Friends of the Library, Hendersonville, NC, present Martha O. Adams' program, The Power of Poetry, Thursday, April 21, 2016

Thanks to the writers in Henderson County for the 2014 Netwest Picnic

It was a good day and lots of fun when we gathered for the Netwest picnic in Hendersonville recently.

photo by Ellen Schofield

 In spite of a slight drizzle most of the afternoon, under the cover of a large pavilion at Jackson Park, the writers, including Jack Prather, Emilee Hines, Susan Snowden, Lana Hendershott, Pat Vestal, Betty Reed, Paul M. Schofield, Susan Lefler, Martha O. Adams, Karen Luke and others enjoyed the array of sandwich fixings purchased from Ingles, which included their cold cuts, artisan breads and condiments, along with chips, fruit and cookies.

When Lana gave a quiz on NCWN and NCWN West, long time members knew most of the answers, but Ellen Schofield, Program Coordinator for NCWN West, and I had the highest scores. Surprised?

A number of books had been donated as prizes and I was delighted to win a copy of Jack Prather's book, Twelve Notables of Western North Carolina. I learned that we can expect another book on notable women. I look forward to reading that one.

My thanks to Lana, Pat, Martha and all the writers who helped with the picnic, and who made me and my guest, Rebecca Gallo, feel so welcome. Once again I was reminded that the writers of NCWN West (Netwest) are some of the nicest and most supportive people I've ever met.

CARL SANDBURG WRITER IN RESIDENCE RECEPTION

The Carl Sandburg Writer in Residence, Alice B. Fogel will be at the Hendersonville Chamber of Commerce, 204 Kanuga Rd. for a free public reception and reading on Friday evening, March 16 from 5-7 pm. 

She will be at the Blue Ridge Community College on March 30, in the Patton Bldg, Room 150 for the Student Poetry  Contest Celebration.

 The community is invited to attend.

A Reflection on the Summer of 1968 - Remember?

Recently Lana Hendershott submitted the following to her hometown newspaper when the editor asked for glimpses of life in the summer of 1968. Many of us remember that summer. Where were you and what were you doing then?


A Girl's Take on Summer of '68
by Lana Hendershott

I was in love with a boy I dated during my freshman year at Northwestern, and I was not excited about returning to Enid, Oklahoma. Going home meant trading an active social life for monastic mores and gainful employment.

The employment angle didn’t pan out. Boys harvested wheat, mowed grass or had paper routes. Their jobs paid well and left time for swimming at Champlin’s pool. My choices were babysitting, waitressing, or car hopping in miniskirts and roller skates at the A&W.

Babysitting paid fifty cents an hour and entailed caring for a neighbor’s three children all under the age of seven. I’m talking ten hours a day, Monday through Friday, with laundry service and ironing thrown in as freebies for Mrs. T. I actually slaved away at that job the previous summer and decided surrogate motherhood was not my gig.

I was eager to carhop or wait tables. Those jobs offered shorter hours and paid three times better than babysitting even if customers didn’t tip. I began fantasizing about my soon-to-be-earned wealth. Managers, however, expected experience, and I had zero. They questioned whether a ninety-eight pound novice, regardless of enthusiasm and robust health, was a good fit for transporting weighty platters of food and drinks. My mother ended my job search by declaring, “She’s worth more than $1.50 an hour to me.” I suspect she didn’t like the miniskirt idea.

Plan B was attending summer school at Phillips University and helping Mom with errands, meals, and housework. I enrolled in General Psychology taught by Dr. Jordan, Biblical Religion with Dr. Simpson, and U.S. Government, a requirement. I don’t remember anything about government—not the teacher, not classmates, not one discussion. I had no interest in politics. Dr. King was murdered in Memphis, Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in California, and the evening news was all about Viet Nam. The violence appalled me, but the broadcasts were like watching movies or events happening in a parallel universe leaving me uninvolved.

Psychology class started at seven o’clock A.M. Sipping coffee, I watched the sky lighten as I drove east on Broadway with the windows rolled down. I listened to Steppenwolf’s “Born to be Wild” on WKY and looked forward to watching Dark Shadows in the afternoon.

An earlier version was printed in the Enid News and Eagle on Sunday, July 13th, 2008.

Lana Hendershott represents NCWN West in Henderson County. Anyone who lives there can contact her for information about Netwest and writing events in that area.

