November Meeting

Our first meeting in November had fewer people than previous sessions, the lower turnout attributed to the late night most of us spent glued to the television sets watching election returns the night before. Still, we had eleven guests and a very good evening of reading and discussions. We welcomed back another regular attendee, sun-bird Kathleen Schwartz.

George Mindling started the evening with a wrap-up of the recent FWA conference in Orlando, and encouraged everyone to consider attending the conference in 2013. We discussed the upcoming Holiday get-together and will decide at our next meeting, November 21 (The day before Thanksgiving) whether the Christmas get-together will be on December 5^th, or on December 19^th.

George read a short piece from the Pepper Tree by our centenarian and faithful contributor, Ed Lyman, entitled “Looking Forward.” Ed rarely misses a meeting, so George read the piece as a part of our regular Ed Lyman readings.

We sadly learned the following day that Ed passed away in his sleep on the 6th, the details of his service, and the piece read at the meeting, have been posted on the blog under “Our Loss.”

Peter Frickel took over as moderator and chief cat-herder for the evening, and did an admirable job! He started by introducing Joanne Phillips who continued her saga Memoirs of a Sea Hag. Joanne has taken us through the Caribbean on a sailing adventure that never fails to engage the audience with her “Kinetic, not dry,” storyline.

Kathleen marked her return with a short, creative non-fiction piece, and Jim Kelly read Irv Newman's engaging story of coaxing a hospice nurse to write her memoirs. Jim then read two of his marvelous poems, one of which he has graciously allowed us to present here. The work, Like Him, is copyrighted by Jim Kelly, 2012, who retains all rights to the work. It may not be copied or distributed without his permission.

Like Him

"Take these, she says,

Dad doesn't need 'em anymore."

Hands him a pair of shoes—not new, but shiny,

as if they expect to go somewhere.

A couple trips in the rain will change all that.

Feels uneasy at first,

glances over his shoulder,

makin' sure he's draggin'

only one shadow.

Dust runs its fingers

through his furrowed brow,

reminding him of things that were . . .

the last one yet to come.

Like ties beneath his feet,

weathered and whiskered,

he wanders off, spending space

between near and far―

unencumbered by directions.

Yesterday walks barefoot

through the softest grass,

down the briared paths

they often shared.

James O. Kelly

Englewood, FL

10/27/12

The meeting continued with Cecile Bell reading a reflective, “Milk Room” piece she wrote while waiting for the meeting to start! Cecile's mother, Paula, was a guest for the evening and got to read, rather hear, some really great writing.

Don Westerfield, who had poems also published in the recent “Pepper Tree,” read “The Runner,” and perhaps summed up why we write best of all; “I started writing one thing, and was amazed at what came out...” What came out was great writing about the service and sacrifice of American military men and women. Perfectly written for Memorial Day reminding us “that free is never free.”

Kit Crescendo read Mirror, an ingenious piece with a swirl, and then a touching account based on a personal experience that had everyone in absolute silence. Writing about personal tragedy is hard enough, but to make it a spell binding narrative is a craft.

Peter Frickel finished the evening's readings with a piece from the Herald Tribune about forty words, and then another selection from his upcoming eighteen part work named “Lilies of the Vlei.” Peter also has the talent to engage the listener with his prose and ability to describe natural beauty with the raw dangers of his South African homeland.

We wrapped up the evening with an open floor discussion about writing in general. Several suggestions were to do more presentations about the craft of writing in future meetings, and we will do just exactly that. The readings are extremely popular, but we can balance reading with presentations that everyone will enjoy.

With that, we wrapped up our meeting and said our goodbyes until our next meeting, Wednesday, November 21^st.

George

Our Loss

On Wednesday, November 7th, 2012, at our first meeting of November, our centenarian and prolific contributor, Mr. Ed Lyman, was absent.  Ed rarely misses a meeting, so we read one of his two articles posted in the current Pepper Tree Literary Magazine for him.  We present it here with permission from Julie Ann Howell, Publisher of Pepper Tree Magazine.

Looking Forward

by:  Ed Lyman

Many people, well actually a few, have asked me what my goals are as a young writer.  When I ask myself the same question, the answer is clear and in sharp focus.  Simply stated, I look forward to that day when:

My stories will be found in the lunch boxes of every worker in America.

Likewise, they will be in the lunch boxes of every child still in school, next to their peanut butter sandwiches, with duplicate copies in their backpacks.

