Ruth and I have just returned from The Clearing Folk School
near Ellison Bay, Door County where, at their annual awards picnic, I was
honored to receive the Clearing’s 2016 White Cedar Teaching Award. I have taught life story writing there for 27
years, with another workshop scheduled for October 28 (see below for
details). I was truly surprised and
pleased to receive the award.
The award presentation included this information about why
the teaching award was named after the white cedar tree:
The white cedar, or arborvitae, which means tree of life, is
a remarkable tree. At the Clearing, and
along the entire span of the Niagara Escarpment—over 600 miles—white cedar
grows on and in what appears to be solid limestone, gaining a toehold where it
can, harvesting moisture when it can, defying the laws of both gravity and
gardening. It does so into great age,
often several hundred years, occasionally over a thousand years. The white cedars that grow along the Niagara
Escarpment, including those at the Clearing, are the oldest trees in eastern
North America—a remarkable feat considering the challenging environment in
which they grow.
The White Cedar Award is given to those Clearing instructors
who have been devoted to teaching, devoted to their students and devoted to the
Clearing for many years. Just as the
white cedar represents the best of the Clearing’s natural landscape, those
instructors who receive the White Cedar Award represent the best of the
Clearing’s human and cultural Landscape.
I’ve found The Clearing Folk School one of the finest places
I’ve known as a place to teach and to learn.
THE OLD TIMER SAYS:
When you think you are getting old, think of the age of many white
cedars.
Workshop: Writing
From Your Life: Offered at The Clearing,
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on October 28. Call 920-854-4088 to learn more
and to register.
Upcoming Events:
September
15, Midwest Master Gardeners, Chula Vista Resort, Wisconsin Dells. Dinner Speaker, Whisper and Shadows.
September
18, 1-5, Markesan Heritage Days, Markesan, WI. Speaking at 2:00 p.m. Books will be available.
September
20, Albertson Memorial Library, Albany, WI.
7:00 p.m. Barns of Wisconsin.
September
21, Stonefield Village, Casville, WI. 11:00 a.m. Telling Your Story: Why
important and how to do it.
September
29, Whitewater Library, 6:00 p.m. Roshara Journal.
October
2, Mystery to Me Book Store, Madison. 2:00 p.m. Roshara Journal.
Purchase Jerry’s DVDS and his Books from the Patterson Memorial
Library in Wild Rose, Wisconsin (a fundraiser for them):
The library now has available signed copies of Jerry’s DVDs:
Emmy Winner, A
Farm Winter with Jerry Apps (based
on The Quiet Season book.)
Jerry Apps a Farm Story (based on Rural Wit and Wisdom and Old
Farm books.)
The Land with Jerry Apps, (based on the book Whispers and
Shadows.)
Also
available are several of Jerry’s signed books including: Jerry’s newest novel, The Great Sand Fracas of Ames
County. and Wisconsin
Agriculture: A History.
Jerry’s newest books, Roshara
Journal (with photos by Steve Apps) and Telling Your Story—a guide
book for those who want to write their stories—are also available.
Contact the library for prices and special package deals.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
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