MINUTES FOR NOVEMBER 16, 2011

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Note: See Sharon Buckman's cookie recipe at the bottom of this post.

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Sharon Buckman, Jane Burns, Sharon Dorelli, Donna Douglass, Gail Galvin, George Miga, Carol Castaneda, Beverly Stanislawski, Tom Spencer, Michelle Vargas, Sharon Palmeri, Neil Bedeker, Pam Gonzalez

NEWS:

SHARON DORELLI stated that she just became a grandmother again, her first son’s first child. The grandchild was a girl they named Margo Alise.

NEIL BEDEKER talked about his coming book signing at the Cat’s Tale Bookstore. The bookstore is on Rt. 30 in Schererville and the book signing will be from 11:00 to 2:00 on Sat. Nov. 19th concerning his book “The Cassidy POSSE.”

DONNA DOUGLASS, who had previously had written and published a book entitled “Manage Your Time, Work, Yourself,” signed for the rights to be published in Japan. She was also asked to do a business book for women.

MICHELLE VARGAS stated she is taking an advanced psychology course, online.

TOM SPENCER stated he continues writing every day, basically short stories and poems.

GAIL GALVAN, presently working on a poem, has also been redoing the cover and epilogue of one of her books entitled “A Nonviable Option Suicide? Not.” Gail has had “at least” twelve published books.

GEORGE MIGA is still working on his book, “Medal of Dishonor,” as well as a new novel which is based on a true story concerning his aunt. This novel involves a lot of research about the 1920’s.

JANE BURNS stated she has reached the half way point in editing her novel, “Atalanta.”

CAROL CASTANEDA stated she has been busy re-arranging all of her writings.

PAMELA GONZALEZ was forced to buy a new laptop after her old one broke down, causing the loss of all her previous digital graphics work.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI has been busy revising and editing some of her poems as well as helping an ill neighbor.

SHARON BUCKMAN stated she was recently able to attend the taping of the Rosie O’Donnell show which featured Jane Fonda as the guest speaker.

SHARON PALMERI wanted to encourage all the members to go on our blog site. Sharon recently added more pictures as well as information about the members taken from each members bio. Sharon also stated the new Hoosier Horizon books “came out perfect.” She reminded those attending the Christmas Party about the gift exchange – that is: if they wanted to participate in it, to bring a non-gender gift.

READINGS:

GEORGE MIGA read a part of the transcript involving his book, “Medal of Dishonor.” The transcript took place in a military hospital room and involved a patient, Cordell Jackson, and his physician. The transcript hopefully will later prove that Cordell deserves to be the recipient of The Medal of Honor following the bravery he displayed during the Battle of the Bulge.

MICHELLE VARGAS continued with her story, “A Most Vehement Flame.” This part of the story continued in 1946 and told of a special “gift” belonging to a boy named Melvin, involving an aura of light that only Jesse could see, which changed the outcome of whatever Melvin desired.

DONNA DOUGLASS read her memoir of a long ago Christmas which involved 22 family members coming to her house and staying for four days. The memoir entitled, “A Modern Family Christmas,” told of all the things that can go wrong when you have that many people for that period of time.

JANE BURNS read Chapter 4 entitled, “By My Mother’s Blessing,” from her book “Atalanta.” The story continued with the young seven year old girl, Atalanta, being captured by some hunters and taken back to their village after she had previously lived in the wild all of her life. After she had been taken in by a local midwife to raise, the midwife found her to be a very destructive child.

SHARON BUCKMAN read her one page story entitled “Joys of Writing.” The story told of the complications of writing when you have an “old relic” for a computer.

TOM SPENCER brought his four stanza poem entitled, “Sonata of Thanksgiving.” The poem related to the beautiful comparison of a Thanksgiving meal to a sonata.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read her three stanza poem entitled “Soldiers of the Corn.” The poem compared a field of corn to soldiers standing at attention during field maneuvers.

