Kula Café Relaunches Sunday Story Hour
Dr Seuss' Cat in the Hat To Guest Read At Free Event
Kula Café Relaunches Story Hour 12:30 p.m. Sunday with a special guest reader – that incomparable Cat in the Hat.
Behind the adventurous Dr. Seuss character will be Esther Piekarski, director of the Alphabets Preschool Center on Grand Avenue.
The no cost event features pancakes for kids and coffee for 
adults. Children also will choose books to take home for their own personal libraries, courtesy of First United Methodist Church of Oakhurst’s recent book drive for the city’s kids.
Kula Café Sunday Story Hour was created by Liz McNulty [at right] in October 2014 as a way to draw families to the then new Springwood Avenue restaurant. The program was intended to run for only three to four weeks but caught on with families and never stopped, a spokesperson said.
McNulty, an early intervention provider with Monmouth Medical Center, said children’s ages have ranged at different times from 2 to 12 years old.
Kula Café opened in April 2013, and like the neighboring urban farm by the same name, it is a social enterprise program that provides on-site job training and educational programs. The eatery serves [and delivers] breakfast and lunch. The staff is comprised of young people from the community who participate in a 16-week paid training program that leads to jobs in hospitality and other fields.
The adjacent Kula Urban Farm boasts a state-of- the art greenhouse, complete with fully sustainable and dispensable hydroponic grow towers. The community enterprise sells its produce to area restaurants and the public. Aside from being featured part of the cafe’s menu, the produce is offered gratis to those in need.
Kula Farm’s hydroponic grow tower is featured in this month’s Grocery exhibit by The New Art Syndicate at 529 Bangs Ave. Carrie Ruddick and John Amelchenkoa founded the collective to foster community collaboration through art.
Kula Café is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m Saturday and Sunday. For more information, call 732.455.0514, or visit their website and Facebook page.
[Photos courtesy of Kula Café]
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