According to Mark Twain, "A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read." For six hours members of the community showed that they had the advantage. Several people took turns at the microphone from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. and read a chapter from the book, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain during the Attleboro's 1ABC (1 adventure, 1 book, 1 community) Read-A-Thon.

Locals packed Jonathan's Cafe on Union Street to participate in The Big Read's Read-A-Thon. The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in Partnership with Arts Midwest.

Organizers of Attleboro's 1 Adventure, 1 Book, 1 Community encourage Attleboro's citizens to join together to read the same title and participate in cultural and literacy events that fall under the theme of the chosen book.

Rigmor Clark, a local artist, read chapter 6 "Tom Meets Becky" as Attleboro City Councilor Bill Bergevine waited for his turn to read the next chapter, Tick Running and a Heartbreak."  In fact, several City Councilors including Cherie Felos, Richard Conti and Shannon Heagney were slated to participate in the read-a-thon.

Bishop Feehan President Christopher Servant and Attleboro Attorney Edward Casey followed along as Bergevine read aloud. Several Attleboro residents young and old participated. The children at Jonathan's left behind the realities of Attleboro and escaped in the adventures of Tom Sawyer.

The Read-A-Thon was just one of many events that have been held to promote the community read including a fence painting activity, letter boxing and scrapbooking.

Additional events will be held over the next two months. The next event, Discovery Day, is Saturday, Oct. 1. The public is invited to participate in Discovery Day at Attleboro Springs Wildlife Sanctuary, the first anniversary of the new Reflection Trail. The event is free and there will include natural guided activities including frog calling contests, children's crafts and games.