April 23, 2015

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Sharon Palmeri, Beverly Stanislawski, Katherine Flotz, Sharon Buckman, Bob Philpot, George Miga, Judy Whitcomb, Marjorie Peterson, Tom Spencer, Mary Lu Cowley, Mary Hassen, Kay Depel, Mary Ellen Beecher, Adam Sedia, Amy Brailey

OLD BUSINESS:

A vote of approval for the April 2, 2015 meeting was first given by MARY ELLEN BEECHER and seconded by KATHERINE FLOTZ.

NEW BUSINESS:

SHARON PALMERI mentioned that the Write-On, Hoosier annual banquet would be on December 2^nd.  Sharon also mentioned that the board had debated on asking future guest speakers to possibly attend a Write-On, Hoosiers meeting on the 5th Thursday of the month which happens to be in July and October of this year.  She also suggested Jerry Davich as our first guest speaker.  The members agreed upon having Jerry Davich to speak at a regular meeting rather than scheduling an extra meeting for a speaker.  Members were also asked to suggest other speakers and topics.

LITERARY NEWS:

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI stated that she had taken 1^st Honorable Mention in the Mississippi Poetry Society contest for her entry, “Live for Today.”  She also took 2^nd Honorable Mention in the same contest for her entry, “Frost Footprints.”

TOM SPENCER mentioned that he had attended the Literary Tea at the Merrillville Library in April, and that Jim Henry was an excellent guest speaker at the tea.

SHARON PALMERI mentioned that she recently went to Indianapolis to serve as a panel judge for the Indiana Individual Artists Program (grants in literature category.) She also mentioned (since this is National Poetry Month) that the yearly dues for joining the Indiana State Federation of Poetry Club was $18.00.  This also included membership to the National Federation of State Poetry Society.

KATHERINE FLOTZ stated that she was a guest speaker at the Trine University in Angola, Indiana for her book, Pebble in my Shoe.

MARY LU COWLEY stated that she had entered the “Listen to your Mother,” annual essay contest.  Thirty eight cities participate in the contest. Twelve to fourteen essays are selected from each city, with the winners will be featured on You Tube reading their essays.  The northwest Indiana contest will held at the Memorial Opera House in Valpo on May 8^th, 7:00 P.M.

READINGS:

BOB PHILPOT read three pages of of his novel, Strange Friend.  In this part of his novel, Chapter 4, Zeb and his friend, Cob, thought they heard helicopters off in the distance as they were riding their horses to investigate a cattle rustling.  The horses became spooked by the helicopters as well as a nearby rattlesnake.  Cob managed to hang on to his horse, draw his gun to shoot the snake.

MARY HASSEN read three stanzas of her prose poem, “The Lady in the House.”  The poem, from the viewpoint of a flower seed, told of the wonderful care given by “the lady of the house.”  She planted, watered, and took such wonderful care of the little seed.  The poem ended when the woman realized the flower would give additional memories for her when she pressed the fragrant petals in her favorite book.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read her four stanza ballad, originally started as a concrete poem, entitled, “Framed.”  This delightful poem told of a man about to shoot his “ol’ best friend Greg” because he thought Greg and his girlfriend had been cheating on him.  At the end of the poem Greg shoots another man.  The girlfriend grabs her boyfriend’s gun, shoots into the floor, and leaves him to be framed.

SHARON BUCKMAN read her five stanza poem entitled, “Rhyme Time.”  The poem, written in the long awaited spring, tells of the wonderful feeling of finding the right words to write a poem, something that has previously eluded her through the winter months.

GEORGE MIGA read four pages of his short story entitled, “The Other Man.”  The story begins in the jungle of New Guinea with a former soldier, Lt. Kimura, of the Imperial Japanese Air Force.  The soldier, emerging from his hideout in the jungle, does not know that World War 11 has been over for many years and begins to attempt the revival of an old Zero aircraft he has discovered.

ADAM SEDIA read four stanzas of his beautiful ancient Egyptian style poem entitled, “Entet Nodjmet.” The poem compares his love to a lovely sunrise, the noonday sun, the scarlet of sunset and ending with the statement “I am one with my soul’s delight.”

TOM SPENCER brought his sonnet entitled, “A Library.” Tom’s miraculous sonnet tells of how twenty six letters can change the art of books, poetry, etc. to stimulate the mind and form the art of language.  

MARY ELLEN BEECHER read two pages of her novel, “The EEOC.”  The memoir reveals some of the problems and heartaches of her son Michael’ second semester in college. After she picks him up from his weekend in jail, he tells her that he was injured in a car accident while under the influence of alcohol. The meeting was adjourned at 7:55 P.M.

Respectfully submitted:

SHARON BUCKMAN