Mary Ricketson and her husband Bill Killen

Mary Ricketson, Murphy resident, served Netwest as treasurer for the past year and a half. She did a terrific job in spite of the busy life she leads. Mary is a mental health counselor and also the founder of the REACH program in Murphy NC. She writes a column for the local newspaper. Her poetry chapbook, The River Calls My Name, was published by Finishing Line Press last year.
Although her busy schedule means she had to resign as treasurer , she continues as the Cherokee County Representative for Netwest.
Thanks Mary for the great job you do for NCWN West.
With Mary is her husband, Bill Killen, artist.

AFTER A WEEK OF HEARING THE WORD

Hello Friends of Netwest,

Something is happening. The seasons are changing. It's difficult to keep my feet on the ground. I'm telling you. I'm flying off the earth. It started last Sunday at Koneheta Park in Cherokee County at our 17th annual picnic. There have been a lot of good Netwest picnics over the years.

I've missed only one. The Cherokee County members out-did themselves. They welcomed writers as far away as Jackson and Haywood. There were also writers from Clay,Cherokee and some from Georgia. The food was the best ever. I didn't see one Ingles cake on the table.

Playwright, Gary Carden was the featured writer. He was born to entertain. He paid homage to Appalachian poet, Jim Wayne Miller who exhorted in his poem: "Come home to your father's house."

There were at the same time, near us, some boys practicing baseball with their coach. The boys could not keep their minds on the game. Every time Gary Carden raised his voice, shouting, "Come home to your father's house," a boy would miss hitting the ball or would miss the catch. The louder Gary Carden read Jim Wayne Miller's famous words, the more the boys missed the ball and the louder and the meaner their coach yelled insulting words at them.

Sitting between Gary Carden, who was telling his heart out and between the boys who wanted to drop the ball and come over to see who was talking, drawn to poetry I believe, and sitting there in hearing distance of their mean-mouthed coach, who needed someone to gag him, I almost lost my way for a moment. What a presentation from our special guest! The readings continued with old favorites such as poets Brenda Kay Ledford and Mary Ricketson reading their newest poems. You must know, my ears also love to hear those new and younger voices and there were some of those. As it turned out, it was the best NCWN West annual picnic ever.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, I tried to get my feet back on Terra Firma. On Thursday evening I went to John C. Campbell Folk School to our scheduled monthly reading. Each month two of our members read there to a captive audience. By that I mean, they read to the folk school students who have come from all over America to learn a craft. In the audience we also have local writers and Netwest members who come to support the program.

The featured writers were two of Netwest's most accomplished: fiction writer Jo Carolyn Beebe from Hiawassee, Georgia and poet, Michael Beadle from Canton, N.C. Oops. I started losing traction, floating. What a show! I enjoyed Jo Carolyn's stories. They were filled with vivid imagery. As she read, I felt as if I were turning the pages of a book with colorful illustrations.

Michael Beadle is a performance poet. He started reciting loudly, pacing, looking at me. I lost myself. What a joy to remember that there are different kinds of poetry. He recited free verse and read haiku to the beat of a drum. It was inspiring. His best was a free verse poem about a boy wanting his estranged parents to kiss again, so he creates a kiss by taking his father's coffee mug and without washing it, pours his mother a drink. Where their lips touched the mug, he had their kiss. It's the kind of lyric poem I long to hear.

On Friday, (just yesterday) all I wanted to do all day was write. I wondered if my life could get better. I reheard poems and phrases in my head. I floated on joy.

But the week wasn't over yet. Netwest had scheduled the award winning play, Birdell, by Gary Carden. Gary had donated the play to Netwest for a fundraiser. It was to be performed in Murphy. I went out into my garden to gather flowers to be used as props, got dressed and went to help set up for the play.

I knew I would enjoy this play written my our own Gary Carden. But, I was not prepared for this moving story, set in Appalachia long ago. I was not prepared for the professional, outstanding performance of Bobbie Curtis, who took me back to that time in the mountains. She made me laugh and she made me cry, the emotions that remind me I am human. Oops.

Up, up again.

Yes, after a full week of taking in the word, the word itself, I am still floating. My thanks to all of you who are responsible for my elevated condition. Don't worry about me. Don't call my doctor. I'm fine. I'm alive, healthy and happy.

Nancy Simpson

Consultant, NCWN West

NCWN West 17th Annual Picnic a Big Success

If you were not able to attend the 17th annual NCWN West picnic held Sunday in Murphy NC , I’m sorry you missed it.

Writers from Haywood County, Jackson County, Cherokee and Clay Counties, from Georgia and one visitor from Buncombe County came down.
Gary Carden, playwright, storyteller and writer, held us rapt with his talk, his reading of poetry by Jim Wayne Miller and a great story about a fish that drowned because he forgot where he came from.

Fantastic dishes of all kinds, including Peg Russell’s rum cake, a popular pumpkin pie, salads and desserts and vegetables like new potatoes and fresh green beans loaded the table.

A long list for open mic kept us later than we had planned but almost everyone who signed up had the opportunity to read. We were happy to have those who came for the first time and even happier to have those new writers and poets join Netwest.

We’re pleased to see so many attending who had first come to one of our workshops. I see future Netwest leaders in the women and men who joined us for the picnic.

As always we are pleased when our former Program Coordinators, Nancy Simpson and Shirley Uphouse are present. The Netwest Representative for the Board of Trustees of NCWN, Al Manning came and brought several people with him. JC Walkup from Canton also brought writers from her area.

My photographer was not able to come today, but Peg Russell made several pictures and I will share them on the blog as soon as I can find an easy way to do so.

As many of you know, I will be resigning as PC at the end of this year. To my surprise I was acknowledged by JC Walkup and Peggy Morse with a lovely card and gift certificate to my favorite local restaurant. They expressed appreciation for making the writers in their area feel more a part of Netwest. I am happy that our 80 members feel closer to each other and hopefully in the years to come we will share readings between counties and teachers between counties. And I hope every one of the members of Netwest will support each other and promote each other in any way possible.

Thanks to Mary Ricketson and Jerry Hobbs, Netwest representatives for Cherokee County, for hosting this year’s picnic. They deserve the appreciation of all of us. I look forward to next year’s picnic wherever it will be.

Netwest Poets

With Christmas season upon us, we are all busy and I am traveling back and forth from south Georgia to help my sister move to Atlanta. Posting on a regular basis will be hard if not impossible this month.

Netwest Poetry group met at Tri-County College last night where we had the first opportunity to see Mary Ricketson's chapbook from Finishing Line Press. The cover is her own photograph of the river she writes about and it's beautiful. Another Netwest writer, Robert Kimsey, has been extremely busy in recent months teaching young people in schools in Fannin County GA. Robert was asked by students who met him at the Blue Ridge Writers Conference last year, to come to their school and talk about writing. Now he has so many schools and teachers requesting him, he stays busy all the time. I'm proud we have this caring and generous member of Netwest giving back to his community. Robert has published two poetry collections. They are some of my favorite poetry books.