Blogging today at Canadian Authors Who Are Christian

 

As a published author with The Word Guild, I posted today on the blog, Canadian Authors Who Are Christian. Go there to read my post. When you arrive there, you just might want to stay around and read postings by some of the other authors as well. Enjoy!

Author of Once Upon a Sandbox                                        

www.carolynwilker.ca

Upcoming events:

Storyteller at Steckle Heritage Homestead Farm, 811 Bleams Road, Kitchener, ON, Winter Fun Day, 11-12am

Book signing, March 10 at Waterloo Chapters store, Waterloo ON, 1-3pm

 

Launch of Eyes Wide Open by R. K. Livingston

This year in late September, when I was a reader at Word on the Street in Kitchener, a fellow writer whom I had never met  came to my reading and introduced herself.  Robin had also published her book, Eyes Wide Open, in 2011, originally intending the book for her family.  While our books are both about memories of growing up and of our families, her stories take place in a Northern Ontario community and mine for the most part in southwestern Ontario on our family farm.

Robin Livingston comes from a  family of storytellers. When they gather around a room together, they remember the antics and events of their youth. Encouraged by a friend, she committed the stories to blog at first, then to a collection on paper, which is this book.

Robin invited me to be guest author at her launch,  a role I was pleased to fill.  Together, we planned this event, worked on promotion for the event and prepared ourselves for the day. Since I am also a storyteller in the oral tradition, I asked if she’d mind if I tell one of my stories from Once Upon a Sandbox, then read a poem. Robin was pleased with this plan.

Last Sunday, on a rainy afternoon, we met in a spacious room  in the Evergreen Senior’s Centre in Guelph. Tables and chairs had already been set up, refreshments were prepared, and a dark blue tablecloth on the tables where we’d display our books and do our signing. The door prizes awaited and we waited for our guests to arrive, and they did, in spite of the rain. What better way to spend a rainy afternoon.

Room 4 at the Senior’s Centre, set up. Robin’s display set up on the left. (Photo by Joy Benson)

Nikki Everts-Hammond, emcee for the afternoon event (Photo by Judy Brown, friend of guest author, Carolyn Wilker)

Robin reading from her book, Eyes Wide Open (photo by Joy Benson)

Carolyn Wilker, telling the story “Trip to the Woodlot”  from her book Once Upon a Sandbox. (photo by Judy Brown)

Mementoes from Robin’s family home, artfully arranged by a friend (photo by Joy Benson)

I’ve read several stories and look forward to reading the rest of the book. Robin’s book jacket says

Eyes Wide Open is a collection of stories that span the lives of four generations of the Landy family. From lost boys to beaver tails and frog legs, each of these adventures … is a slice of life served up with smiles and laughter.

Doesn’t this make you want to read her stories? Go here to purchase her book.

Once Upon a Sandbox, available at Words Worth, Waterloo, ON; Chapters Waterloo; Upper Case Books, New Hamburg; Merrifield Book Shop, Woodstock; and Fan Fare Books, Stratford; as well as Chapters.ca

Waterloo Region Museum, Part 2

A theatre  for special events such as speakers and the storytelling series that’s going on for the second season. A partition with doors tucks into the wall and closes this theatre off from the lobby.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A two-sided screen and a slide show of immigrants coming to Canada by boat.

I’ll stand and look at the all the pictures next time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wall display of trunks and cases that carried worldly belongings of people who came to Canada.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A reproduction of a painting. People used Conestoga wagons as their means of travel in earlier days.  This display was up on a wall and I couldn’t get the painter’s name. Next visit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An old bell tower, next to a bricked facade of a building.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One more pic for Part 2

A model of Professor Jenkins and his bicycle on the high wire on which he crossed the gorge and Niagara Falls. To think we had someone so daring!

It turns out, he was pretty smart and had much of the risk removed, something most people wouldn’t have known. Imagine the awe and excitement of people watching him cross, wondering if he’d fall off the wire, bicycle and all and into the water hundreds of feet below.

