Minutes for October 19, 2011

BOO! Trick or Treat!

MEMBERS PRESENT: Sharon Buckman, George Miga, Sharon Jesik, Beverly Stanislawski, Tom Spencer, Charlotte Brislen, Jessica Bard, Pam Gonzalez, Audrey Warzyniak, Michelle Vargas, Jane Burns, Tom Molnar,Kelly Chase, Sandra Nantais, Sharon Palmeri, Neil Bedeker, Liz Wilson

NEWS:
1. BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI stated she is just waiting to hear from some of her poetry entries in various contests and hasn't been doing much writing lately.

2. AUDREY WARZYNIAK brought us some candy to go with our Halloween cookies and was happy to announce that due to one of her children moving out she now has her own office.

3. MICHELLE VARGAS was able to write (in completion) a very realistic Halloween story in 2 1/2 hrs for tonight’s meeting.

4. PAMELA GONZALEZ had started to write a children's story but decided that it would be best suited for adults.

5. JESSICA BARD has been having a difficult time trying to get back into writing and therefore has done very little since her last visit with WOH. She mentioned that her grandfather, also a WOH member, has been under the weather lately -- but she is really hoping to be able to bring him to the Christmas party.

6. KELLY CHASE has been busy working on her novel, "The Ring," and keeping up with her schoolwork.

7. CHARLOTTE BRISLEN informed us that her grandson, who is in his high school’s band, recently took first place in the Washington, D.C. contest.

8. SHARON JESIK has been continuing with work on her novel, "Corn Dancer."

9. JANE BURNS stated she is still busy working and editing her novel, "Atalanta."

10. TOM SPENCER stated he is still waiting for his poem in"Festival of Souls" to be published.

11. TOM MOLNAR had just returned from his trip to Italy three hours before attending our meeting (how's that for stamina). He left the sunshine and warm temperature to come back home on a very chilly, rainy and blustery day - hopefully we picked up his mood.

12. GEORGE MIGA has been busy working on a synopsis for his book, "Medal of Dishonor." He is in the process of trying to find a good publisher.

13. SANDRA NANTAIS has been busy writing poetry and working on a photo shoot the for Valparaiso University Women’s Bowling Team.

14. NEIL BEDEKER stated he is still fighting with his computer (we all understand that one). Neil will also be attending a book signing at a book store in Dyer.

15. SHARON PALMERI stated this past week has not been a very good one for her. After her computer crashed (the one she uses the most) her TV broke. On top of all this she stated her husband hasn't been feeling well this past week. Sharon reminded members to bring a $10, or less, present for the gift exchange at our Christmas Party, Dec. 7th at the Lakes of the Four Seasons Country Club.

16. SHARON BUCKMAN confessed she hasn't done much writing the past couple of weeks, she has been on a camping trip with her husband and friends.

17. LIZ WILSON has been busy working on her novel, "Grindylow."

READINGS:

SHARON BUCKMAN read her Halloween short story entitled, "All Hallows Eve." The story told of a retired couple moving to a small town in southern Ill. and the wife encountering an "intruder" in her husband's absence.

GEORGE MIGA read the synopsis of his novel, "Medal of Dishonor." The synopsis was well received by the members and a few suggested changes were made.

SHARON JESIK stated she has reached the point in her novel, "Corn Dancer," where she is now working on the "uncut" part of it. In this part of her novel, Doty is practicing her ghostly ways on her friends as well as the two sheriff's officers.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read her Halloween story, "One Scary Night, " which tells of a couple of young boys intentions of visiting a "haunted house" to scare the old man and his dog that live there. The story has a very surprising and funny ending.

TOM SPENCER'S nine stanza poem, in conjunction with our Halloween theme, related to "all souls return from hell" and was entitled "The River's Song."

CHARLOTTE BRISLEN read a short memoir entitled, "But Officer." The memoir told of Charlotte, shortly after having received her driver's license, being pulled over by a police car for driving at night without her lights on, making her children believe they were going to jail

AUDREY WARZYNIAK brought along a brochure on tips for writing. These tips also included "having a thick skin" to prepare for all the rejections you will receive and the
discipline that is needed.

