News Release: 9/10/2026

THE MAGICAL EXPERIENCE OF READING
By Terri White

Not everyone grows up in a loving home that offers softness and safety. Halie Wells did not experience gentle nurturing.  Her beginnings slapped her with harshness.  Looking for love, she ended up pregnant at age 16, a girl at-risk of dropping out of school and repeating the cycle into which she was born.

However, instead of becoming a drop-out statistic, Halie determined to thrive.  To that end, she enrolled in Future Leaders of America at her school. The class required each student to find his or her passion and create a program about it. Using her situation as a springboard, she designed a program that gathered various helping agencies to provide resources for teen moms in Ellis County. Once completed, each student entered a competition similar to UIL.  For the regional competition, the class traveled to California.  Imagine Halie’s joy when she received first prize for the region! To Halie’s knowledge, her program still provides services for teen moms.

Halie’s program sprang from her difficult upbringing.  In the process of creating it, she found her gift of organization. Thus, turning “ashes into beauty”.  After graduating from high school in 2011, she worked in childcare and later as the chief CNA in charge of the floor - all this as a single mom.

By 2019, she married, further stabilizing her life.  Then, in 2023, her family moved from Midlothian to Cleburne because they preferred a more close-knit community.  And they fell in love with our town! 

Although choosing to be a stay-at-home mom, Halie still wanted to generate extra income, so she joined Paperpie Learning (formerly Usborne Books). But the business brought surprising results in her family. As they increased their family reading time, not only did her children’s reading and vocabulary skills improve, but also their grades.  A win-win!

Meanwhile, Halie yearned to invest in our community. What to do?  Ding! Ding!  If increasing reading time at home helped her own children, what would that do for our community?  Thus, the high school girl who discovered her gift for organization, created the “Reading Trail”, bringing the magical experience of reading to life in Cleburne.  The event will be held the entire month of October, giving families plenty of time to finish the “trail”. 

Like an express train, the Reading Trail offers a reading adventure by following story hints from store-to-store.  First stop at Dillon Depot provides a passport to be stamped at each location. There, you receive your first hint in a scavenger hunt that directs you to the next store.

At the locations, families will read a book that carries the themes of kindness, love, family, community, or friendship. Once the family finishes reading, they participate in a scavenger hunt or activity that provides hints to the next location. However, in four locations, where activities aren’t suitable for the business, families read two books instead of one that directs you to the next stop.  

Throughout the “trail”, a crocheted character named “Nibbles” takes a bite out of each book. Much like the Sesame Street Cookie Monster who loves cookies, Nibbles loves books instead.  For extra pizzazz, Teddy’s Treats, a local bakery, volunteered to hide Nibbles in one of the stores. Whoever finds it, gets to keep it. A big clue will be posted at the store where Nibbles is hidden. 

While not required to visit every location, those that do are eligible to win the grand prize, as long as the passport is stamped at all 16 stations. The winning pot? A free Usborne book each month for a year, plus a $50 gift certificate from Treat Me Right Cakery. 

At JN Long Cultural Arts Center, the final stop, families will submit the stamped passports for the grand prizes. Throughout the trail, families will also win smaller prizes that will be distributed then. 

In addition to the 16 stops on the Reading Trail, there are three special events scheduled in October. On the 10th from 10a.m.-12noon, Liberty Chapel Fire Department will provide a tour, a special show, and a book featuring home-town heroes.  Chisholm Trail Outdoor Museum will offer free admission October 17-18 for the children and adults with stamped passports. Finally, on October 24, Dillon Depot will feature “Coffee and Chapters” with three coffee trucks plus a bonus Halloween themed book to read. 

To provide all the resources for the Reading Trail, businesses were not required to finance anything.  Rather, they could volunteer to donate to the expenses.  Generously, Bennett’s covered all printing expenses and Southern Joy Bistro paid for the twelve grand prize books. Other businesses pitched in as well. Halie is donating PaperPie books from her inventory for each of the stops. 

Halie does not make any money in this event.  Her only goal is to encourage families to read, thus enhancing their lives. Furthermore, in this program, families will visit our locally owned shops that they may never have stopped in before. Thus, encouraging families to support local! 

In the effort to help herself as a teen mom, Halie also helped others. And “the beat goes on” with her vision to encourage family reading in our community. Look for the Reading Trail each October. And don’t be surprised when Halie cooks up different reading programs in the future. Those ideas are already simmering. Kudos to Halie Wells!  Because if a person enjoys reading, the sky is the limit. 

If you enjoyed reading this essay, find more fun and thought-provoking essays in my book, BACK PORCH MUSINGS, on Amazon. Hard copy, Kindle, and Audible. https://a.co/d/iEmYezn

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