storm damaged parks. Austin Parks
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Foundation estimates that volunteers on It’s My Park Day donated time worth
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almost $300,000. The next city wide It’s My Park Day is Saturday, Nov. 4.
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