Not for me, this daring feat!

 

 

 

There’s much more to see at this attractive new museum. I hope you’ll come to see it soon. Go here for more information.

Once Upon a Sandbox–My book is out

After months of writing and editing, submissions, waiting, and more editing, my book is out. Once Upon a Sandbox is a narrative in prose and poety about life on a family farm in the 50s and 60s.

If  you’ve grown up in a rural area, you will identify with many of my family’s experiences. If you’ve grown up in a city or a small town, you’ll appreciate  the need to work together to get essential chores done. You will laugh at the antics of children and pets, understand the ties of family, as well as learning about the challenges and rewards of living on the land. Come and join me on a voyage of memories.

I’ll post updates here as book signings and events are planned.  For more information or to purchase a book, please contact me.

Cover art by Deborah Pryce

 

Family Cookbook– More, Please!

Our family cookbook, published by Gateway Publishing Co, Ltd.

Our cookbook came off the press and was shipped last October; we had it in time for our family Christmas dinner in late November. And though most of the books had already been distributed, a good deal of buzz travelled around the room that day as people turned pages in a copy for the first time, as they leaned in together to point out their recipes, some of which had been used for our Christmas potluck dinner that day.

Our cookbook is more than a cookbook; it’s a piece of history.  In it are photos of family groups, their  children and grandchildren, all descendants of the late William and Ardena Herlick, my maternal grandparents. The gathering of material, pictures, recipes and stories took a great deal of time and extra prodding, but those who contributed are pleased, as are those who now have a copy.

My cousins and I thought a cookbook would a good way to record our history. The project took longer, as many do, and became more detailed than even I could imagine. But eventually, this writer, editor, and project manager, along with my most helpful assistant, Peggy, got the project together and off to press.

William and Ardena on their wedding day

Even months after, I’m hearing, ” I like that recipe.”  Then someone answering, “It’s in the cookbook.”

I’ve tried a few new recipes from the book too, some that have become new favourites. My mother, who has always enjoyed trying new recipes, is also delighted with the recipes and also for the history of her family that it represents, and that the project concluded in such a pleasing way.

My mother and her siblings grew up in the country on a farm in a time when money was often scarce, when their parents stretched every resource they had to feed and clothe their eight children, making the best use their large garden produce and the cattle, pigs and chicken they raised for food. The depression was a challenging time, but my mother said they were protected from many harsh realities of that period.

As a member of the next generation, I sought to frame much of what I had learned and that my cousins and I had experienced in our growing up years, values and learning that our parents passed on.  As it relates to our gathering around the table for meals and times of celebration with one another:

“We recognized our blessings, one, that we have never gone hungry, but also that our family has been blessed with so many good cooks, men and women who know how to take good quality meat, fruit and vegetables and create a tasty meal, and a family who, when we gather as an extended family, fills the table with home-cooked goodness.”    -from Introduction to More, Please!

The story is not over, of course; succeeding generations will write that part. Yet I hope, in time, they will take out their well-used copy of More, Please! and look at the pictures and stories once again, even if they choose to use only a few of the recipes within.

If you, the reader, should take on such a project, we wish you the best in your endeavour.

World Storytelling Day– something for everyone

World Storytelling Day, as the official website states,  is a global celebration of the art of storytelling. The intention is to have people share stories with family and friends around them. It might be a guild planning a special event to share stories told by its members, or someone sharing personal stories with other members of the family.

Baden Storyteller’s Guild, of which I am a member, has hosted a concert the past few years in The Story Barn in Baden, Ontario, which has been filled to capacity with tellers, their families and friends. This year, however, we decided to take our concert to a larger venue so that more people can enjoy our stories.

Each year World Storytelling Day (WSD) presents a theme. In 2010, the theme was Light and Shadows, the year before that, it was Neighbours. This year, the theme for the day is Water. All of our stories must connect with that theme in some way.

