A literary event kicks off this evening at the Hy-Vee grocery store in Clinton. Organizer Brian Tugana says a new book full of photographs was created entirely by local folks who snapped pictures in their hometown. A hobbyist, he says he was working to become a better photographer and looking at a famous book “A Day in the Life of America.” He says he thought local people might do just as well, especially if they were taking pictures of their own workplaces, or organizations they’re associated with.
Tugana decided it was an idea that could work well in Clinton, neighboring Camanche, and Fulton, Illinois. Valley Bank underwrote most of the cost, buying 400 disposable cameras. Volunteers from the three towns came to a meeting to get acquainted and pick up a camera, then went out to all take pictures on the same day of their life — “If it was a square-dancing club, or a business that made widgets, whatever it was, just take some pictures with that camera.”
Tugana says there was diverse and broad participation by the communities, whose work led to the book titled “It’s a Great Day in the Clinton Area,” with its 136 pages of photographs. “It was a community project from start to finish,” Tugana says with pride, photographed and printed locally. They’re printing 2,000 copies of the coffee-table-quality book, and it’ll sell for just ten dollars. Sponsor Valley Bank has a branch in the grocery store, the reason the literary debut will be held at the Clinton Hy-Vee tonight (Thursday) at 6 P.M.