NEIL BEDEKER continued with his story, “Dark Heart – White City.” The story, taking place in Chicago one year before the World’s Fair in 1893, told of the friction between the Chicago police department and the 2500 top security men called the Columbian Guards.

SHARON DORELLI read her four stanza poem entitled “Abandoned.” The poem tells of mankind, “trapped in the maze of adulthood,” after they believe their “Creator has long since gone.

ANONYMOUS G.G. read her poem “Life Jacket.” The poem, dedicated to Al-anon, Serenity, and Lost Potential, told of people living in crisis learning to take one day at a time. A beautiful poem entitled: An Afternoon at the Tippecanoe, was also read by her.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:25 P.M.

Respectfully submitted:

SHARON BUCKMAN

Footnote by Sharon Palmeri:

To add a little "flavor" to our minutes we have added a cookie recipe since so many people liked Sharon Buckman's cookies. You never know...we may be adding more favorite cookie recipes next year -- who knows....

"HELLO DOLLIE" RECIPE

1 cup of graham cracker crumbs

1 stick of butter

1 cup of chocolate chips

1 cup of coconut

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 can of Eagle Brand condensed milk

Put stick of butter in 9 x 13 pan and place in oven at 350 degrees.

After butter melts sprinkle crumbs evenly over bottom of pan with

butter. Follow same procedure with rest of ingredients and ending

with pouring Eagle Brand over the top. Bake l/2 hr. at 350 degrees.

MINUTES FOR NOVEMBER 2, 2011

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Carol Castaneda, George Miga, Sharon Buckman,Tom Molnar, Sharon Buckman, Sharon Jesik, Tom Spencer, Jane Burns,Neil Bedeker, Donna Douglass, Charlotte Brislen, Pam Gonzalez, Sharon Dorelli, Kathy Flotz, BeverlyStanislawski, Ron Trigg, Gail Galvan, Liz Wilson, Mike Musak, Sharon Palmeri

NEWS:

SHARON DORELLI stated that she will probably be out of work in two months, forced retirement.

PAM GONZALEZ said she is back to work after her one week vacation, out of all the things she enjoyed the most was getting to visit with her grandkids.

CHARLOTTE BRISLEN stated she has been working on a short story.

DONNA DOUGLASS has recently been enjoying reading two Van Gogh books, Van Gogh, A Life, and Starry Starry Night. Donna has also been working on a research project advocating Creative Arts.

NEIL BEDEKER will be doing some book signing at the Cats Tale Bookstore on Nov. 19^th. The bookstore is located in Schererville on Rt. 30.

RON TRIGG is still working on his African project and is also getting ready to make a trip to New Orleans.

TOM SPENCER has just returned from McCormick’s Creek State Park where he attended an Indiana State Poetry Meeting. We learned that our very talented member received 14 awards for his poetry. Tom stated that next year’s meeting will be at the Turkey Run State Park.

JANE BURNS stated that she is still busy editing chapters 7 & 8 of her novel but due to a bad cold has not been able to do much else.

SHARON JESIK stated she has enjoyed a GOOD two weeks of writing. She decided it was necessary to change the name of one of the leading characters in her novel, she was afraid it was too confusing.

GEORGE MIGA, after welcoming an old friend, Carol Castaneda, told us though still working on his novel, “Medal of Dishonor,” he has decided to start another concerning a deceased aunt.

GAIL GALVAN told us she has recently moved to Valparaiso from Kewanna; since this will make her much closer she will be able to attend many more meetings. She is also working on another book and Is presently the author of “around 12 or so,” mostly online publications.

TOM MOLNAR, after recently returning from a trip to Italy, has been working on a short story concerning his trip. He also stated he could not believe the weather since his return, he is still getting tomatoes out of his garden.

CAROL CASTANEDA stated she just recently returned from a trip to North Carolina where she was able to visit the Biltmore Mansion.

LIZ WILSON just recently found out she took ninth place in the Writer’s Digest for her short story, “Hindsight.”

