Bagley Elementary, High School, and Cornerstone Residence

On Thursday morning, Bagley was only a 1-hour drive from where we stayed with our friends in Crookston, but since we had to leave early for our destination, we were treated to a grand winter sunrise as we approached Bagley.

We had three shows scheduled in the elementary school with grades 4-6, one in the high school with grades 7-8, and one at Cornerstone Residence, a senior care facility. SPFFA members Emily and Megan Bellefy were our contacts, and they helped us move from spot to spot during the whole day.

Emily Bellefy me, Megan Bellefy.

Emily is Junior and her sister Megan is a Sophomore at Bagley High School.

Photos above and below show the fourth graders listening to my program, 

which included my story A Farm Country Picnic.

Chairs were found for all the sixth grade students (above),

 as teachers and some visitors stood in the back (below).

We found time for questions and I thank the adults and students for their kind words about my program.

Fifth grade students (above and below) were the last group to hear my program at the elementary school, and like the other groups they were enthusiastic and polite.

Since the schedule was tight, often students stayed to ask questions as we worked to pack up the equipment, as these fifth graders are doing in the above photo.

Also, we were able to visit with the librarian, who gladly accepted the books we donated to the elementary school library, just as we did in the other schools we visited.

After lunch, we were scheduled to do a show for seventh and eight grade students at the high school.
As we set up, some friends of the Bellefy sisters stopped by to talk.

Mitch and Cally take time to visit with me.

My Farm Heritage Program was optional for seventh and eighth graders

 so I was pleased to see a good turnout.

Emily arranged for us to do a Farm Heritage Program for the residence at Cornerstone Residence, a facility for seniors at Bagley. Audience members drank coffee and ate some cookies as I did my program.

Megan takes a few pictures during the show.

Nancy and I wish to thank all the principals and teachers who allowed us to do our program in the Bagley Schools, and we also thank the FFA students for arranging the program. The kids were all full of energy but ready to listen and learn.

Photographs by Nancy A. Fredrickson

Goldfinch Estates

On November 22, 2011, at Goldfinch Estates, I did a Farm Heritage Program, 

which included my story A Farm Country Thanksgiving.

Goldfinch Estates is a Senior Living Community located in Fairmont, MN, and Nancy and I love to be invited there to visit and do a Farm Heritage Program. This is our our fourth time at the facility and each time we have been greeted by Marilyn Oelke, the energetic and fun Community Life Director, who always has a farm story to tell.

Marilyn Oelke, Community Life Director at Goldfinch Estates, poses for a photo with me.

Marilyn also took a shot at appealing to the group to look for pictures of threshing for our newest book called  A Farm Country Harvest, which we hope to have out in 2013.

Residents at Goldfinch are always eager audience members and story tellers. They make a very responsive audience and Nancy and I love listening to their stories after the show. Several Residents stopped to chat and purchase books after the program.

We thank Executive Director, Erin Maidl, for having us at Goldfinch Estates again, and we thank Community Life Director, Marilyn Oelke for arranging our visit. We also thank all the residents who attend my programs year after year. We love your smiles and your stories.

We look forward to returning soon.

All Seasons Preschool & Inver Glen Senior Care

All Seasons Preschool and Inver Glen Senior Living are in the same building, and as one senior told me, "The children come to visit us every day." Other seniors around her nodded and smiled.

Many seniors arrived early at the large community room and visited with Nancy and me as we set up. Senior comments about the "children coming" were always accompanied with a smile of anticipation.

Teacher Amy Lemieux said that the key to daily visits is to have he Preschool and seniors in the same building. Otherwise, winter offers a special challenge of dressing up with coats and boots and headgear. Since the kids are in the same building, they just walk over to visit the seniors. "It's like a field trip for them," Amy said.

The seniors were all seated when the children, who are 3-5 years old, arrived and I could hear some greetings being exchanged. One child made the rounds of shaking hands with a number of his senior friends.

Performing for this mixed group was a joy for me. The children and the seniors were very responsive to everything in my show. Maybe visiting the seniors every day makes the kids more eager to hear stories. In any case, children came up with some of the best questions ever, and not just for their age-group but for almost any-age group.

Of course, I showed them how to teach a newborn calf how to drink out of a pail.

About ten minutes later, after the show, one child remembered that I had said we had to take the cow and calf back to the barn. She asked, "Why do you need to take the calf to the barn." Other questions included, "Why do people live on farms." These questions may sound basic, but understanding the answers are crucial to understanding anything about the food we eat. The audience listened intently to my answers.

Nancy and I had the distinct privilege to meet and chat with Kenneth Fritz, who has written three books and will soon see his fourth book published with Outskirts Press, Inc., Denver, Colorado. After the show Ken, his wife, and his friend stayed to chat with us for several minutes. Ken was a farmer, a soldier, an electrician, and a writer.

Ken holds a couple of my books and I hold three of his.

Nancy and I really enjoyed our visit to All Seasons Preschool and Inver Glen Senior Living, and we wish to thank Amy Lemieux of All Seasons and Sue Hastings, activities director at Inver Glen, for arranging our visit.

Photographs by Nancy A. Fredrickson

Lakeville Senior Center

Wherever I perform my shows, I always tell audiences "My heritage is your heritage or the heritage of your parents, grandparents, or great grandparents."

Well, my statement was never more true for an audience than it was on Friday morning, November 19, 2010, when I had the distinct privilege of performing at Lakeville Senior Center, located in downtown Lakeville, which is only about 5 miles east of the farm where I grew up, the farm that is the reference for my two series of children's books written for adults.

A few minutes before my show is scheduled to begin, Linda Walter, Senior Center Coordinator, snaps a photo as I stop at some tables to visit with audience members while they eat pumpkin cake. 

St. John's Grandkids, Springfield, MN

"We used to all stand when we played,"she says as she grins. "Now we like to sit down."