Fundraiser for Early Learning Programs

Friday afternoon, April 15, 2011, the West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan Early Learning Advisory Council had a fund raiser at the Eagan Barnes and Noble store. Several storytellers read from a number of books. I listened to Michelle Smith read before me and Sharon Furth read after me. They both did a fabulous job with the children.

Below, I hold the coffee can while some of the children feel the oats before my show.

Children varied in age and there were lots of adults in the background nearby.

When there was no one reading, children eagerly browsed the book shelves with serious intensity, enjoying each book as they tried to find just the right book to take to their parents to purchase. 

Parents and children also enjoyed viewing Dale Johnson's artwork,  which he displayed during the afternoon as he chatted with visitors.

Nancy and I had to leave early and had to miss readers Michelle Mergler, Karen King, and Jennifer Watterson. The Sibley High School Fiddle and Friends performed before the fundraiser ended at 8 PM.

Nancy and I wish to thank Angie Mozeika of the Early Learning Advisory Council for inviting us to the fundraiser and Barnes and Noble for hosting the event. I hope the Early Learning Program found the event to be beneficial to them.

Photographs by Nancy A. Fredrickson

Fundraiser at Rice Lake Elementary School

On February 24th Nancy and I drove to Rice Lake Elementary School to do a show as a fundraiser, which means profits from book sales beyond our cost go to the organization hosting the event, in this case the Rice Lake Parent-Teacher Organization.

I especially enjoyed chatting with parents and their children as I autographed a books for them before and after my presentation. 

People knew that when they bought my books, they were not only supporting my efforts to pass on our farm heritage through stories, but they were also supporting their own organization because some of the money from every purchase goes back to the PTO.

Audience members of all ages seemed particularly interested in the idea of preserving the farm heritage through books that tell a story about a family on a small farm. After the show, several parents talked to me about their connection to the farm. There may not have been any farmers in the audience, but many told me their memories of their parents' farm or their grandparents' farm.

Wendy Nelson organized my visit and sat next to me while she sold books and I signed them. Since she knew all the parents and students, I could enjoy listening to the familiar chatter between them as she greeted each one by name and introduced me to them. 

Nancy's and my goal is to get my books into the hands of kids and adults, and after an enjoyable evening at Rice Lake Elementary, we left knowing that this fundraiser helped our goal while raising funds for others, as well.

Photographs by Nancy A. Fredrickson

Hector Historical Center, a Fundraiser

What's different when we do a show to kick off a fund-raiser?
Probably the only difference you would notice is that you won't see Nancy selling the books; instead, a member of the sponsoring organization is collecting the money, and the organization pays us about what a bookstore would pay us for the books they sell.
A relevant question here is, "Why would we do this?"

First, our goal is to tell the local story of rural America with accuracy and humor. We believe that preserving stories of the true heritage of the small farm is important and to do so we need to get the books out there.
Well, who better to sell "heritage" to people than people who are already focused on preserving heritage, like museums, historical centers, or people involved in creating the farm heritage of the future, like FFA, 4-H, or elementary students.
Like most of you, Nancy and I buy a number of items from students for fund-raisers: magazines, cookie dough, wreaths, wrapping paper, more magazines, and coupons. I'm not knocking any of these items for any reason at all, but I can say that none of these items represent the rural heritage like our books do.
Our books are collector items that are meant to be passed on from generation to generation. I don't think most other fund-raisers sell those kinds of products.