APRIL 5, 2018

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Bob Philpot, Sharon Buckman, Beverly Stanislawski, Katherine Flotz, Marilyn Kessler, Cynthia Wilson, Caren Von See, Al Koch, Amy Brailey, Amy Clities, Jackie Huppenthal, Ruthann Graczyk, Hardarshan Valia, Ronda Jeremiah-Garcia, Michael Bednarczyk

GUESTS PRESENT:

Tim Philippart

NEW BUSINESS:

TIM PHILLIPART introduced himself to the members.  He stated that he now lives in Valparaiso and he favors writing poetry above all else, he also writes blogs and has had several  items published.

KATHY FLOTZ brought an article from the Times that told of a poetry pavilion being built in Freedom Park in Lowell in memory of Tom Spencer and his wife.  Tom is a former member of WOH and had founded the Northwest Indiana Poetry Society.

LITERARY NEWS:

BOB PHILPOT brought a video entitled “Building Great Sentences”, a 24 chapter video, each chapter one half hour long.  Bob thought if the members were interested a chapter might be shown at a future date on the library’s TV.

JACKIE HUPPENTHAL talked about a coffee shop on Jewett St. in Highland that features a “Sip and Slam Open Mike” on April 6^th from 7-l0 P.M.  On April 11^th they will be featuring the “Children of Steel,” a project being worked on by Dr. Gloria McMillan concerning the steel mills in our area.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI stated she had taken two Honorable Mentions from a Utah poetry contest for her poem” Mumurations” and three Honorable Mentions from her poem “Poop Scoop.”  She also received 2^nd place for “Natures Masterpiece, 3^rd place for “Rivers of Life”, and one Honorable Mention for “When We is Just Me,” and three Honorable Mentions for “Love Song,” in an Oklahoma contest.

AMY CLITIES stated she has recently landed a job doing a website entitled “On Stage.”  She believes that the website can be found at On Stage Blog.com.  She is paid by the number of views she receives.

EDUCATIONAL PRESENTATION:

CAREN VON SEE gave an interesting  presentation on “Writers Block,” a problem most writers have.  Caren presented a book to the members entitled, “Zentangle,” a book created by Marie and Rick Roberts.  The book reveals beautiful  images created by drawing structured patterns, a repetitive art that encourages writers to try.  This process will hopefully reduce fear, anxiety, etc. that can cause a feeling of frustration when you experience writer’s block.  Caren had the members try it on blank cards she passed around.

READINGS:

JACKIE HUPPENTHAL introduced her poem, “Hello Hoots,” on a page from the Highlights Magazine, a magazine usually read by 3 to 5 yr. olds and was on page 4.  The cute poem had a side illustration of an owl perched on a tree limb with the closing line, “owl hoots hello to me”.

RONDA JEREMIAH-GARCIA  read a few pages of her suspense mystery novel, Nocturnal Meetings of the Misplaced.  The novel begins with a 16yr. old sitting alone in a windowless room when he gets a surprise visit from a detective.  The detective begins to accuse him, and his friends, of starting a fire.  Tommy, the 16yr. old, finally begins to give him some of the information he has requested.

AL KOCH read his one and a half page short story entitled, “Quality Moments.”  The “very quality” story related to the reflective thoughts we all encounter at various times and how we should cherish them.  The last line of the story states, “it is a way to be alone without being lonely, a therapeutic process to enjoy, more than once – the times of our life.”

MARILYN KESSLER related her three page true short story entitled, “Lana.”  The story tells of a woman she met while vacationing in the Gulf of Mexico walking alone the beach searching for sand dollars.  Marilyn was very impressed with the woman named Lana because she seemed to be living her dream, when she first came to the Gulf of Mexico with her husband she refused to leave and remained there after her husband went back home.

KATHERINE FLOTZ read her one page story entitled, “So You Wrote a Book!  So You Self Published! Now How to Market It?”  This one-page tells of the possible ways to advertise your book, by word of mouth, by contacting book stores, by making speaking engagements.  Kathy then told the members of the success of her book, having sold 4,000 copies of her Pebble in my Shoe.

HARDARSHAN VALIA read two of his poems.  The first poem, “Baby in a Crib,” was written as an assignment for the Poetry Society of NW Indiana, telling from a little girl’s point of view if the person writing it was a man.  The poem ended with asking daddy to tear down her wall.  The second poem , a rhyming quatrain, also was written for the same assignmen,  but described the challenges that are unique to womanhood.

CAREN VON SEE continued with Chapter One from her novel, My Treasure Chest.  In this part of her novel  Sara relates the beginning of her relationship with her soon to be husband, Antonio.  After a quick love affair they were married in a white gazebo beside the Hudson River in New York, ending their perfect wedding with a honeymoon in a coastal cottage in Bar Harbor on Mount Desert  Island.

AMY CLITIES read two pages of her short story, “Buyer Beware: The Case Against Getting That M.F.A.”  In this two pages of great information, Amy tells of all the downfalls against getting an M.F.A. (Master of Fine Arts.)  Along with all the research she has done on various occupations, such as acting, Amy tells of her own personal history after receiving her own M.F.A., leaving her with a debt of $98,000.

RUTHANN GRACZYK read her two-page short story entitled, “One Night,”  This suspenseful story begins with Ruthann spending an evening by herself at her son’s house.  She is there to feed and take care of his three dogs when someone, or something , makes the dogs begin barking and growling at the front door.  After looking past the curtain and surmising there was no one there, she went back to the TV and soon drifted off to sleep.  This is where the story ends “at this time.”

TIM PHILLIPART read his ten stanza, free verse poem entitled, “Reflection.”  The poem tells of a man looking into a plate glass display window watching a woman who was unaware he was watching her.  He tried to decide whether he should make her aware of his presence but as she abruptly walked away he was left with only “one tear in my eye.” 

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI  read two of her award winning poems.  The first of the two, “Murmurations”, was eight stanza free verse poem telling of the beauty of watching “minions of starlings” as they migrated to warmer climates.  The second poem, “Love Song,” was a blank verse poem telling of answered dreams and a love fulfilled.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 P.M.

Respectfully submitted:

SHARON BUCKMAN