Belle Plaine Public Library

 According to Librarian Georgine Gansen, June marked 100 years of library service to the Belle Plaine community, and when she emailed me last February to ask me to do a show at the library, I was happy to comply. Although Belle Plaine is over 30 miles from my place, I still consider it part of my "home town" territory. Our show was scheduled for 4:00 PM on June 29, 2011.

Access was easy and we set up quickly, but when it was time to start, no audience had assembled.

Outside, the weather was warm and pleasant, and I had noticed the municipal swimming pool was full of kids when we had driven by earlier. I started to doubt that anyone would come inside to see my show on such a nice afternoon.

Nancy and I decided to wait about 15 minutes before tearing down and packing up.

But then two mothers came with their children.

Although the numbers were small, the audience was very appreciative.

Both mothers were farmers and/or grew up on a farm and told me they enjoyed the show.

The children queried their parents about the farm activities as shown in my book immediately after the show.

With no audience assembled less than an hour earlier, I had not expected to be signing any books, but after the show, the mothers and their children were kind to indulge me in my favorite pastime. 

I wish to thank Georgine Gansen for inviting us to perform at Belle Plaine Public Library. Nancy and I enjoyed visiting the town and talking to audience members, and we especially thank the mother who attended the show with their children and stayed to chat with us after the show.

Photographs by Nancy A. Fredrickson