On Saturday, Sept. 17, Barnes and Nobles in Weberstown Mall held its third annual National Batman Day celebration. Batman Day is a storewide celebration, according to Rebecca Ray, the Community Business Development Manager of the Barnes and Nobles. The event coincided with a national celebration of the day.
The first face people saw when they walked into the Pacific Avenue store was Batman, or rather, Lee Williams, the man behind Stockton Batman.
“They call me every now and then for positive Stockton … to give kids a positive hero atmosphere and let them know heroes still exist … that’s what I represent, that’s the whole thing behind Stockton Batman,” said Williams. “We’re making sure we can get back to making Stockton great again.”
This is Williams’ third year doing Stockton Batman.
Along with Stockton Batman, Williams also works for community and kids’ parties, functions for families, parks and recs.
Meeting Batman wasn’t the only activity Barnes and Nobles had in store.
From 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., customers could enjoy the activities provided such as Coloring for Batman, Lego Studio Build for Batman and Bedtime for Batman.
Adult coloring, according to Ray, is one of the hottest trends in their store.
Coloring pages included Batman, Catwoman, Robin, Joker and Harley Quinn.
“It’s very relaxing for adults and teens,” said Ray.
Customers around the store seemed to be having fun with the celebration as well.
“I like it,” said David Baker, a customer at Barnes and Nobles, “I was here last week and I saw the flyer and so I asked my son if he wanted to come and he said yeah. I like how they have the story time with batman and now they’re [the staff] getting them [the kids] involved with the Legos.”
Bricks 4 Kidz, a local Lego company, provided the Legos for play.
“The staff is really good with the kids and they’re very interactive. The activities engage the children a lot so they’re not really bored. There’s something for different age ranges,” said Jacqueline Sanchez, whose husband is the manager at the Barnes and Nobles.
In addition, Batman Day was tied to a book fair for Read to Me Stockton. It helps benefit a literacy nonprofit organization in our community, according to Ray.