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI, who also recently returned from the Indiana State Poetry Meeting, stated she had taken third place for one of her poems, as well as honorable mention and two reserves.

SHARON BUCKMAN stated she has worked on a short story entitled “The Joys of Writing,” however, the title is misleading since it concerns her computer problems.

KATHY FLOTZ stated she had another speaking engagement at Purdue Calumet for her book, Pebble in my Shoe. She sold twelve books while there. Kathy has decided that she will need to place an order for more publications of her book since she also has another speaking engagement at the Lutheran Church in Merrillville. Congratulations Kathy.

MIKE MUSAK stated he has plans to attend the Bears game in New Orleans – his previous plans to do this had been taken away due to hurricane Katrina several years prior.

SHARON PALMERI mentioned a bookstore in Naperville named Anderson Bookshop and suggested that published authors consider contacting them for a book signing. She also stated that she has been busy working on the layout of this year’s Hoosier Horizon magazine. Fortunately, the “high tech” drama in her life has eased up since she had her motherboard and graphics card was replaced on her computer, and her ailing TV (sent to the TV cemetery) was replaced by a new flat screen type. Now all is well in Palmeriland.

READINGS:

CAROL CASTANEDA read two pages of her story, “Consequences.” The story concerned two young girls on their first day of returning to school. The friendship rekindled after they returned home to one of their houses, causing the envy of the less fortunate girl.

TOM MOLNAR read about his recent trip to Italy in a story entitled “A Restaurant in Roma.” The story told of their first dining experience in Rome at the Trattoria Scavolino. Although Tom and his wife enjoyed the experience it ended with Tom using the same words to a waiter he had been told earlier, “have patience, señor, have patience.”

SHARON JESIK continued with her novel, Corn Dancer. In this part of her novel the two homicide detectives decide to visit one of the suspects involved in Doty’s murder. The suspect seems to shake them up by seeming to know what they were thinking; they left the interview feeling very insecure.

TOM SPENCER brought his four stanza poem entitled “The Common Cold.” The poem told of the consequences of the common cold with the letters at the beginning of each line reading, “Virus Or Pathogen Abound.”

JANE BURNS read her three stanza untitled poem, including hieroglyphics, attempting to reveal divine secrets.

NEIL BEDEKER read the beginning of his newest novel, Dark Heart – White City, a sequel to his previous novel, “The Cassidy Posse.” The story takes place in Chicago in 1892, prior to the World’s Fair, and involving the planning needed by the police department for public security.

DONNA DOUGLASS read a part of her college memoir entitled, “As Clear As Black & White.” After becoming involved in a racial incident in her dorm, Donna later realizes that she had possibly been betrayed by a close friend.

CHARLOTTE BRISLEN read her childhood memoir entitled, “The Little White Cottage.” Charlotte told of remembering how much the family cottage, built in 1935 by her grandfather, meant to her and her family, later to be sold after the breakup of her parents.

SHARON DORELLI read her eight stanza poem entitled, “The Creator.” The poem told of the possible experiment of man’s creation and the possible ending, not designed.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI, with sound effects in hand, read her seven stanza poem entitled, “Bubble Wrap.” The poem relates to the amusement that can be caused with bubble wrap.

RON TRIGG read his delightful short story entitled, “Calling on the Cousins.” The story tells of visiting his elderly cousins in a small Illinois town called Casey. His cousin, Winnie and her husband of 70 yrs., Dennie, revealed their simple and happy lifestyle.

LIZ WILSON continued with chapter one of her novel, The Grindylow. Kelsey, trying to escape from her attacker, revealed her claw hands, causing him to kick her backwards out of the car onto a country snowy road in the middle of nowhere.

MIKE MUSAK brought his comical screenplay entitled, “Driving.” Several of the members were given parts to read which told of a couple driving to a party to watch the Super Bowl. The husband, after no longer being able to stand his wife’s slow driving, takes over only to be pulled over by a traffic cop, delaying the trip even longer.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:25 P.M.

Respectfully submitted:

SHARON BUCKMAN

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