MAY 3, 2018

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Tim Philippart, Sharon Buckman, Beverly Stanislawski, Sharon Palmeri, Amy Brailey, Al Koch, Ruthann Graczyk, Katherine Flotz, Corri Stephenson, Paula Stephenson, Cynthia Wilson, Mary Lu Cowley, Mike Musak, Adam Sedia

OLD BUSINESS:

A vote of approval for the April 19, 2018 minutes was first given by TIM PHILLIPPART and seconded by RUTHANN GRACZYK.

NEW BUSINESS:

SHARON PALMERI passed out literature to the members on “How to Write a Narrative Poem.” The literature gave tips for writing a narrative poem, a poem that tells a story.

LITERARY NEWS:

TIM PHILLIPPART stated he had attended the poetry fest at the Harold Washington Library in Chicago and enjoyed the all day festival very much.

AL KOCH mentioned that hopefully his new book, Welcome to Mr. Koch’s Mind Cafeteria,  will soon be published.

ADAM SEDIA mentioned that he is looking for a publisher for his newest book,

READINGS: The Last Pharaoh.

TIM PHILLIPPART read a two page short story entitled, “Of Rats and Bats.” The story told of a young boy that was so scared of rats that he always carried his baseball bat with him.  One day he approached a pile of junk cars and knocked out the head light of an old Studebaker, thinking it must certainly be hiding a rat.  When trying to make a fast getaway he dropped his bat, a bat his mother retrieved when they moved.

SHARON BUCKMAN read her five-stanza poem, “Rhyme Time.”  The poem tells of the loss of being able to find inspiration to write a poem, until the long awaited spring arrives and there it is.

SHARON PALMERI read her fourteen stanza poem entitled, “She.” The poem, inspired by her roadside stop in Colorado, told of a young maiden sitting beside the Shoon River gazing at the mountain in front of her.  After telling the mountain that she would not leave her, she steps out of her moccasins and jumps from the cliff to the river below.

ADAM SEDIA read the poem he had written for the Lake County Bar Association entitled, “We, the Knights.” The poem, written as his departure statement, tells of the constant trials lawyers face and ends with the final statement, “The knights who pledge to fight for Law are WE.” A second poem, “April,” is a four stanza poem telling of the fickle season, April, due to its inconsistency.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read two of her award winning poems.  The first poem, “Soldiers of the Corn,” was a three stanza poem comparing a field of corn standing at attention until a large combine appears, reaping through it’s ranks, leaving only shredded husks.  The second poem, a sonnet entitled, “Mom’s Not Right,” begins to tell of her mom not being like her friend’s moms but then telling of the wonderful things her mom did for her family.

AL KOCH read his one page short story entitled, “X-Marks the Spot.”  The story tells of the importance of various letters of the alphabet  and describes how inseparable some letters are, such as QU replacing the letter K.  The end of the story, naturally ending with the letter X, tells of how very important this last letter really is.

CORRI STEPHENSON read her four page short story, written for Fan Fiction.net,  is entitled, “The Uprising,” and describes a change in the Harry Potter series as Harry enters the doors of the Great Hall and encounters a sign reading “Don’t touch anything and get out!” Harry also notices a small golden birdcage hanging from the door handle.

PAULA STEPHENSON read one of her favorite poems written by Robert Frost, “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” describing nature’s first green as gold and ending with “Nothing gold can stay.”

CYNTHIA WILSON read her one stanza poem entitled, “Aggressiveness.”  The poem describes the various beautiful colors of the monarch butterfly to the colors of life.

The meeting adjourned at 7:45 P.M.

Respectfully submitted:

SHARON BUCKMAN