MARCH 10, 2022

 

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Shirley Hinman, Sharon Buckman, Judy Newman, Bob Newman, Kathy Flotz, Sharon Palmeri, Beverly Stanislawski, Amy Brailey, Cindy Horgash

 

 

 

 

 

OLD BUSINESS:

A vote of approval for the February 24, 2022 minutes was first given by BOB NEWMAN, and was seconded by CINDY HORGASH.

LITERARY NEWS:

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI announced that she had won 19 different poetry contests in 5 different states since our last meeting.  Indiana had given her three, HM, 3^rd place and Reserve.  Arizona, 3^rd, Illinois, 2^nd, Pennsylvania HM, and Texas, 13.  Congratulations Beverly!

READINGS:

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read four of her poems, that she had entered in these contests.  The first, “Love Song,” which had placed 3^rd in the Texas contest, telling of the “love lost in the music of our sweet romance.” The second, “Over Before Beginning,” 3^rd place in the free verse in Texas, which the title described.  The third, “Looking For Love,” 4^th in Texas, a poem describing a hurtful romance.  The last poem, “Carbon Copies,” describing the closeness of twins.

AMY BRAILEY read Chapter 34 of her novel, Jon Everett and the Hall of History. Jon, having returned from his time back in history with George Washington, tells his classmates, during his presentation, how much he admired Washington and all the men that fought with him.

KATHERINE FLOTZ read her two-page short story entitled, “Here We Go Again.”  In this story she describes the similarities of the war in Ukraine to the Russian invasion of Yukoslavia in the 1940’s.

SHARON BUCKMAN read her short story entitled, “Joys of Writing.”  In this humorous story she tells of all the problems that she endured in one day while attempting to write on her old computer.

SHIRLEY HINMAN read two of her poems, the first, “Gray Day,” describes how happy she was at the beginning of the day when school was canceled due to the weather, boredom sunk in later. The second, “Limericks for Kids,” tells of six different humorous limericks designed to make all children laugh.

CINDY HORGASH read her two page scary short story entitled, “100 Step Cemetery.”  The story tells of young Marty challenging several of his friends to climb up the 100 steps to the cemetery after telling them of all the terrible things that can happen to them after they do.

BOB NEWMAN tells his true two page short story entitled, “An Old Dog…A New Bone.”   The story tells of the problems he had learning how to “become more modern,” by purchasing a new computer which also involved his wonderful son-lin-law.

JUDY NEWMAN read her two-page short story entitled, “And The Answer Is…”  Judy  tells of the problems she and her husband encountered while taking a trip to Greece on their 50^th anniversary, it certainly makes you want to stay at home.

SHARON PALMERI continued with her memoirs, this one entitled “Back to Work, 1976.” Sharon tells of first working in Central Supply, where instruments were cleaned and readied for surgery.  She then wrote of funny, embarrassing, and tragic  experiences in her favorite department: Labor & Delivery. She wrote about the birth of a four-month-old infant that died in her hands: “Sometimes  ̶  I can still see, in my mind’s eye, those tiny hands and feet, with fingers and toes stretching out, trying to reach its mother’s womb.”

The meeting was adjourned at 6:30 P.M.

Respectfully Submitted:

SHARON BUCKMAN

February 24, 2022

MEMBERS PRESENT:

 Katherine Flotz,   Mike Riley, Sharon Palmeri, Beverly Stanislawski, Amy Brailey, Gail Galvan, Diane Stratton, Corri Stephenson, Paula Stephenson, Cindy Horgash

GUESTS: Bob and Judy Newman

NEW BUSINESS/LITERARY NEWS:  Katherine Flotz reminded members that $20 due are due.  Mike Ripley passed around a children’s book he is looking to publish after editing is finished.

 

OLD BUSINESS:  Feb. 10 meeting minutes approved  by Katherine Flotz and Sharon Palmeri,

READINGS:

DIANE STRATTON read from her story ”Flip Some Good from Covid Solitude,”  a reflection on how we can all gather some good from the unpleasant limitations of the historical Covid 19 Situation. We can do this by reaching out to others we haven’t seen in a whille and brightening their world and ours by inquiring how they have been.