My stories will be in the duffel bags of every person in the Armed Forces, here and abroad, alongside their other "duffel"

And finally, I foresee major hotel chains, throughout our country, putting copies of my work in every night table for bedtime reading.

While my goals are being reached, I am more than pleased to appear in the Pepper Tree

*******************************************************************************************************

 

Our friend, centenarian, and prolific contributor, Mr. Ed Lyman, passed away in his sleep November 6th, 2012.  

The service is Thursday, November 15^th at 3:30 p.m. in the auditorium at Jacaranda Trace, 3600 William Penn Way, Venice, FL.

Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to one of the following organizations:

1.     All Faiths Food Bank

8171 Blaikie Court

Sarasota, FL 34240

2.     St. Francis Animal Rescue of Venice

1925 South Tamiami Trail

      Sarasota, FL 34293

3.     Hospital Volunteers of Venice

540 The Rialto

            Venice, FL 34285

George

We are in the back...

We are in the back of the Nokomis Volunteer Fire Department, actually the far west side of the building. The Sarasota Writers Group graciously uses the academic training room of the fire department on the side of the building farthest away from U.S. 41. We have our own parking area right by the door, but please don't block the fire doors or the road into the area. While it is a Florida Writers Association meeting, it is an open meeting, welcoming non-members as well. The only requirement for attendance is a desire to write.

We had another great turn out as the fall season begins, with the return of Bill Elam, Peter and Barbara Frickel, and Kerri Dieffenwierth. We welcomed Christine Burton to her first meeting and Rod's lovely wife, Betsy, as well. After the usual meet and greet, a basic semblance of order fell into place and we began our second meeting of October in earnest.

Rod opened the meeting with comments from Jim Kelly. Jim recently spoke with long time member Irv Newman who sends his warm regards to the group. Irv has been active with the hospice, and the nurses, and is keeping up with his writing.

Kerri mentioned she will be attending the upcoming Sanibel Island Writers Conference, November 8 through the 11^th. The only details we have at the moment is on the Sanibel Island Writers Conference Facebook page.

George passed out flyers for the upcoming Eckerd College Writers’ Conference: Writers in Paradise, to be held this January 19-27, 2013, and reminded everyone the 11^th annual Florida Writers Association Conference is to be held in Orlando this next weekend.

Rod began the readings with a humorous piece that has been selected for posting on the Swiss Army Knife web site, On The Cutting Edge: The Bloody History of the Swiss Army Knife, by our centenarian Ed Lyman. (www.victorinox.com/stories). Ed, incidentally, has been published in every issue of the quarterly literary magazine, the Pepper Tree. His wit and humor always draws great responses after the readings which are handled masterfully by Rod.

Joanne Phillips read her next installment of Memoirs of a Sea Hag titled, Bite Me! Only Joanne could tell the story of being bitten, I'm not saying where, by her own dentures. Joanne says it was in the Bahamas...

Kitt Crescendo read from her untitled work in progress, tentatively known as Four One Night Only, and will have every scrambling to look up the ingredients of the drink, Alien Secretion. Again, Kitt shows her skill in capturing her readers (listeners) with her writing. Glad to have Kitt in the group.

George Collias had everyone's rapt attention with his fascinating Sliver of a Memory, a personal memoir of Hemingway in Key West when George was a child living in Miami, and again later in Ketcham, Idaho, where Hemingway spent his last years. Some great intertwining of professional development and coincidental meetings. A really unique seed here, we hope George develops it further.

Kerri read her latest work Swamp Angels, from her great expanding anthology on growing up in untamed Florida. The saga of the “Owls” continues, and again, Kerri snags the listener as efficiently and firmly as her personal stories touch everyone. Great discussion followed the reading, including her use of changing POV, point of view, from 1^st person to 3^rd person effectively in the piece. Great writing from Kerri, as usual.

As always, our poet extraordinaire, Jim Kelly again stopped the show with two, marvelous short poems. First, Picket Fence, and then the timeless, remarkable Hero. Amazingly, they were written earlier in the day. Really great poetry, we are waiting for the next compilation of Jim's works. He may not have started it yet, but we are waiting none the less.

Susan Davis caught Rod off guard as he wanted to hear more about her recent travels, but instead she read one of her marvelous, untitled poems, also written shortly before the meeting. These people must really work well under pressure! She then read a poignant piece about death and acceptance, again, great writing.

