Chub Lake Beavers 4-H Club

In general, 4-H clubs and FFA organizations are particularly in-tune with my programs because their members are continuing the natural extension of the heritage that my books attempt to preserve. So it's no surprise that when Nancy and I were invited to perform at the April 4th meeting of the Chub Lake Beavers 4-H, they made us feel really welcome, especially since my family's farm where I was raised was less than ten miles away.

Ages of audience members ranged from the very young to all ages of adults.

Some of the younger ones sat on the floor near the front, as shown in the picture below:

Even though dealing with animals is a common activity for these children, many of them willingly held up the two fingers to help me demonstrate how to teach a calf to drink from a pail.

I thank the clubs co-leaders, Tina Stiles and Chris Zweber, for inviting us to perform our show at the meeting. We had a really fun time talking to the members and listening to their stories before and after the show, and their generosity enabled me to do one of my favorite activities, as shown below:

  

Photographs by Nancy A. Fredrickson

Wabasha Public Library

Saturday, April 2, 2011, was a fine sunny morning and Nancy and I enjoyed the drive to Wabasha to do a story at the Wabasha Public Library. On Friday, I had called the library to check if flooding was going to be an issue. Children's Librarian Beverly Hall,  who had invited us to Wabasha, indicated there would be no problem this weekend, but she made no promises beyond that.

The river is high, but the road is still higher.

The sign on the door made me feel welcome in the photo below:

As you can see in the photo, the library is celebrating 150 years of service to the community.

The early morning audience was small but appreciative, and before and after the show we were able to meet and chat with Children's Librarian Beverly Hall and Library Director Michelle McCaughtry. Staff member Mary O'Neill greeted us and stayed pretty busy helping customers.

My favorite part: I sign a book for Hannah and Ryan.

We hope they invite us back soon.

Photographs by Nancy A. Fredrickson.

St.John's Lutheran School, Goodhue, MN

St. John's Lutheran School is east of Goodhue, MN, and I was enthusiastic about the prospect of doing three shows for grades K-8 when the principal, Mr. Schulz, invited me to come. March 29, 2011, was a sunny day, and the drive took only an hour before we arrived at the church, located among the fine farms  in the area. We set up our equipment in the roomy Parish Hall connected to the church.

Nanc snapped a photo of me loading the wagon to take in our equipment.

K-2 students had lots of stories to share after I performed If I Were a Farmer: Nancy's Adventure.

Grades 6-8 are ready to answer a couple quiz questions about A Farm Country Christmas Eve.

After the story A Farm Country Christmas Eve, grades 3-5 volunteered to answer the question, "What did Jimmy share with his parents at the end of the story?"

Beautiful countryside, lovely church, nice people, fun kids, and selling a few books all contributed to a good day. We thank Principal Schulz for inviting us.

Photographs by Nancy A. Fredrickson

Jackson County Library

The Jackson County Library in Jackson, MN, is a fine facility, but what made this show especially interesting and fun for me was the fact that the individual audience members asked questions before and after the show, bought books, told me stories, and asked more than the usual number of questions about writing. A couple have even followed up by emailing me. I love to get emails from audience members because I know this is how I can keep on learning. People have a lot of knowledge and experience to offer.

 From the group's response to the show, I could tell that Librarian Pam Grussing does a good job scheduling guest speakers that keeping their interest and encourage regular attendance.

I like it when I can leave my screen in the car and project onto the wall as I did for my show at Jackson, which featured A Farm Country Thanksgiving on March 23, 2011.

Of course, autographing books is my favorite part.

Once again, the weather was nice, the audience was great, we sold some books, and we made some friends. It was a good day.

Photographs by Nancy Fredrickson

Southwest Star Concept

On March 18, 2011, a warm, enthusiastic greeting at Southwest Star Concept Elementary School at Heron Lake, MN, more than made up for the three hour drive there. Besides, it was a nice day, and I was excited about doing three different shows at the school.

K-1 students always like, If I Were a Farmer: Nancy's Adventure, especially the part where I show them how to teach a newborn calf how to drink out of a pail in the picture above. Many of these kids are from farms so they were way ahead of me on this one.

For Grades 2-3 I did my regular version of A Farm Country Christmas Eve. including the quiz. In the picture above, they are ready to answer the question, "What name did the Maggie Carlson give the newborn calf?" 

For grades 4-6, pictured above, I gave a longer performance of A Farm Country Christmas Eve, which included about a 15-minute explanation with visuals on how and why I came to write the kind of books I write. 

Audiences were fun and staff members were great. Before we left we thanked Library/Media Specialist Patti Schneider for inviting us to the school, and we expressed our hope to return some time soon.

Photographs by Nancy A. Fredrickson

Stories at Little Falls, MN

My Aunt Bernice lives in the Alverna Apartments, an assisted living facility in Little Falls. Her friend Claudette Scepaniak called me a few months ago to ask me to do a show for the residents and I was happy to comply, but to make the trip even better, Dorothy Bernardy called me from St. Otto's, a nursing about 100 yards away from Alverna, and arranged for me to do a show there on the same day.

Bernice will be 89 in June. She is 4 years younger than my father, who passed away in 2001.

So on March 16 Nanc and I enjoyed a nice drive to Little Falls. Our first show was at St. Otto's and the staff and residents made us feel really welcome by coming early and asking many really good questions before the show and after the show.

At Alverna (below)they had organized a "little lunch" by having people bring food items. The place smelled so good I could hardly concentrate on the show.

Bernice is in the red sweater above, and near the back of the audience (pictured below) is her son Harvey and his wife Karen, who contributed number of items to the fine lunch we took part in after the show.

Below is a picture of Betty Hovet, who will be 101 this June.

We sold a good number of books and got to hear a few stories from the residents at both places. I love doing my stories for these folks! They may have some difficulties, but they always seem to retain their sense of fun. 

Photographs by Nancy A. Fredrickson

Eau Claire Lutheran School, Wisconsin

When we got the call from Melanie to come to "Grandparents Day" at Eau Claire Lutheran School K-6 in Wisconsin, I was intrigued with the title of the event because I knew there would be an audience of old-timers and new-timers listening to my stories. I was not disappointed.

The entire day was an "open house" for Grandparents that gave them the chance to visit the classrooms, talk to teachers, and experience a sample of their performance skills during an hour-long music program that the kids performed in the afternoon immediately before my show. Nancy and I enjoyed watching and listening as groups sang and danced, played bells, and performed as a choir. We felt lucky to be part of the audience of kids and adults. The photo above shows older students singing and dancing.  The photo below shows the younger children.

The group above performed with bells, and the group below is a volunteer choir of mixed ages.

For a few pictures of my show, go to the next page.