WOH MINUTES FOR AUGUST 17, 2011

And the winner is....


MEMBERS PRESENT:

Beverly Stanislawski, Sharon Palmeri, Jane Burns, Tom Spencer, Sharon Buckman, Sharon Jesik, Pamela Gonzalez, Judith Whitcomb, Kathy Flotz, Sharon Dorelli, Neil Bedeker, Kelly Chase, Laurie Chase, Jackie Huppenthal, Ron Trigg, Mike Musak

NEW MEMBER:
Charlotte Brislen

GUESTS PRESENT:
Carol Castaneda

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Sharon Palmeri announced that the Christmas Party would again be held at the Lake of the Four Seasons Clubhouse.
The party will be on the first Wednesday of December and the menu will include such items as Beef, chicken, cod, mashed potatoes, apple pie, iced tea, etc. Sharon is now accepting payments for the party, $22.50 per person.
Sharon also stated she chose Office Depot as the printer for our latest issue of Hoosier Horizon magazine. The new magazine will be the same price as last year and will include a spine back, however (same as last year) there will be no color pages. The cover will remain in color.

PHOTO CONTEST
The annual magazine photo contest was conducted. This year we had 10 entries. The entries were submitted by Sandra Nanatais, Ron Trigg, and Jackie Huppenthal. All photos were excellent and it was difficult for members to judge.
The winning photo was taken by Sandra Nantais. The two runner up photos tied at 2nd place and were taken by Sandra Nantais and Jackie Huppenthal. See photos below:

Sandra 1st Sandra 2nd tie Jackie 2nd tie


NEWS:

1. CHARLOTTE BRISLEN stated she has been revising an old story since our last meeting.

2. CAROL CASTANEDA introduced herself to our members. She stated she was the former president of Toastmasters and had been a member there for the past four years. She loves to write short stories and would now like to start a book.

3. JACKIE HUPPENTHAL stated she has been busy with her four boys as well as working at the Y. Although she likes writing poetry she has recently been working on a short story.

4. JANE BURNS has been doing a "radical revision" on her novel as well as her flash memoir.

5. SHARON JESIK recommended two books she thought the members might enjoy reading. "Noir at the Bar," is a small book, the writers live in the St. Louis area and she warned the book might be a little risque.) The second book was entitled Southern Gods and was written by John Jacobs.

6. RON TRIGG stated he has been continuing his work on his memoirs. He is also planning on attending a family reunion in Cairo, Ill.

7. PAMELA GONZALEZ stated she has had a hectic two weeks. Her husband has returned from his military training as a combat engineer for the National Guard. All of this has kept her from doing any writing.

8. JUDY WHITCOMB stated she has been in a writer's slump. She also announced that the Indiana Writer's Consortium will be hosting a banquet at the Avalon Manor on either Oct. 20th or the 27th. There will also be a guest speaker from the Dog-Ear Publishing Co.

9. KELLY CHASE has been working on her novel, "The Ring." She will also return back to school next week.

10. TOM SPENCER stated his publisher has recently died and he is now for a new one. Tom also stated that any member, or their family, that would like to watch the Labor Day parade could do so from his house, he has a prime view.

11. BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI stated she has been getting ready to make some entries into the Indiana State Poetry competition.

12. MIKE MUSAK has been busy working on his screenplay, "The Plant."

13. NEIL BEDEKER announced he has been fighting with his new laptop, in particular the Microsoft 7 office program.

14. SHARON DORELLI stated she threw away her old computer when she was recently given a new one.

15. SHARON PALMERI has been busy "tying up loose ends" and trying to get things ready for the new Hoosier Horizon magazine. She is also preparing for her classes at Merrillville Community Education. The two classes include: Publishing in the 21st Century and Writing Children’s Books. She is also getting the IUN radio station ready for the fall semester students.

16. KATHERINE FLOTZ has also been busy working with the Indiana Writer's Consortium. She stated that members who attend the banquet, for an extra fee of $10, will be given a space to sell their books.

17. SHARON BUCKMAN stated she has been busy working on revising her short story, "Danny Be Good."

18. LAURIE CHASE has been busy revising both of her novels and also stated she is still looking for work.


READINGS:


TOM SPENCER brought two different versions of his poem, "Consistency of Birth." The poem related to the correlation and consequences of natural disasters as well as man-made ones.