Ed Ellis was up next with his applause generating Heavy Fog of Fish. He took us all to Catalina Island as if we were there, leaving us wondering how he did that. We're still wondering about being bologna and cheese, or cheese and bologna. Or spark plugs. You had to be there. It was worth the wait.

We then took a ten minute breather, then jumped back into the wonderful pool of writers who grace our meetings with Peter Frickel, who read his poem Crocodile Baking in the Sun, and then read a passage from Langston Hughes' Raisin in the Sun. Peter never fails to enthrall our group of enthusiasts.

We then were treated to the return of Bill Elam, who introduced us to the quasi-legal term of, if I copied it correctly, of equine-anal, or something pretty close to that. Lawyer talk. Bill then read again in the vein of old men reflecting on their lives, and the painting that miraculously took the colors of a pile of rust and iron oxide brilliantly and inexplicably.  It was well received in discussion by the group.

Rod closed out the meeting reading a chapter in his Little Skeeter story, Soap Box Racer, growing up in Sarasota in far less complicated times. The tight, well written piece had the drama of a NASCAR race even though we knew they were soap box derby cars coasting down a hill. Again, well received and appreciated. It's good to hear Rod get to read his own writing.

Our group of writers is an eclectic, diverse talented group of people and I look forward to every meeting. Drop in and take a listen if you get the chance. See you next time November 7^th!

George

Ed Lyman is published once again

Russ Heitz sent this really nice e-mail about our friend and centenarian, Ed Lyman.

“Ed Lyman called me today to tell me his story, ON THE CUTTING EDGE: The Bloody History of the Swiss Army Knife, was accepted for publication on the Swiss Army Knife website  (www.victorinox.com/stories).  I sent a short email to them with some additional info about Ed and got the following response.  I don't know when the story will appear but we'll definitely have to keep an eye out for that.

If you want to send Ed a note of congratulations his email address is elyman24@comcast.net.

Russ”

Hello Russ,

Thank you so much for your endearing email!

I'm an Ed Lyman fan and (I'm sad to say) I've never even heard of him before. Your email prompted me to do a quick Google search and I saw his 100^th birthday photo. I'll dig a little deeper as time permits.

Your email has been forwarded to the proper department. Hopefully, your background information on Ed will accompany his story. It would be so nice to share Ed Lyman with the world!

 http://www.victorinox.com/stories/thehelper

Thank you,

TRG Group Customer Service

888.658.0717

To: TRG Group Customer Service

-

It is my understanding that your website (http://www.victorinox.com/) recently accepted a story for publication in your "Stories" section that was written by Ed Lyman of Venice , Florida , re: his humorous tale about the Swiss Army Knife.

I just wanted to give you some info about Ed that you might want to include with the story which he calls "On the Cutting Edge."  Most important of all, Ed Lyman celebrated his 100th birthday this past summer!  He is also very active in a writing group in the Venice , Florida , area.  I am also part of that writing group.  The group is affiliated with the Florida Writer's Association.  Ed has published nearly 100 short humorous articles like the one you accepted.  His subject matter is broad and varied but always humorous.  His stories usually with a "snapper" ending as well.

Ed Lyman is a remarkable old gentleman and I hope you can provide some extra publicity for him and his story.

I have known Ed for about 10 years and he continues to amaze me with his intelligence, wit, compassion and, most of all, his youthful enthusiasm for the written word and for Life in general.

If you need additional information about Ed please feel free to contact me at the above email address.

Russ Heitz

Wednesday, June 6th, 2012

Our meeting kick-off Wednesday evening was interrupted by an event that drew a round of warm, thunderous, applause: Irv Newman rejoined the group for an extraordinary reunion. Accompanied by his beautiful wife, Beatrice, he was warmly greeted by everyone. Irv received over 100 cards from well wishers, and we again wish him the best.

Irv, who recently turned 90, later had a poignant piece about his brief stay in a hospice read by Jim Kelly. His “Thank You” letter to the staff and the directors was touching, and eye opening at the same time. Hospices should not be prejudged as “Death's Doorway.” We can't wait to read Irv's next effort about standing in front of an open coffin called, “Wait, Wait, I Have A New Idea I Want To Run By You...”

George Mindling brought up the schedule for July, which has our first meeting of the month on the Fourth of July holiday. By unanimous consent, that meeting will be skipped, so, July will have one meeting on the 18^th. The calendar can be checked anytime right here on our blog page.