MICHELLE VARGAS read her untitled story which told of a Gary, Ind. minister being
murdered on his front porch - parts of her story were based on true happenings back in
the 1900's.

JANE BURNS read her short story entitled, "Fall Colors." The story tells of a woman trying to remember something that had happened to her and had taken place in a canoe; this also involved the drowning of her daughter.

TOM MOLNAR shared his short story entitled, "The Secret in the Woods." The story involved three women going into the woods and beginning a cadence that involved white powder, and dancing in circles to spread the powder. The purpose of all of this was to lose weight.

KELLY CHASE read two pages from her novel, "The Ring." In this part of her story Kristine was involved in an auto accident that she miraculously quickly recovered from due to her ring.

SANDRA NANTAIS read her comical version of how to prepare a "Devil's Food Cake." for your own birthday. The clue to this is she would never eat any of it.

NEIL BEDEKER read the prologue to his story, "Dark Heart, White City." The prologue, placed back in Sept. of 1866, told of two ruffians planning on scaring a younger child named Mudgie.The story ended with the friendless Mudgie turning the tables on the two ruffians.

LIZ WILSON read four pages of her novel, "The Grindylow." The story began with a young woman hitchhiking on a cold winters night along a country road. After being picked up by a truck driver she realized he had other intentions apart from giving her a ride.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:40 P.M.

Respectfully submitted:

SHARON BUCKMAN

MINUTES FOR OCTOBER 5, 2011

BOO!

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Sharon Palmeri, Beverly Stanislawski, Sharon Dorelli, Donna Douglass, Ron Trigg, Charlotte Brislen, Sandra Nantais, Tom Spencer, Sharon Jesik, Pamela Gonzalez, Jane Burns, Carol Castaneda, Kathy Flotz, Jackie Huppanthall, Neil Bedeker, Kelly Chase, Laurie Chase, Brenda Havens

NEWS:

1. KELLY CHASE is back in school and it has been taking up most of her time.

2. LAURIE CHASE has a new job but unfortunately, because of the days and hours, she will have to miss her WOH meetings for awhile.

3. JANE BURNS has been busy editing and researching the book she is working on, which she describes as “post-modern narrative and techniques”.

4. SHARON JESIK is back after being gone for couple of weeks and is getting back into writing again.

5. TOM SPENCER didn’t say much about his week but was heard mentioning something about the Cubs :-)

6. SANDRA NANTAIS will be displaying some of her photography in Lowell shortly, and she has been busy helping Tom with the Indiana Poets Society.

7. CHARLOTTE BRISLEN has been busy with work.

8. DONNA DOUGLASS has been enjoying going to the lake to write. She will be traveling to Birmingham, Alabama to visit with her grandson and will be gone for our next meeting. She also attended several classes held at Purdue/Calumet.

9: RON TRIGG was celebrating his birthday today. He’s had many visitors over the past few weeks and has not had much time for writing.

10. SHARON DORELLI has been busy baking cookies to send to her grandchildren and is “cookied out”.

11. BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI has been fighting printer problems but has won another poem contest, this time winning third place.

12. JACKIE HUPPENTHAL has been too busy to write but did attend a presentation by Kathy Flotz at the United Methodist Church in Crown Point on Sept. 23rd.

13. KATHY FLOTZ shared about her presentation of her autobiographical book, “Pebble in My Shoe” at the United Methodist Church in Crown Point on Sept. 23rd, where she sold sixteen copies of her book. Kathy will be giving another presentation of her book on November 13th at Trinity Lutheran Church in Merrillville, IN.

14. PAMELA GONZALEZ has been busy with work.

15. BRENDA HAVENS has started working on a blog she plans on putting online soon.

15. NEAL BEDEKER has been working on a sequel to his book “The Cassidy Posse”. He also attended a class at Purdue/Calumet on the Chicago World’s Fair as research for his sequel.

16. CAROL CASTANEDA became a member of WOH. She has been doing a little writing and just returned from a trip to Nashville.

17. SHARON PALMERI has been busy going through all the books written by WOH members over the past 22 years. 25 people have published books. She is planning on scanning the covers to put on the WOH website. If any members have had a book published that she can add to the list, she asked that they please let her know.

