Club Notes: Shawano Area Writers

Shawano Area Writers met July 15 in the Elsie Engel Reading Room at the Shawano County Library. There were nine members present plus one visitor. A new writer, JoAnne Zellner, will be joining our group. Zellner was inspired to write a biography for her children after reading a poorly written self-published book by a farmer. She thought, “I can write better than that.”

Dennis Vickers, president, began the meeting with the reading of the minutes from the June 17 meeting from Secretary Barb King. A mistake was pointed out — UWTC should be NWTC. Minutes were corrected, and then approved.

John Mutter presented the treasurer’s report.

Next was a discussion on community seminars. Dennis Vickers suggested that we practice for the seminars by allowing each person who wants to participate take turns giving a short lecture or workshop after our readings at our meeting. Vickers will start us out next meeting with a talk on post-modern writing techniques.

In announcements, Wendy Goerl reported that she has several paintings in the store Off the Wall. A couple are in the window. Trudy Bosman explained about a poetry contest taking place on Writer’s Digest.

Manny Moraleda started off the reading portion of the meeting by stating he had good news and bad news. The good news was about a trip he took with his daughter’s family from Michigan to Kissimmee, Florida. The bad news was the death of his dear 70-year-old cousin, Jaame, from a fatal heart attack.

Irma Timmons-Brunner read her short story entitled “The Ripe Tomato.” After she broke her hip, she was sent to a nursing home for physical therapy. One day she heard the woman in the room adjacent to her talking on the phone about how she had been put in the home before she could taste any of the tomatoes in her garden. She wanted to get a tomato to the woman. After getting no help from three different nurses, a fourth nurse suggested that Timmons-Brunner take it herself to the woman after the noon trays were gathered. That is exactly what Irma did.

Trudy Bosman showed a monarch butterfly card she had received from a friend who read the picture book she wrote. Bosman read a 650-word short story she was going to enter into a contest on Writer’s Digest prompted by a picture of a cabin in the woods. Tucker, a teenager, follows two friends to the cabin. He thinks they are up to something. He listens at a window and hears something about meeting at the library at 4 p.m. Friday and don’t forget the matches.

Wendy Goerl found the next story while doing research on her book “Five Theories on the Edmund Fitzgerald.” The story was called “The Boat that Saved an Industry.” The Western Electric Company of Chicago took their workers to an annual picnic held in Michigan City, Indiana, in 1915. The Eastman had just undergone restoration, but rolled over and sank to the bottom of the Chicago River that day while still tied to the dock. The death count was around 836.

Barb King read the third chapter of her book entitled “The Children in the Garden.” Jillian is at an appointment with her therapist three years after the violent death of her policeman husband. Her therapist had given her a choice to either move from where she lived or get another job. It was time that Jillian took control of her life again. Then the therapist told her own story about losing her husband in Afghanistan, and how she had holed up in a little apartment for two years.

Lee Pulaski read the first chapter of his book “White Christmas in the Desert.” The book takes place where Lee grew up in Chino Valley, Arizona. Meldrick and his 8-year-old son, Evan, have moved back to help run the family ranch. Evan is adjusting well, and the father and son are getting closer, but there is one problem. Evan wants a white Christmas. How can Meldrick possibly provide this for his son in a desert?

The next meeting will be held Aug. 19 at 10 a.m. at the library. Everyone is welcome to come and participate or just listen.