The Baden Storyteller’s Guild, of which I am a member, has planned two events at our WSD events at the new Waterloo RegionMuseum, in Kitchener, Ontario. On Saturday, March 19th at the museum ( 1-4 pm): World Storytelling Day Family Stories and Activities. Stories will be told by members of the storyteller’s guild.

On Sunday, March 20, we host another concert from 2-4 pm. Proceeds from our group events will go to StorySave, a project to record the voices of senior storytellers for future generations. Tickets for the Sunday concert are $10 per person and can be purchased from Mary-Eileen McClear at the Story Barn 519 634-8973. 

Our guild concert is one of a number of events in our area. Saturday afternoon at the museum,  Saturday evening, in Cambridge, Glenna Janzen and Carol Leigh Wehking, tellers from our guild, will host a dinner theatre “Grand Tales” will be told at a Dinner Performance at O’Keefe Cottage Cafe on the Grand at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $30 and include dinner and stories.

Latitudes, a registered organization in Waterloo region dedicated to storytelling, is hosting  Tom Allen  of CBC Radio2 and Lori Gemmel, harpist with the KW Symphony, on Sunday evening, March 20th, at 7:30 pm at Trinity United Church in Kitchener. Tom and Lori will perform two myths: R. Murray Schaefer’s “The Crown of Ariadne” and “The Death of Hercules.” Proceeds from this event  go to the Latitudes Storytelling Festival. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door.

Come and listen to our stories and consider your own stories on this year of World Storytelling Day events.

Things I am thankful for

This year has been a blessing in many ways, with opportunity to travel and connect with good friends, spending time with family, reading good books, trying out new opportunities (like storytelling at the Ark this summer).

family

family together

beauty of nature (God’s creation)

early spring flowers at Edgewood

Cabot Trail, Cape Breton

friends ( a few of my many good friends): those near home and friends who live farther away

friends

friends in PEI

friend in NS

more East Coast friends

a few of my Ontario friends

good music and those who make it

a piano is good for making music

freedom to worship

St. Philip’s

I also am thankful for a home to live in and good food to nourish our bodies. The list could be much longer, but I’m stopping here for now.

What are you thankful for?

Awesome Author Challenge- Jodi Picoult

I’ve been reading, but not reporting. Life is rather full. I’ve read quite a few books since replying initially to the Awesome Author Challenge by at home with books.

One of those books was My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult.  A friend told me about the book, said I must read it, then I found that my mother had  the book, so I borrowed it from her and read it in a week. I had never read books by this author, but I certainly will look up more. Picoult writes well with strong characterization, believable characters, and well developed subplots, all without overwhelming the reader.

The book is about Anna, a thirteen-year-old girl, and her efforts to be released from her apparent responsibility as tissue donor for her sister Kate who has a rare form of leukemia. Anna goes to a lawyer with her carefully saved up cash from her paper route.  The book is suspenseful with strong characters and scenes. I wanted Anna to succeed, but I also didn’t want Kate to die. I won’t tell you more that it’s a book worth reading.

 

 

Meeting on the Bridge at Camp Edgewood

This spring, I along with twenty some other women enjoyed a weekend retreat at Camp Edgewood, one of the several camps operated by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.  This year was the 25th  anniversary of the women’s retreat, originally begun by a pastor of Mount Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Waterloo, Ontario, for its women’s group, the ELW.  Now the retreat is a separately organized event, with invitations extended to  members of other Lutheran churches.

We enjoyed early morning walks up to the cliffs and a look around up there.  Our Bible Study leader,  Pastor Tanya from Mount Zion, led us to consider nature and how wind, water, and spirit are conveyed in the Bible. Our weekend included worship, study, social time— including the Saturday evening game of Pictionary— a craft time and plenty of good food.