Also, Sharon suggested members check out www.chicagohumanities.org for things to do around the Chicago area during this beautiful fall season.

Busy working to put together the new Horizons Magazine, Sharon printed up a copy of the artwork for the cover and shared it at the meeting and it looks wonderful. A photo contest was held for the magazine cover and the winning entry was by our very own WOH member, Sandra Nantais.

Sharon announced that Bill Allegrezza from Indiana University posted that they are looking for submissions for Spirits Magazine by IUN. She said he also has a online poetry site (Moria) that accepts submissions.


READINGS:

LAURIE CHASE read “The Character Called Milton”, a story about an incident her father experienced when he served in Korea.

KELLY CHASE continued her story “The Wolf”, about a girl who is bitten by a werewolf.

BRENDA HAVENS shared the opening scenes of a novella, “Pearls” about two characters who, as teenagers, shared an incident on a tropical island. One of the characters, Peter, revisits the place years later.

NEIL BEDEKER continued his short story “Old Fib”, about a farm family working to store hay and the neighbor “Old Fib” who comes to help them.

KATHY FLOTZ continued her story “The Journey” set in post-WWII Europe, about a family separated during the war.

JANE BURNS continued “The Fall Colors”, a story about a woman who meets the Lord and Lady of the Dead.

TOM SPENCER shared his poem “To The Ugly American”, which covered the seven deadly sins.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read her poem “The Luck of Canary Jones”, loosely based on her father. This poem was the 2nd place winner of a contest.

SANDRA NANTAIS read “Vogue or Gatsby? Definitely Chic and Classy”, a poem she wrote about an old family photo of her grandmother.

CHARLOTTE BRISLEN also read a poem, “Fire, Fire, Pants on Fire”, a poem about a fire drill, from the teacher’s perspective.

SHARON DORELLI read her poem “Nightmare” about, well...you guessed it :-)

RON TRIGG read “Four Men in a Hospital Ward”, another chapter from his memoirs “Moments on an African Landscape”, about his time spent in an African hospital ward.

SHARON JESIK continued her story “Corn Dancer”. In this piece, four characters meeting for dinner at dead Dotty’s house enter into conversations about Dotty and the strange things that have surrounded her mysterious death.

DONNA DOUGLASS read “Dessert” from her memoirs, about a wild office party she attended in 1967.

Before the meeting ended a suggestion was made to have next meeting be a spooky or Halloween type theme.

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

Respectfully submitted:

PAMELA CAIN GONZALEZ

MINUTES FOR SEPTEMBER 21, 2011

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Jane Burns, Tom Spencer, Donna Douglass, Pam Gonzalez, Sharon Buckman, Kathy Flotz, George Miga, Tom Molnar, Beverly Stanislawski, Charlotte Brislen, Ron Trigg, Neil Bedeker, Sharon Palmeri, Michelle Vargas, Liz Wilson, Laurie Chase, Kelly Chase, Brenda Havens

NEWS:

1. KATHY FLOTZ, after just returning from Wisconsin, is scheduled with her husband, George, for a speaking engagement at the United Methodist Church in Crown Point on Sept. 23rd. She will be promoting her book, "Pebble in My Shoe."

2. BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI has been notified by the Kentucky Poetry Society that she has taken second place, along with two honorable mentions, for the three poems she had entered. Congratulations Bev!

3. PAMELA GONZALEZ stated she has been getting ready for the Craft & Auto Show at Chapel Lawn on Sept. 24th. She also mentioned that Osborne Books (from Great Britain) has purchased a space to promote their books.

4. CHARLOTTE BRISLEN mentioned that she has just recently had surgery and is now getting back to writing.

5. RON TRIGG is continuing with his work on his African project. He also stated that he recently enjoyed some visitors from South Africa as well as having his pictures published in the "Shirley Heinz Land Trust" magazine.

6. DONNA DOUGLASS took another quick trip to Lake Michigan. She stated she enjoyed another beautiful day as well as getting some writing done. She also mentioned attending a Purdue Calumet event called the Friday University, the event included a breakfast and lunch for $40 with the guest speakers discussing character development.

