Check It Out: Ditch gadgets, go retro with reading By Jan Johnston Share: Jan Johnston is the Collection Development Coordinator for Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries. Email her at readingforfun@fvrl.org. Photo Did you know that April 11 is National Eight-Track Tape Day? My parents had an eight-track player when I was a kid, and believe it or not, I thought it was pretty cool. I can still hear the “ka-chunk” of the cartridge going into the player and the loud “clicks” in between songs. My favorite memory of listening to eight-track tapes didn’t happen at home but on a lake. My great-aunt and -uncle lived in the same small town as my family in southern Nevada. One year my uncle won a local contest in which the grand prize was a three-day houseboat trip on Lake Mead. There were seven of us who went on the trip, and I have to say it was a hoot. The houseboat came equipped with an eight-track player and a small collection of tapes. If we had known this ahead of time, we probably would have brought some tapes of our own because our choice of music was polka … and polka. So, forevermore, eight-track tunes remind me of polka music.