The camp in Eden Mills, Ontario, offers summer camps for children, confirmation camps, youth and congregational council retreats as well as its environmental program led by the camp director, Fred Ludolph, closely tied with the neighbouring community of Eden Mills in its environmental approach.

Camp Edgewood is located only a short drive from Rockwood, Ontario, where we used to take the campers for walks to see the caves and waterfalls. The camp has evolved since I was a camp counselor and even more since my daughters attended confirmation camp. We’ve been at camp for a congregational picnic too.

There are always tasks and upgrades to be done at the camp. Some of the cabins have been replaced with newer facilities; washrooms have been upgraded. Recently at a men’s work weekend, work was done on the nurse’s cabin, installing a new vanity. I understand that Cedar Lodge, shown above, will be undergoing changes too.

The camp will mark its 65th anniversary later this year in October. I’m sure there are some special events being planned for the celebration. It’s a place to build relationships with others and with God and a place to honour and enjoy nature.

Take a look at the photos on the Edgewood site. Go  check it out.  Maybe I’ll see you there sometime.

Thoughts on a life

We’ll be attending a memorial service this evening for my Aunt Bea. She died earlier this week of lung cancer that had spread to her liver before she was even diagnosed. It’s been an uncomfortable last few months for her, but a time she focused on her family.

Bea’s remaining sisters and a sister-in-law had brief visits, as she was able and as she requested. I’m guessing that few others of our large extended family saw her in those last months. I sent my love in a pretty card, letting her know I was thinking of her.

When Mom talked about her over the past weeks and monthts, she’d declare, “I’m going to miss her so much.”

Auntie Bea, we’ll all miss you.

My aunt lived in Toronto for many years before coming back closer to home. I remember a train ride to the big city with my sister. Mom and Dad had taken us to the station early in the morning, paid our fare and waved good-bye. Bea and her husband met us at the Toronto station and took us to their apartment—a high rise. We could look out the balcony window and see across the tops of buildings, one of them Weston Bakery. On that mini-vacation, we went to the Exhibition, a rare opportunity for my sister and me. The Ex with all its activity and crowds, its hawkers and food booths, made our home-town fair seem like a miniature replica. The thing I remember most about that outing were not the rides but the sombreros we brought home, our named embroidered on the crown in the same turquoise as those  pompoms dangling from the wide brim.  Bea and her husband took us back to the station and waved good-bye. She took good care of us, and we had a good time.

A later time, Auntie Bea came for a visit  to our home; she took my sister and I to see Doctor Zhivago at the theatre. The movie was sad and the scenes and images stayed with me a long time, but I also remember that day as a time spent with my aunt. We were building a relationship.

My friend Linda and I, with the blessing of our parents,  planned  a vacation in Florida. I had just graduated from college and Linda had another year at university.  We were flying to Florida to stay with my grandfather, go sightseeing and also visit her great aunt and uncle. Mom and Dad took us to the airport  that morning and waited while we checked our luggage. We were flying standby, and found that we could not get away that day, yet our suitcases went on ahead. Since summer is a busy time on the farm, my parents could not come back again the next day, so Mom called up Aunt Bea and asked if we could stay the night, and if she could drive us to the airport the next day. That was fine, my aunt said. We stopped and bought toothbrushes and then headed for my aunt’s apartment, where we stayed overnight anticipating the flight the next day. Auntie Bea got us to the airport in plenty of time.

I loved Auntie Bea,  for treating us like she wanted to be treated,  for her wry humour and for being herself. Life had not always been easy for her, yet she attended family gatherings, after an absence of years, and reconnected with her siblings and parents. What I admire most is the way she has reconnected with her children from her first marriage, loved them, along with her adopted children, kept in touch with them over the years, and made time for all her children in those last months. That’s love.

So Auntie Bea, you’ve asked for donations instead of flowers. As I say good-bye today, know that I have appreciated and loved you, and I’ll miss you. These words are my gift to you.