7. NEIL BEDEKER stated he was beginning to enjoy walking again after some recent back problems.

8. LIZ WILSON stated her husband has gone back to his teaching and she has been working on her new novel, finishing with the second chapter.

9. TOM SPENCER mentioned that he has been "reading & writing," a little of each.

10. MICHELLE VARGAS stated that she had received an honorary award for "The Light of the World." She is now working on a short story - welcome back Michelle!

11. JANE BURNS is still doing a "radical revision" on her novel, "Atalanta."

12. GEORGE MIGA received a rejection notification concerning a short story he had recently entered. Sorry George; it’s their loss.

13. TOM MOLNAR stated he has been exploring the idea of E-Books for his novel, "Dark Age Maiden" as well as his non-fiction book, "Challenging the Changing World." Welcome back Tom!

14. SHARON BUCKMAN stated has been attending quite a number of funerals in the past two weeks, leaving little time for writing.

15. LAURIE CHASE stated she is now working at Sears and has an interview coming up with Carsons. She also stated that she has heard from ARC of N.W. Indiana concerning employment - things seem to be changing for the better in her life.

16. KELLY CHASE hasn't been able to do much writing - she is now in her senior year and has lots of schoolwork.

17. SHARON PALMERI stated she has been trying to decide which of the two stories to enter in the magazine, either of the two she previously finished, or a memoir that she is currently working on. She is currently teaching a class on Publishing in the 21st Century, and her writing class on Writing Children's Books begins in October. She has also been busy working with the radio station at Indiana University NW. She also mentioned she just recently attended the Chicago Radio Show 2011.

18. BRENDA HAVENS has just returned from a ten day trip to Long Beach, Calif. She also signed up for a seminar on writing Young Adult Novels.

READINGS:

JANE BURNS read the beginning of her story, "The Fall Colors." In the beginning of the story a young woman named Allison Bloom awakes to find herself in completely unfamiliar surroundings. She begins to have a conversation with a woman who’s name seems vaguely familiar but she is unable to place it. Allison begins to feel that she must have fallen and hit her head since she can find nothing else to account for all the strange happenings.

TOM SPENCER wrote a short story entitled, "Complacency of Place." The fictitious story starts with Tom preparing for his annual Labor Day party and hearing sirens coming down Main St. in Lowell. He then witnesses police officers trying to stop a robbery in progress. Later that day a friend asked, "Doesn’t anything ever happen in Lowell besides this infernal parade?"

DONNA DOUGLASS read her two page short story entitled, "Pan Am." The story relates some of the events that took place when Donna applied for a job with Pan Am and later turned down.

SHARON BUCKMAN read her short comical screenplay entitled, "The Right To Shut Up." It tells of a very bossy woman trying to entice her neighbors to begin a new Homeowners Assn. (in which she would be the president) and start an elaborate new park.

KATHY FLOTZ read her six stanza poem entitled, "The Sunsets of My Life." The poem tells of the various sunsets she has seen, some enduring hunger, pain and fear, and ends with realizing it was always God's gift to her.

GEORGE MIGA read three pages from his novel, "Medal of Dishonor." In this part of the novel Spencer McCall begins to feel threatened of losing his position by the board of directors. He decides to take some time off and renew his relationship with a woman journalist by taking her on a "beautifully extravagant" short trip.

TOM MOLNAR read two pages of his non-fiction novel entitled, "The Challenge of a Changing World." In this second chapter of his novel, Tom tells of the differences of our present day lives compared to our great grandparents, and reviews all the technological and cultural changes.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read her five stanza poem entitled "Eyes Wide Open." The poem tells of a mother letting her daughter "test her wings" so that she may envision the wonders she and her mother enjoyed.

CHARLOTTE BRISLEN read a short memoir telling of a favorite uncle teaching her how to "go to sleep."

RON TRIGG continued with two pages from his novel, "Moments on an African Landscape." This part of the novel was entitled The Blessed Virgin of Zongo and related to his travel through Zaire on Christmas Eve and attending a small church where they were relating an reenactment of the Christmas Story. At the end of the reenactment he found everyone laughing - it seems the Virgin Mary actress was far from being a virgin.