Our next meeting will be a very special meeting on June 20^th as we celebrate a very special birthday of one of our most prolific members, Ed Lyman. Ed, who has been published of every single issue of Peppertree Literary Magazine since it first started publishing, will be 100!

Ed Lyman has also been coming to our FWA meetings since we first started getting together at the Gulf Gate Library, more than five years ago. And he always manages to stir up more than a few chuckles with his very original, clever and well-structured stories that always have a "snapper" ending.

Ed is also a generous supporter of his Venice community. He still volunteers at the Venice Hospital where he serves as a wheel chair "pusher" for people leaving the hospital. He also volunteers at a cat rescue and adoption service near Venice. That's where he adopted his beloved cat, Tammy. In addition to his time and effort, Ed has also generously provided funding to purchase a new truck for the local food bank, as well as a new air conditioned van for the feline adoption service.

In tune with his "giving" nature, Ed is also providing the money to buy the snacks and goodies that we'll be enjoying at his non-birthday party on the 20th of this month. It's a "non-birthday" party because Ed did NOT want a party for himself. He was adamant about that. He said, "It's just another birthday. No need to make a fuss over me." What he really wanted to do was give US a party, which is what we'll be doing at the next meeting.

Ed Lyman is our official Writer Emeritus and we hope he'll be around for at LEAST another 100 years! And we hope you all show up on Wednesday, June 20th, to share with Ed your best wishes for his "non-birthday."

We will play the meeting “by ear” so to speak, with possible readings in the first half of the evening, but the second half will be dedicated to a very special non-birthday wish to Ed. Sandwiches and coffee will be served, and if anyone would like to help with paper plates, napkins, or plastic dinnerware, please contact Russ Heitz at russ@russheitz.com. In fact, one reason Irv made a special effort to attend last night's meeting was to be present for the planning of Ed's non-birthday! Spouses and friends are welcome at the special meeting. Thanks to Russ for the marvelous information about Ed.

After more announcements about the upcoming FWA Convention in October, Ed Ellis got the meeting underway with Jim Kelly reading Irv's piece about his stay in the hospice. Irv and Beatrice graciously said goodnight soon after, everyone once again greeting and wishing them well.

We welcomed new-comers Charlotte Humphreys and Roger Sakowski to the meeting, and welcomed back Cathy Marine and Jim Kelly as well. Charlotte started the evening's readings with “Pear Tree and the Vanishing House,” a nostalgic, well written piece that drew warm response from the group. We look forward to more of Charlotte's writing.

Joanne Phillips read a really great poem about Englewood, which garnered her a 2^nd place ribbon in the Englewood contest, and followed with the next chapter of her book, “Memoirs of a Sea Hag.” A great discussion about style followed, but everyone agrees: More!

Susan Haley took a few minutes to remind us on this anniversary of D-Day, that we all take far too much for granted in our daily lives. Susan read Bart Stamper's one-line poem that brought a moment of silence to the whole room: “On Memorial Day it's so different when you know their names.. . . Ron Holeman, John Knaus, Cameron McCallister and dozens of others a thought to consider.”

Rod DiGruttolo followed with another of his great reflections of growing up in Sarasota in the 1950's called “Puppy Dog Tales.” Rod graciously thanked Ed Lyman and Peter Frickel for helping him develop the masterfully done series.

Peter Frickel read a chapter from his upcoming 18 part work named “Lilies of the Vlei.” “Umbubulu” was a masterfully told tale of a young man riding through the African night with his father, physician to the king of the Zulus, during dangerous and treacherous times. Again, marvelous stuff.

Rod then read a humorous piece called “Package Pandemonium,” published in 1966. It was written by none other than Ed Lyman's son, Dan. Must run in the family.

After a ten minute break, Ed wished he had his cow-bell back! Everyone rejoined the meeting after chocolates and fortune coolies, and we resumed with Lee Taylor Franke reading a great piece that linked nostalgia with the aging of a town simultaneously with its citizens. Well written and deeply emotional piece.

Jim Kelly read two of his great poems, starting with “Smoke and Ashes,”and “Light.” Two more masterful pieces of poetry that left the group speechless. Absolutely great writing.

Kerri Dieffenwierth read another piece of her upcoming work, “Homemade Rodeos,” again with writing that stands alone called “Run, Run Away.” It wasn't about the horse... More great writing.