MIKE RILEY’S story “The Game” told about a basketball game played on a balcony. Bob, the star, won the game, but nobody believed it. It was just a dream. 

CINDY HORGASH  brought a short story “Purple Heart” about a WW11 veteran who shares his medal at a Veteran’s Day service and lifts a seventy-year-old burden from his shoulders. 

GAIL GAVAN read a sonnet by Professor Charles Tinkham  from “Skylark” magazine. 

SHARON PALMERI  presented  “No Guarantee,” a story about her experiences as an OB technician  during a complicated delivery. During the operation, she told herself  ”detach yourself from the patient to assure a clear mind. Emotions cloud technical skills.”  Detachment was not easy.

Due to the bad weather, the restaurant owner asked us to leave early so he could close.  Meeting Adjourned at 7:40 p.m.

 

Amy Brailey and Beverly Stanislawski did not get an opportunity to read their writings.

Respectfully submitted,

Beverly Stanislawski

 

MINUTES FOR FEBRUARY 10, 2022

 

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Shirley Hinman, Sharon Buckman, Amy Brailey, Sharon Palmeri, Corri Stephenson, Paula Stephenson, Shirley Vaughan, Cindy Horgash, Diane Stratton, Gail Galvan

 

 

OLD BUSINESS:

A vote of approval was given for our last meeting, November 11, 2021, by Sharon Palmeri and Sharon Buckman

READINGS:

GAIL GALVAN read her two-page “Tribute to the Late Betty White.”  In her tribute she told of Betty’s fascinating life, her funny philosophy, her candid spirit, and all of the T.V. shows, game shows and Emmy awards she had won over the years.  Gail ended the tribute by saying “We’ll keep your legacy of laughter alive and vow – never let it die.”

SHIRLEY VAUGHAN read two pages of the continuation of her published novel, The Will of God. This newest novel, Their New Beginning, begins in prehistoric earth when dinosaur’s bones were still more easily seen by Iris.  She is in the spiritual realm and likes to view the world while remembering what made the dinosaurs extinct.

SHARON BUCKMAN continued reading three pages of her novel, Running on a Treadmill.  In this part of the story (Chapter 3), Sandy decides to accept Mark’s invitation to stay with him at his parent’s house.  Afraid that her ex-boyfriend would find her and the fact she was beginning to run out of money, she also decided to look for a job in that vicinity.

SHIRLEY HINMAN read her two poems, the first titled, “Delicately Detached,” and the second poem titled, “Roots.”  In summarizing her poems she wrote, “Life is too short, getting too wrapped up in temporal things, or situations.  We should learn to take each days positive, or negative situations with a grain of salt.  We need to learn to appreciate life, forgive and move on.”

CINDY HORGASH read two pages of her novel, Magic of the Blue Hour, beginning with Chapter l, “Muddle of Pud.”  The story told of a middle grade 10 yr old boy who is trying to navigate through a tragic loss.  He finds himself on the other side of a magical place known as the Blue Hour.

AMY BRAILEY continued reading two pages of her novel, Jon Everett and the Hall of History. In this part of the novel, Chapter 32, Jon is heading back to camp after a bitter defeat at Fort Duquesne with George Washington’s army.  He has just retrieved the items that he will need to get him back to his own time.

SHARON PALMERI read three pages of her memoir entitled, “A Seasonal Change, Welcome to Four Seasons.”  This part of the memoir took place from 1973-1976 and began with her daughter Renee’s fourth birthday in their new home at Lake of the Four Seasons. She told of getting involved in organizing social events, setting up a dance studio in her basement for Hawaiian and belly dancing, and eventually her and John building a darkroom to enjoying their hobby of photography.

The meeting was adjourned at 6:30 P.M.

Respectfully submitted:

SHARON BUCKMAN