NEIL BEDEKER read a two page memoir entitled, "Old Fib." The memoir related his life as a child on his grandfather's farm and a 67yr. old worker that could never tell the truth. The story ended with the sorrow he felt of having to take his grandfather's job of working the "trip rope" away from him.

LIZ WILSON continued with Chapter Two of "Grindylow." The story tells of Kelsey reaching a gas station on a cold snowy night and finding it closed. She was forced to try and find someplace warm and finally encountered a restaurant that was closing. She was forced to finally accept the charity of the owner, offering her some warm food and a place to stay.

LAURIE CHASE read a short story poem entitled, "A Shelter Pup," a true account of how they adopted their dog, Sam. The story also included a photograph of Laurie and Sam.

KELLY CHASE began reading her newest novel, "Wolf." The story began with a woman stranded in the "middle of nowhere" on a cold December night in a car that refuses to start. After getting out of her car she begins to hear the howling of a wolf but is unable to get back into the car before the wolf attacks her.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:20 P.M.

Respectfully submitted:

SHARON BUCKMAN

WOH MINUTES FOR SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

MEMBERS PRESENT:

George Miga, Jane Burns, Donna Douglass, Beverly Stanislawski, Sharon Buckman, Kathy Flotz, Pamela Gonzalez, Charlotte Brislen, Sharon Jesik, Tom Spencer, Ron Trigg, Michelle Bass, Brenda Havens, Sharon Palmeri, Sharon Dorelli, Jackie Huppenthal

GUESTS PRESENT:
Tom Molnar

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS:
Michelle Bass
Brenda Havens

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Sharon Palmeri stated that the deadline for submissions for the Hoosier Horizon magazine is September 30th.

NEWS:

1. KATHY FLOTZ stated that her and her husband, George, would be guest speakers at the First Methodist Church in Crown Point for the promotion of her book, Pebble In My Shoe.

2. SHARON BUCKMAN stated that she would be having more time for writing. She will be caring for her grandson only on the weekends.

3. MICHELLE BASS, formerly a member of WOH, is now back with us and stated that her writer's block seems to be gone. She is looking forward to continue with her writing of science fiction stories.

4. BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI has been continuing with her poetry and has recently entered another poetry contest with a submission entitled, "Grandmother Earth."

5. TOM MOLNAR, also recently returning to WOH, has been busy writing a non-fiction book entitled, "Christianity, Challenging the Changing World." He also announced he has finished his book, "Dark Age Maiden."

6. GEORGE MIGA stated he is still "hanging out in public libraries" doing family research on his newest endeavor.

7. BRENDA HAVENS, our newest guest, told us she was a former English and ESL teacher in East Chicago. She was also a journalist, working for various newspapers doing feature articles, etc. She is looking forward to possibly writing a novel.

8. RON TRIGG stated he attended a family reunion in Cairo, Ill. at which the only person he really knew was his sister Ron did, however, find an interesting relative he would like to write about.

9. TOM SPENCER said he has gotten back into his writing doing poetry, short stories as well as working on a novel.

10. JANE BURNS stated she is working on editing chapter seven of her novel, "Atalanta."

11. SHARON JESIK introduced another book she enjoyed reading entitled, "Fall of Giants," written by Ken Folleck. She also recommended another book, written by the same author, entitled "Pillars of the Earth."

12. DONNA DOUGLASS told us she had recently enjoyed spending some time at the Dunes. She recommended it to anyone who might need some inspiration in their writing, it helped her tremendously.

13. JACKIE HUPPENTHAL has been busy writing poetry. She also reminded us of the banquet on Oct. 20th for the Indiana Writer's Consortium at the Avalon Hall in Merrillville. The fee is $27 for members and $30 for non-members. If you wish
to reserve a space to sell your book the fee is $10.

14.CHARLOTTE BRISLEN stated she has been working on "memoir type" stories and thought she might enjoy writing stories for children.

15. SHARON DORELLI has been working on a non-fiction book regarding sociopathy.

16. PAMELA GONZALEZ reminded us of the Craft & Auto Show at Chapel Lawn on September 24th for which she has been busy making posters, etc. The show will benefit the American Diabetes Assn. and will also have places setup for authors to sell their bopioks.

