Adults and children came together in an effort to spread joy on Saturday, March 14 with a ‘Kindness Rocks’ event hosted cooperatively among the Riverbank Historical Society, Love Riverbank and the Oakdale Riverbank Book Exchange.
Set up on the lawn outside the Historical Society Museum at 3237 Santa Fe in downtown Riverbank, there were plenty of rocks to be painted, tours offered of the museum and free books available through the book exchange.
Several people settled in to paint a rock or two, with the rocks ultimately being sealed and then placed around the community for others to find.
Riverbank Historical Society Secretary Bertha Reyes said it was a perfect way for the organizations to come together in support of each other and reach out to the community.
“I’ve been telling them (attendees) about our buildings downtown, the bank that used to be here, the stores, and this was our library in the 1920s,” Reyes noted of the former Carnegie Library that is now the museum and also an historical landmark. “It has been exciting and it’s just nice to see the smiling faces, adults and children, everybody is having a good time.”
When people were done painting rocks, many took the opportunity to tour the museum, with Reyes there to offer information on many of the artifacts it houses along with sharing unique aspects of the city’s history.
Brittany Gramberg of Oakdale was on hand with a table set up for the Oakdale Riverbank Book Exchange, a group that provides free books and also takes care of the many Little Free Library stations throughout the region.
There were free bookmarks, books for kids and adults, with all in attendance encouraged to take a book home.
Love Riverbank City Leader Sammi Martinez said the goal for the day was simply to bring the community together in a fun activity and the rocks – many with encouraging messages and brightly colored artwork – will hopefully be found by others in the community and bring a little joy.
“I feel it’s important to collaborate with other organizations and we just wanted to bring people down to the museum to learn about our city’s history, “ Martinez said, adding that they also wanted to help inspire literacy in the community by partnering with the Oakdale Riverbank Book Exchange.
As far as the kindness rock painting, she said there were artists, young and old, that took part and really seemed to enjoy being part of the effort.
“Just loving Riverbank and building community, sharing and doing what we’re supposed to do,” Martinez said of the idea behind the event. “Our goal was to paint these kindness rocks, with either words or pictures of positivity and then we seal them and we hide them amongst the community for others to find; we’re just spreading kindness and love.”
The event was open to all and ran from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
