AUGUST 6, 2014

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Sharon Palmeri, Beverly Stanislawski, Katherine Flotz, Sharon Buckman, Tom Spencer, George Miga, Bob Moulesong, John Boufis, Denise Taylor, Janice Beier, Donna Douglass, Neil Bedeker, Sharon Dorelli, Jackie Huppenthal, Paul Mulligan, Mike Musak

GUESTS PRESENT:

Kay Depel, Victor Marmolejo

OLD BUSINESS:

A vote of approval for the July 16,2014 meeting minutes was first given by DENISE TAYLOR and seconded by JANICE BEIER.

NEW BUSINESS:

SHARON  PALMERI mentioned that if the members would state whether or not they are planning on reading and if so what they will read (poem, short story, etc.) as they respond to her E-mail, it would be helpful in the planning of the meeting.

READINGS:

PAUL MULLIGAN continued with his novel, Be Brave Now Die.  In this part of the novel, Carl and Darlene are saved from an attack by several punks as they board a bus with an all-state defensive lineman on board.  After leaving the bus Carl and Darlene climb into her dad’s parked car and engage in their first sexual love affair.

DENISE TAYLOR continued with Chapter 3, “We’re Seniors!,” from her novel, All the Little Secrets.  The story continues with Jenny openly defying JoAnne by saying she would not be attending the Friday night party if they were serving beer.  The girls soon found out why JoAnne managed to stay in a good mood and not start a fight with Jenny, it seems she had found a new boyfriend.

DONNA DOUGLASS read the second part of her three part memoir, “Kansas Heat.”  In this part of her memoir Donna told of her trip to Kansas with her boyfriend, Sam, to meet his family.  After picking up his mother they traveled to McPherson, Kansas, to meet his grandparents and the place where he was raised.   Donna was in for quite a shock when seeing the old shed, chicken house, where he and his siblings were forced to live.

TOM SPENCER brought his beautiful free form poem entitled, “Mourning Morning Shadows.”  The poem tells of beginning life as the child “embarks upon adventure” and later “in a world of failed graces, memories of places – Another world beyond?”

JACKIE HUPPENTHAL read two quatrain poems.  The first poem entitled, “Picnic in the Park,” told of a romantic picnic “under the crescent moon.”  The second humorous poem entitled, “Lupe,” told of the family dog destroying most everything in the house but completely “ignores her toys and bones.”

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI brought her five stanza poem entitled, “Homecoming.”  The poem told of the disappointment of returning to the place where you grew up only to find nothing as you remembered.  The poem ended by comparing to something Thomas Wolfe once wrote – “you can’t go home again.”

BOB MOULESONG read the first part of his three part short story entitled, “Planter’s Moon.”  The story began with a young housewife, Emma, inspecting the damage done to her by her husband the night before.  Feeling overwhelmed by her terrible existence she decides to take her baby into town to the grocery store and runs into an old boyfriend who gives her sympathy.

JOHN BOUFIS continued with four pages of his story, Seeping.  In this part of the story John has a spirited debate with his friend Dave about the ethics and morality of cheating death and the decisions made by insurance companies that affect people.

JANICE BEIER continued with her short story entitled, “Midnight Caller.”  After being able to keep a confessed killer on the phone until the police were able to trace the call, DJ Reginald Hawkins is later contacted by the killer asking him to come to the jail, saying he has “something for him.”

SHARON BUCKMAN continued with her novel, Beyond the Canopy.  In this part of the sequel Anne decides to help Sally with her milking chores when she is accosted by a stranger.  After managing to escape from the abductor he manages to catch up with her only to be hit by Sally’s car as he reaches Anne.

MIKE MUSAK read the revised first chapter of his novel, Habits Change.  In the revised version of his novel  the focus is on Michelle Januson as she tries to convince her mother that her class had been cancelled since everyone would be attending the football game that night – including her.

NEIL BEDEKER continued with Chapter 3 of his novel, Early Retirement.  This part of the story begins with Mitch being told he was losing his job as a tenure teacher.   His name and picture was all over the news media showing him “standing with this wild-looking, red-headed chick in the pond at Woodstock.”

VICTOR MARMOLEJO read his work  “Scene l: The Tsar’s Coronation,” telling of the tragic tale of Anastasia and ending before the exit chorus with “in rule and pride, may yet destroy his kin, The greatest threat to crown and darkest sin.”

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 P.M.

Respectfully submitted:

SHARON BUCKMAN