NEIL BEDEKER read the continuation of his story, "Torch Key." The story tells of a UPS delivery man entering a bar and seeing a woman who he recognizes as a previous customer, a customer he purposely never made a delivery to. When he returns to her house to deliver her package he is disappointed to find her husband there and plans a return trip.

MIKE MUSAK brought copies of his screenplay, this chapter entitled, "The Trial." After assigning different parts to the various members, everyone enjoyed all the confusion caused by the defendant, Joe Lacker, and the problem he had with the judge.

SHARON DORELLI read her four page memoir entitled, "First Kiss." The memoir tells of the wonderful memory of her first kiss, which involved Sharon at the age of 14, a young sailor and the Riverview Park in Chicago.

CHARLOTTE BRISLEN read her short children's story entitled, "Pookie and Me." The story told of a three year old named Millie and her love and constant companion, Pookie (a pink stuffed doggie), the two occasionally getting into trouble causing time-outs.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read one of her sonnets she intends to submit to the Indiana Poetry competition entitled "Sea Battle." The poem tells of sand castles being destroyed by sea waves crashing down upon them, "no match for nature's ebb and flow."

JANE BURNS read her one page flash memoir entitled, "Resurrection." The memoir relates to the memory of Jane taking her dog for a morning walk along with her friend, "a carpenter" and the wonderful thoughts it evoked.

SHARON JESIK continued with her novel, "Corn Dancer." In this part of her novel the two friends of deceased Doty, Luck and Gar, go mushroom and lichen hunting only to discover that the pictures taken along the way now include a vicious looking diamondback snake.

RON TRIGG read a continuation of his memoirs entitled, "Moments on an African Landscape." The memoir goes back to the time of Mandela's release from prison and the change brought about on the political landscape.

KELLY CHASE continued with her novel, "The Ring." In this part of the novel Kristine is forced to tell two of her friends about some of the powers of her ring and how she can't get rid of it.

JACKIE HUPPENTHAL read a two page memoir entitled "Panjams and Pampakes." The memoir tells of her memory involving her young sons and in particular her son, Isaiah. Isaiah has a friend named Joe, who sometimes has a speech impediment which Isaiah, when relating the stories Joe tells, talks with the same impediment, thus the title, Panjams and Pampakes.


The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 P.M.
Respectfully submitted:

SHARON BUCKMAN

WOH MINUTES FOR AUGUST 3, 2011

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Kathy Flotz, Liz-Wilson Cotey, Pam Gonzalez, Sharon Dorelli, Lisa Groszek, Jane Burns, Sharon Jesik, Tom Spencer, George Miga, Ron Trigg, Sharon Buckman, Laurie Chase, Kelly Chase, Jackie Huppenthal, Sandra Nantais, Sharon Palmeri

GUESTS PRESENT:
Charlotte Brislen

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Sharon Palmeri announced that she was considering having an attorney who specializes in entertainment, (copyrights, etc.) be a guest speaker at one of our meetings. Most of the members felt this was a good idea and Tom Spencer volunteered to try and find one. Raffle tickets for one dollar each was also mentioned and passed out among members by Kathy Flotz. The raffle tickets are meant to add to a fund to have a guest speaker next year.

NEWS:

1. KATHY FLOTZ mentioned that she had just returned from Wisconsin where she had two book signings and managed to sell 32 books.

2. LISA WILSON stated that she also had just returned from Wisconsin where she had gotten an idea for a new book (as well as a few mosquito bites.)

3. PAM GONZALEZ mentioned the Chapel Lawn's huge antique auto show again which benefits the American Diabetes Assn. She also reminded the members that they can rent a space for $25 to help in promoting their books, etc. There will also be silent auctions, food vendors, etc. and will be held on Saturday, Sept. 24th.

4. SHARON DORELLI said that she has been having computer problems which have prevented her from doing much writing, however, she has been working on a serial novel.

5. LISA GROSZEK stated she has been very busy getting ready to attend a promotional event at a Self-Publishing Book Expo in New York in October. She has also been busy working on editing her latest book, "Above and Below."