Ed Ellis received great critical review after his difficult piece about writing what is possible or plausible. Paradoxical? A great success model for writing.

We wrapped up another great night with Patricia LaBarbera reading her “What We're Looking For,” a wonderful story that, as always, has delightful, unexpected twists. Patricia will keep us posted as to her next seminar on editing and editors, something none of the group should miss.

We turned off the lights and said goodnight. See everyone on the 20^th for Ed's birthday.

Special Thanks to Russ Heitz for the information about Ed Lyman.

PS: Kerri just forwarded information about a writing sweepstakes at:
BookBaby.com

George

Wednesday Feb 15, 2012

A warm, beautiful sunset welcomed the latest meeting of the Sarasota chapter of the FWA, followed by another entertaining evening listening to a wide variety of writings by an eclectic group of writers.

We welcomed back Kris Palmer, author of “Dancing With An Elephant,” (http://www.dancingwithanelephant.com/) and newcomer Lori Davis of Dayton, Ohio. Lori is currently in Englewood and looking for a publisher for her first book. She has already started her second, also in the Young Adult Fantasy genre.

After the usual, congenial half hour “Catch-Up” session, Rod DiGruttolo started the meeting with announcements by Lois Stern and Bill Elam. Lois mentioned her website, (http://www.tales2inspire.com/) has a problem but will be restored in the next day or two. The Tales 2 Inspire contest will be extended to compensate for the inconvenience of the web site being unavailable. Bill mentioned an article in USA Today by Jefferson Graham about ebooks. The article is available at
"http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/talkingtech/story/2012-02-14/ebook-self-publishing/53097762/1" at least for the time being. And that segued perfectly into Russ Heitz's presentation about e-publishing.

Russ shared his wealth of experience and savvy about e-publishing which is fast becoming the defacto method of getting new writer's material into the marketplace. He covered the different formats and how to approach both Amazon (Kindle) at https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/signin, and with Smashword at http://www.smashwords.com/. A quick list of e-publishing websites are included at the end of this blog.

George started the evening's reading with “What,” his 250 word exercise of Rod's writing challenge to use only dialogue to tell a short story, followed by Rod's reading of our soon-to-be-Centenarian Ed Lyman's work, “Amazing! Well, Not Exactly!” Barbara Frickell read her delightful interpretation of Rod's dialogue challenge titled “Tete-a-Tete,” obviously set in Paris. Lee Taylor completely engrossed the group with her gripping story “Easy Prey With Decals,” which everyone took as a factual story rather than the fiction it actually was.

Bill Elam read his great piece about pilots and airplanes too old to be useful, evoking memories about scrapbooks and memories. Cecile returned, reading her short, delightful one-act play about two baby girls wrapped in blankets in a nursery. Light hearted fun seen from a certainly different perspective. Lois Stern then read her piece for Rod's challenge, adapted from one of her inspiring tales. Amazing fluidity in compressing time using only dialogue.

Susan Davis read two great short pieces from her favorite poets. “The Silent Articulation of a Face” by the 13th century mystic poet Rumi, was followed by a poem by Pablo Neruda dedicated to his love Matilda. Susan has had the pleasure of visiting Neruda's house in Chile. Both great poems, and of course, well read as always.

Kris Palmer celebrated her return with two poems, the very beautiful “Wind,” and a limerick entitled “Lot Lizard.” Glad to have Kris back, even for a short while.

After a relaxing break, we resumed with the inimitable Joanne Phillips. Joanne came through as anticipated with “Rojo Mojo,” an ingenious poem about her last week's encounter with a red headed fireman. “I'm a Little. You're a Lot,” was followed by “Magic Moment,” a tender poem with a soft touch. Nicely done. Ed Ellis read part of a story under development, and under a cloud of secrecy, apparently, about personal confrontation between nuclear holocaust survivors, Great so far, we want to hear more.

Susan Haley was finally coerced into reading a great paragraph resulting from a challenge she received at a different writing group. Her challenge was to write a paragraph based on a single word. Her word was Karma and no one is better suited than Susan to write that paragraph. Nicely done!

We had a few minutes to go, so Kris graciously read her great piece, “My Escort,” and Bill wrapped up the evening's readings with a follow-up story about the lovers he introduced last meeting. Another enjoyable, entertaining, and informative night.

