HAYWARD — About seven years ago, a couple of guys showed up at John Wilma's auto shop looking for jobs. They couldn't speak English very well, and when it came time to fill out applications, they went into the parking lot and enlisted their girlfriends for help.

"And these guys came out of Hayward schools," Wilma said.

About the same time, he served as principal-for-a-day at a local elementary school. Picking up a dictionary, he noticed it was a 1970 edition.

"The word 'computer' wasn't even in there," Wilma said.

For the then-president of the Hayward Rotary chapter, those two incidents prompted him to get the service club involved in the Dictionary Project, a national effort that distributes an up-to-date lexicon to all third-grade students.

"I realized we have people living right here in Hayward, 15 miles from San Francisco, 150 miles from the state capital, who are functionally illiterate," he said.

Since then, they've been handing out the hard-bound, four-and-a-quarter-pound tomes — they opted to spend a little extra for something more "substantial" than a paperback version.

Wilma said he and project co-founder Ken Meirovitz "decided it was worth it to spend more money on a book that felt valuable when you pick it up."

On Thursday, club members were at Park Elementary School for a morning distribution, handing out the books to appreciative students.

Heather Ghereben's class was abuzz as

"It is a big deal," Ghereben said. "A lot of them don't have a dictionary at home. They can finally do their class work that requires a dictionary when they take it home."

It's not like the kids never saw such a thing before — the school provides them with older editions for use in class. But these books are not loaners.

"These books are your books to keep forever," said Ed Bullock, who was helping with the distribution.

He related an anecdote about striking up a conversation with a man while in line at a home improvement store this week.

"I told him what a great way it was to start the day, handing out dictionaries," Bullock said. "He said, 'Oh you're the guys who give those out? I want to thank you — my son got one two years ago, and he still has it and still uses it.'"

Wilma said he's received even greater praise from the recipients themselves.

"I could show you hundreds of letters," he said. "Some are written in crayon, or felt-tip, some beautifully written, and some barely readable, but they all say, 'Thank you for my dictionary.'"

Eric Kurhi covers Hayward. Reach him at 510-293-2473. Read our blog at www.ibabuzz.com/hayword/