Seventeen
years ago the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center (offices in Sheboygan
Falls) began offering a series of local history programs. Second Saturdays they named the series—one a
month on a second Saturday from September to May. Beth Dippel, Executive Director of the
Research Center, has done a wonderful job of organizing and promoting these
programs.
I was
privileged to be one of those who offered a program seventeen years ago (it was
about Wisconsin Barns) and I have done so every year since. For this, my seventeen year, my program was
titled “Farm Memories from Yesterday.”
One-hundred-thirty
people heard me share stories about farm life before electricity, stories about
the party-line telephone and old-time radio.
Stories about the one-room country school and importance of neighbors
and more.
I also
shared some words of wisdom that I had picked up over the years from rural
old-timers.
“Don’t go outside without wearing
your shirt. If God had meant for you to
run around naked, you’d have been born that way.”
“If you must hurry, do it slowly”
“No matter what direction a north
wind blows, it always blows cold.”
“There is less mud on the top of the
hill.”
I
encouraged people to write down their own stories, and share them with their
families.
I talked
a bit about the importance of reflecting on one’s personal histories. I said we can’t return to an earlier day, but
we can learn from what we did and didn’t do.
I left people with these two questions:
What of the past is worthy of
bringing forward and applying, and what of it should be left behind?
What of the new that we face nearly everyday
is worthy of accepting and what should be ignored?
THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Take time to recall about your
past, and then reflect on it.
Upcoming Events:
November 29.7:00 p.m. Sequoia Public Library, Madison. Roshara Journal with Jerry and Steve Apps
December 7, 10:00 to 2:00, Headquarters Bldg. Wisconsin
Historical Society, Madison. Holiday
book sale—book signing.
December 10, (Time to announced) McFarlane’s Sauk City,
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
No comments:
Post a Comment