Next meeting will be on March 7th, see everyone then!

George

Kindle https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/signin
Smashword http://www.smashwords.com/
Createspace http://createspace.com (For paper books)
Cover Photos http://istockphoto.com
Cover Photos http://www.dreamstime.com/
Cover Layouts http://createimagesonline.com/
ebook publisher http://publishing.booklocker.com/
ebook publisher http://www.rainbowebooks.com/store/

ISBNs http://www.bowker.com/en-US/products/customer_type/serv_custype_author.shtml

Advertising "http://author-promotion.com/"
epub newsletter http://publishyourownbooks.com/

_________________________________________________________________
EVENTS

What, When & Where:

Mr. Philip Levine
United States Poet Laureate 2011-2012
Reading and Book Signing
7 p.m., Monday, April 9, 2012
Saint Leo University
Greenfelder-Denlinger Boardroom
Student Community Center
Saint Leo, FL 33574

Come and celebrate Poetry Month with the Poet Laureate of the United States! Mr. Philip Levine is the eighteenth United States Poet Laureate. His works of poetry include the 1991 National Book Award-winning "What Work Is," the 1995 Pulitzer Prize-winning "The Simple Truth," and his most recent "News of the World (2009)."

In the August 2011 announcement, the Librarian of Congress James H. Billington remarked, "Philip Levine is one of America's great narrative poets. His plainspoken lyricism has, for half a century, championed the art of telling 'The Simple Truth'...."

The event is co-sponsored by the Daniel A. Cannon Memorial Library, the English, Fine Arts, and Humanities Department, and Student Services. It is free and open to the public. Seating is first come, first served, however, for seating requests of 10 or more, and for directions and parking information, please call Ms. Tammy Hunt, 352-588-8294.

St. Leo, FL is approximately 90 miles north of Sarasota, east of I-75

Thank you, Kerri for the information, and thank you Ms. Hunt for your kind assistance

Jacuzzi Romance

As most of you know, Ed Layman is the oldest member of our group and we are proud to have him with us. At 97 he is still cranking out story after story. Continuing his tradition of having a story in every single issue of THE PEPPER TREE LITERARY MAGAZINE since its inception, Ed has another one in the August/September issue. THE PEPPER TREE is a free publication that is available at numerous sites around Sarasota County, including the libraries.

Ed's stories always bring a chuckle. His insight into human nature and his clever use of the language assures us of a treat every time we read or hear one of his stories. They are usually quite funny and cleverly written.

The story in the current issue of THE PEPPER TREE, however, is a departure from Ed's usual light-hearted look at the world. As its title suggests, JACUZZI ROMANCE, is a love story about a man and a woman and it is written with a gentle hand and a warm heart. As Ed's stories are wont to do, this one also has a tender little twist at the end.

Pick up a copy of THE PEPPER TREE at the nearest library or one of the other distribution points around the county. JACUZZI ROMANCE is on page 14 of the August/September issue.

After reading it, if you want to send Ed a note about the story his email address is elyman24@comcast.net.

Posted by
Russ Heitz

Ed Lyman

For anyone I might have missed in our general mail-out, Ed Lyman, our 96-year-old Writer Extraordinaire, lost his last close family member this past week. His beloved daughter, Jane, died after a brief illness. The obit notice was published in the Sarasota Herald Tribune today, May 22, 2009.

If you would like to send a card or flowers, Ed's snail-mail address is 1265 Flying Bridge Lane, Osprey, FL 34229. His email address is elyman24@comcast.net.

If you would like to call Ed, his phone number is 918-8583. Memorial donations may be made to TideWell Hospice.

While Ed is an excellent writer, he depended on his daughter for many of the computer skills the rest of us take for granted. For instance, he knows how to receive and open emails but he doesn't know how to send them.

If someone would like to volunteer a few hours to help Ed become more familiar with the computer skills he will continue to need, please feel free to phone him at 918-8583. He will be immensely grateful.

Ed and his witty stories have been an important part of our local FWA family for several years and he is looking forward to our next meeting, which will be held at our new meeting place: the Nokomis Volunteer Fire Department, 111 Pavonia Road in Nokomis, on June 17th from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. Despite this change in venue, our meetings will continue to be held the 3rd Wednesday of every month. As usual, a reminder will be sent out to our members prior to the next meeting on June 17th.

Posted by
Russ Heitz
www.russheitz.com