6. JANE BURNS has also been busy tweaking and editing her book "Atalanta."

7. SHARON JESIK stated she seems to have developed writer's block lately and hasn't been doing much writing.

8. TOM SPENCER also mentioned that he just recently returned from Wisconsin (what's going on here?) Tom said that when he returned from his fishing trip he found l l/2 feet of water in his basement.

9. GEORGE MIGA, who is still doing research on a family murder back in l923, stated he found the man that had committed the murder. It turned out that he lived only a short distance from his parents’ house and he had lived to the age of 90.

10. JACKIE HUPPENTHAL stated she and her family have just recently returned from an eleven day vacation to Alaska. She also mentioned that besides being a sports camp counselor she is also an assistant soccer coach for her four year old.

11. CHARLOTTE BRISLEN mentioned that when she retires from the Social Service Agency where she works in the training department, she would like to start writing again, especially short stories.

12. LAURIE CHASE stated that her job seems to be in limbo, she is not working at the present. This seems to be another bad happening for her this year. The upside of this, however, means it has given her more time to work on the lyrics and music of two songs she has been working on.

13. KELLY CHASE has written a four page short story that she has submitted to a gothic author who had requested submissions.

14. RON TRIGG has been working on a 20 page booklet for a museum in Chesterton to benefit the Heinz fund.

15. SANDY NANTAIS stated she just recently went to Fort Wayne for an ancestral day in Allen County. She also stated that the public library there is a wonderful place to look for old documents and it is free for the public. She is also starting a website for the Northwest Indiana Poetry Society.

16. SHARON BUCKMAN stated she just recently applied for a copyright for her book, "A Family Murder."

17. SHARON PALMERI disclosed that the BrickieFest 2011 turned out to be a success with approximately 2000 people attending. The event was sponsored by the Hobart High Alumni Association where she serves as vice president. She also helped with her own class reunion, which was celebrated the evening before BrickieFest.

On the topic of our own banquet she asked for a vote from the members as to the location of our annual Christmas banquet and for the choices of food to be served. It was decided that the banquet room at the Lake of the Four Seasons should be given first choice as well as the Americana meal of roast beef, fish and chicken.


READINGS:

SANDY NANTAIS read her poem, "Bakery Cake." The poem reflected her memory of her grandfather walking up to her house carrying a bakery cake and what it represented.

JACKIE HUPPENTHAL read her list poem entitled, "I Loved." The poem related her family's adventure in Alaska, the various things they did and how much she loved it.

LAURIE CHASE read several pages of her novel, "Fast Forward." In this part of her novel Kelly must decide if she wants to continue staying on the vessel that she was "fast forwarded to", 500 yrs. into the future or transferred to a "more stable environment."

SHARON BUCKMAN read her four page short story entitled, "A New Life." In this story, started from one of the prompts on WOH, she tells of a 25yr. old woman, tired of her old life and the lack of appreciation, taking a Greyhound bus to run away and meeting someone that will help her start her new life.

RON TRIGG continues with his memoir, "The Old Dusty Road." In this part of the memoir he tells of the death of his grandfather as he and his family is visiting there. Decades later he finds a letter from his grandfather which discloses why his family was there that day.

SHARON JESIK continued with her novel, "Corn Dancer." In this part of the story Luck and Gar discovered, after meeting with the curator of the Museum of Indian Art, that Judith had promised Avanyu to the museum. It seems that every owner of the Avanyu meets an untimely death.

JANE BURNS read her two page childhood memoir entitled, "The Zoo." The story relates her disappointment of being at the zoo after looking forward to it all of her life.

LISA GROSZEK read her two page story entitled Drina about a small dragon named Gordie given to her by her grandparents before their death. The dragon helped relieve the trauma in her life.

PAMELA GONZALEZ read her two page story, "Dear Sophia." It is a Dear Diary story that tells of the complicated life of a mother with three children of her own as well as two stepchildren from her husband's first marriage.

LIZ WILSON-COTEY read her four page story entitled, "The Grindylow." The very scary story tells of a young girl named Kelsey trying to find her sister through the tangled foliage of a dirty swamp and encountering an old "filth-encrusted" hag that tries to drag her down into the muck.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 P.M.

Respectfully submitted:

Sharon Buckman