The Place to Be May 8 - 9

BLUE RIDGE BOOK AND AUTHOR SHOWCASE

When: May 8-May 9

Where: Technology and Education Development Center at Blue Ridge Community College

The event will feature more than fifty authors and their works as well as displays, book signings, group conversations, readings, socializing, and a meet-and-greet reception.

One hour sessions will be held Saturday, May 9 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Topics will include poetry, fiction, nonfiction, plays, and Appalachian literature.

Sharyn McCrumb and Robert Morgan are two of the fifteen presenters. For more information go to http://www.blogger.com/ or call Robert Greenwald at 828-698-1550.

The Raindrop Waltz in Hendersonville Sept. 17

‘The Raindrop Waltz’ at BRCC

The Arts and Humanities Series at Blue Ridge Community College will present “the Raindrop Waltz” by award-winning playwright Gary Carden at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 17. This free event will be in the Patton Auditorium.
“The Raindrop Waltz” is poignant and sweet, painful and funny. It captures a handsome picture of one Western North Carolina family through several generations based on Carden’s Jackson County childhood.
Agnes is a fiercely independent Appalachian grandmother who lives alone in the rustic cabin she has inhabited for many years. Because she is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s and soon will be unable to care for herself, her family is faced with the difficult decision of moving her from her beloved mountain home to a nursing home. With great love and humor, Jody Lee, her grandson whom she raised, tells the story of his life and hers through memories of family tales, songs, loves and relationships.
This performance will be staged by Burnsville Little Theater that has a history of providing dramatic presentations for more than 80 years. Director Elizabeth Westfall will bring a performance that has been staged many times in Western North Carolina and beyond. Cast includes Elizabeth Westfall, Bob Wilson, Milton Higgins, Bill Wheeler, Bruce Chuvala, Colette Blankenship and Jennifer Issacs. Carden will also be present and available to answer questions after the performance.
A Sylva native, Carden was raised by his grandparents in a “house filled with the past.” From birth, he was steeped in untainted mountain culture, lore and language. He has investigated and evoked his native region in drama, rendering authentic presentations of the characters and of mountain history and folklore. In the many plays he has written, Carden portrays the mountain people from earlier eras with great devotion and compassion but also with uncompromising honesty.
Carden is also known as a folklorist and storyteller. He graduated from Western Carolina University and for the past 15 years has taught literature and drama, worked for the Cherokee Indians and has been a storyteller.
Recently, Carden was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters by his alma mater, WCU. Widely acclaimed for his written works and spoken performances that bring to life the history, myths and legends of Western North Carolina, Carden is the author of “Mason Jars in the Flood and Other Stories,” the 2001 Appalachian Writers Association Book of the Year.
This program is sponsored by the Community Enrichment Division in the Continuing Education Department. For more information, contact Martha Howell at 694-1743 or at http://www.blogger.com/.

Hendersonville Writers met with Ed Southern

At lunch, Ed and Glenda Beall met with Lana Hendershott, Susan Snowden, Nancy Purcell and Bob Greenwald to discuss writing in Henderson

County.

Ed Southern, Executive Director for NCWN, gave the Network a face for writers in Henderson, Transylvania, and Haywood Counties at a meeting at the Henderson County Library on June 16.

Everyone appreciated his answering the many questions members and non-members asked about NCWN and his vision for the future.

Some quotes from those attending are " This was a good meeting. Maybe we can have another, maybe quarterly."

It was an excellent way for local writers to meet each other and make plans to form groups, readings and other events in the area.

Nancy Purcell who has been a Netwest Rep in Transylvania country for a couple of years, was delighted to meet possible leaders for Netwest in Henderson County. Her hope is to hold a couple of big writing workshops each year in Brevard and in Hendersonville.

What do you folks in those towns think about that idea?

Just click on comments at the bottom of this post and let us know.

Photos by Barry Beall

Thank you, Hendersonville Writers. It was fun meeting many of the Netwest members I've been conversing with by email. Thanks also to Nancy Purcell from Brevard, JC Walkup and John Malone from Haywood county, Gary Carden from Jackson County and Bob Greenwald from Henderson county who shared with our guests.
Today was a good day, not only for me and for NCWN and Netwest, but I know the writers who came, connected with other local writers will find their lives enriched in the future.
As writers we all need community. We need to talk with other writers, share with other writers and bounce ideas off each other. I see the writers in Henderson county coming together in future writing events. Netwest will be there to help make this possible.