17. SHARON PALMERI stated she has been busy getting ready for submissions of the Hoosier Horizon magazine and flyer.
She is also finished with the DVD she was working on for her class reunion. She will soon begin her Monday class for Publishing in the 21st Century at the Merrillville High School. Sharon reminded the members that the WOH Christmas banquet will be on December 7th and there will be no regular meeting in December.

READINGS:

SHARON BUCKMAN read her true story, concerning her autistic grandson, entitled, "Danny Be Good." The story relates to a happening at a Walmart store several years prior and how a customer at the store changed her opinion of a "spoiled child" and then became a helpful bystander.

KATHY FLOTZ continued with her novel, "The Journey." In this part of her novel, taking place at the end of WWII, Michael Brenner, a soldier trying to find his family, is traveling on a train through Germany and encounters several people trying to help him. One woman offers him a pair of her husband's pants to help make him more presentable when he finds them.

GEORGE MIGA read his short story entitled, "The Other Man." The story takes place in 1967 following WW II and concerns a Japanese pilot who is unaware the war has ended. Finding an old Japanese war plane on the island where he has been hiding, he sets about putting it in flying condition so he can continue with the war, justifying his long absence.

DONNA DOUGLASS read her true short story concerning the eventual death of her brother. The brother, having been shot 20 yrs. prior by the man dubbed the "Shotgun Killer," was forced to live the rest of his life in severe physical, emotional and psychological pain. The story concluded with Donna accidentally encountering a friend of the murderer.

RON TRIGG continued with his novel, "Moments on an African Landscape." Ron, having spent 4 yrs. in South Africa, related part two of his novel entitled, "Tomorrow Mandela Will Be Free." This part of the story begins at the end of the Apartheid Regime and tells of the beginning of a "wonderful day" when Mandela was finally released.

JANE BURNS wrote a short memoir entitled, "Toes." Remembering Sunday mornings with her family, Jane tells of the game her mother used to play with her and her sister, "This Little Piggy," and the wonderful breakfast her father would fix later.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read her poem entitled, "Poop Scoop." This comical poem relates to the endurance required to go through with a colonoscopy, even though it turned out well.

TOM SPENCER read his poem "Oligarchy Our Oil-anarchy," relating to the logic, or lack of it, with our society. The last line reads "selfish souls of creature comfort greed, fools indeed."

SHARON JESIK continued with her novel, "Corn Dancer." In this part of the novel, Luck shows his friends, Robert and Yan, downloaded photos of a trip he took with his friend, Gar. The photos reveal a snake, ready to strike, that was not seen when the original picture was taken, concluding with other "mysterious happenings' since their friends death.

CHARLOTTE BRISLEN read her two page memoir entitled, "Up In The Air, Junior Birdman." The memoir tells of her life growing up with two deaf parents and three sisters and the trouble they got into when "flying" through the air from the dresser in their parents’ bedroom and landing on the bed, breaking it down.

TOM MOLNAR read two pages from Chapter Eight of his novel "Dark Age Maiden." In this part of his novel Tom tells of a young maiden named Carina who still tries to decide between two lovers and ending with the realization of loving the man who is the least capable of caring for her.

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

SHARON BUCKMAN

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

MINUTES FOR JULY 20, 2011

MEMBERS PRESENT:
Laurie Chase, Kelly Chase, Katherine Flotz, Sharon Jesik, Ron Trigg, George Miga, Pamela Gonzalez, Sharon Palmeri, Jane Burns, Kathy Dzubla, Sandra Nantais, Neil Bedeker.

GUESTS PRESENT:
Fran Van Vynckt
Luneil Morrow

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Sharon Palmeri announced that the deadline for members to submit to this year’s Hoosier Horizon Magazine is September 30. She mentioned that the guidelines have changed this year because of the growth of our membership. She encouraged all to visit the WOH blog for details. Sharon also asked for a raise of hands of those who have been visiting the blog lately. When not many hands went up Sharon proclaimed a pox on all our houses – jokingly, of course. She encouraged us to check it out as there have been many changes and she has added many helpful links. Also, we should visit the blog to read the new meeting rules and the Hoosier Horizon guidelines.

NEWS:

1. PAM GONZALEZ stated she took a vacation with her husband and didn’t have time for writing this time around.

2. GEORGE MIGA shared how he has been researching his family genealogy and shared the story of a family member that was murdered in the 1920’s. An idea for a new book?

3. NEIL BEDEKER announced that his published book will be coming out in e-book format.

4. RON TRIGG is also involved in genealogical research and is planning to visit Poland. He is studying the Polish language in preparation for his trip.

5. JANE BURNS has been busy rewriting and editing chapter 4 of her story Atalanta. Now she is in the process of writing chapter 5.

6. SHARON JESIK has been busy writing, editing and rethinking point of view for the story she has been working on, Corn Dancer.

7. FRAN VAN VINCKT visited us for the first time. She shared that her daughter found us online and suggested she visit. Welcome Fran!

8. KATHY DZUBLA told us about a box of old books she purchased at an auction. She brought a couple of the books to show. Sharon Palmeri identified one as having been printed in 1901.

9. LUNEIL MORROW was also visiting WOH for the first time, although she is familiar to several members through another writers group, Magic Hour Writers. Luneil shared that she has started to explore poetry writing. Welcome Luneil!

10. SANDRA NANTAIS said she has been busy volunteering and also has been busy designing a website for the Northwest Indiana Poetry Society. She said she has been researching for different forms of poetry.

11. KATHERINE FLOTZ told us how she gave five pages of The Journey to her granddaughter, who proceeded to critique her writing.

12. KELLY CHASE said she is done with school for the summer and is bored. Being that she has had nothing to do, she has found plenty of time to write.

13. LAURA CHASE shared that she has a new 9 lb. “mongrel” addition to her family. She also has been taking piano lessons, and because she is also a singer, she has been pursuing the possibility of making a music CD.

14. SHARON PALMERI will soon be free from planning two large events that will be taking place soon. She is looking forward to spending more time on WOH. She has been searching for a location and ordered gifts for our Christmas party. Also, Sharon has been thinking of a way to create a special fund for hosting a special event or for bringing in a special speaker. To raise those funds, she brought in 50-50 raffle tickets for $1.00 each. A drawing for the winner will be at the Christmas party. Whoever wins will get half the funds in the pot. The other half will go to the special fund.

READINGS:

KATHERINE FLOTZ read one page from The Journey, continuing her post-WWII story of Martha and her children. In this passage, Martha recalls how she met her missing husband.

LAURIE CHASE shared a reading from what she described as “a mild science fiction” story, Fast Forward, the story of Kelly O’Callaghan, who finds herself pushed forward through time to the 24th century.

SHARON JESIK continued with her ghost story novel, Corn Dancer, set in Santa Fe. This reading follows Luck, Gar and Cinda as they experience strange occurrences surrounding the death of their friend Doty.

RON TRIGG shared a reading of his memoirs titled The Old Dusty Road, about visiting his grandparents, who lived in Bellair, Illinois.

GEORGE MIGA read a portion of his short story, The Other Man, about a Japanese soldier hiding in New Guinea thirty years after the end of WWII.

SANDRA NANTAIS shared a Triolet poem titled Assembly Line. At the bottom of the page Sandra gave a helpful explanation as to how a Triolet poem is to be written.

KATHY DZUBLA read two opinion pieces, Casey vs Caylee and One Last Breath, both about the aftermath of the Casey Anthony trial and how Caylee’s death points to a larger picture of Kathy’s own personal convictions.

JANE BURNS also shared a memoir piece, titled Kissing the Limitless, where Jane revisits the deaths and funerals of her grandparents.

KELLY CHASE gave us more from her story, The Ring, a tale about a ring with magical powers.

NEIL BEDEKER read what he describes as “a Southern Florida Noir piece” titled Torch Key. He read a portion of the fictional story set in the Florida Keys.

FRAN VAN VYNCKT read her children’s story Elmer, the Fast food Seagull, about a seagull named Elmer who discovers the joys and consequences of eating too many French fries.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 P.M.

Respectfully submitted:
Pamela Gonzalez