AMC Monthly Newsletter
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The following is an example of the AMC Newsletter for the most recent Newsletter contact AMC at the following E-Mail: AkronManuscriptClub@yahoo.com
Example Newsletter
------ Akron Manuscript Club November Newsletter -------
Mailing Address:
Akron Manuscript Club
P. O. Box 13551
Fairlawn, Ohio 44333
E-mail Address – AkronManuscriptClub@yahoo.com
Web Site – www.acorn.net/amc
Officers – President -- Rae Hallstrom
Vice-Presidents -- Olga Kurtz
Carolyn Weldon
Secretary/Treasurer -- Nathalie Ketterer
Webmaster -- Anthony Adams
Newsletter/E-mail -- Valentina Ranaldi-Adams
Meetings – The next meeting is November 9, 2003. The club usually meets on the second Sunday of the month, at 2:00 PM, at the Akron Jewish Center, at 750 South White Pond Drive. Each meeting consists of a business portion followed by a reading/critique portion. Those wishing to have literary items critiqued by the club’s members, should bring about eight copies of each work to pass out.
Club Dues -- $20.00 per year, payable each September
--------- Items From the October 12, 2003 Meeting ---------
Attendance – Attendance numbered ten including newcomer Barbara Sabol.
Treasury – The treasury contains $1108.89.
Anniversary – In May of 2004, the Akron Manuscript Club will be seventy-five years old. Olga Kurtz will look into the possibility of combining the club’s 75th anniversary celebration with a writers’ event, in May 2004, at the University of Akron’s Wayne College, in Orville.
Book Anthology – The club still has both paperback and CD copies of “Wordspinners of the Akron Manuscript Club” available for purchase.
------------------------ Club Items -----------------------
Member’s Passing -- Longtime club member Vivian Preston passed away on Saturday, October 18, 2003. At various times, she served as president and as treasurer of the club. Vivian was a contributor to the following club anthologies –
“The Quill”
“Wordspinners of the Akron Manuscript Club”
At the end of this newsletter is Vivian’s obituary from the “Akron Beacon Journal” and her essay from “The Quill”.
Yearly Dues – Dues can still be paid for the 2003-2004 year. Members may pay in person at the November meeting or by mail to the club’s post office box. Checks are to be made out to the Akron Manuscript Club.
ACME Receipts – As a fundraiser, the club has started to collect ACME receipts again. Receipts are to be given to Bob Barrett at the monthly meetings. ACME pays one percent of the total dollar amount of the
receipts collected.
Writing Exercise – For those who participated in Rae Hallstrom’s “Power Supply” writing exercise at the October meeting, please bring your efforts to the November meeting.
New Member – The newest member to join the club is speech therapist Barbara Sabol. Barbara entered the following poem in the haiku contest sponsored by “PLEASE FORWARD!”, the Ohio literary e-newsletter written by Joseph McLaughlin.
GRATITUDE
Fog covers the hill.
We are blanketed by mist;
the grass exhales thanks.
This haiku, along with one haiku from each of the other poets entering the contest, was published in the October 1 “PLEASE FORWARD!” e-newsletter.
----------------------- Opportunities ----------------------
Cup of Comfort – The “Cup of Comfort” series of books is currently accepting submissions, for the following two anthologies –
A Cup of Comfort for Spirituality deadline December 31,2003
A Cup of Comfort for Mothers & Sons deadline January 31,2004
Submissions may be made by U. S. Mail, e-mail, or fax. One hundred dollars will be paid for each story that is selected for publication. For more information, including submission guidelines, go to the web site at http://www.cupofcomfort.com/share.htm. For questions, send an e-mail to books@adamsmedia.com or call: 1-800-872-5627.
Disclaimer – The Akron Manuscript Club does not endorse nor vouch for any of the conferences, contests, festivals, magazines, publishers, web sites, workshops, or writers’ groups mentioned in this newsletter.
------------------------- Obituary ------------------------
Vivian M. (Przepasniak) Preston, 85, went home to be with the Lord on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2003.
A resident of Barberton for the past 40 years, Vivian was active in many local organizations. She was a freelance writer and formerly a correspondent for Fairchild Publications. She wrote the senior column for the Barberton Herald, and many articles for Christian magazines and children's publications. She had a servant's heart and volunteered as needed at Weaver Workshop, Stan Hywet, and Ronald McDonald House, and many community Christian and service agencies. She was a member of the Church of the Blessed Hope in Cleveland and attended Faith Free Will Baptist Church in Barberton. Vivian had a heart for the Lord and everyone who met her was enriched by her friendship.
Preceded in death by her husband, Raymond; son, Kenneth Przepasniak; and sister, Marjorie Dalton, she is survived by sons, James (Angela), Rich ard (Diane) Przepasniak, and Charles (Lynda) Preston; grandchildren, Deborah, Lisa, Steven, Ruth Anne, Laurie, Jeannie, Sherri, Mark, Kim, Karla, Kelly; 10 great-grandchildren, one great-great-grandchild, and many nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held Friday, 11 a.m., at the Campfield-Hickman-Collier Funeral Home, with Pastor Russell Varner officiating. Burial at Greenlawn Cemetery. Visitation Thursday, 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Donations may be made to the charity of one's choice.
Published in the Akron Beacon Journal on 10/22/2003.
------------------------- Essay ------------------------
AND ONE TO GROW ON
by
Vivian M. Preston
Of all parties celebrated throughout the year, birthday parties head the list in popularity. The lighted wonder of a candlecrowned cake with its melt-in-the-mouth icing and velvety crumb cake slices, the first one usually cut oh-so-carefully by the birthday celebrant, can't be matched.
Honoring birthdays is an old custom. Years ago only royalty had their natal day remembered in this fashion. There are two royal birthdays mentioned in the Bible, one in the Old Testament, that of Pharaoh Joseph served, and in the New Testament, that of King Herod.
Most birthday parties are for children, from the pattern of the children's birthday party comes from Germany where they held a kinderfeste. This entailed a family dinner with the menu selected by the child to include his favorite dishes. Birthday gifts from the family were received at dinnertime. In addition, a birthday party was held and the guests were his special friends. The candlelit birthday cake, now the crowning feature of any birthday celebration, was imported from Germany. Some German children receive, when they are
christened, a large candle with 12 or more markings spaced on it from top to bottom. Each year on the child's birthday, the candle is burned down to the next line.
The custom of placing lighted candles on cakes originated with the Greeks. On the sixth day of each month, the birthday of Artemis, goddess of the hunt and moon, was celebrated. Honey cakes, round as a full moon, were baked, lighted tapers adorned them as they were borne through the streets to be placed on the altar in the temple of the goddess. It was the Greeks who originated the custom of wishing on all lighted candles, blowing them out with one puff of breath, so the wish could be granted.
Romans, as well as Greeks, thought tapers had magical qualities. The devout would offer prayers and good wishes to be carried up to the gods in the candle flames. If the gods were pleased, they would send down blessings and perhaps answer their prayers.
Sometimes birthday cakes are used to tell fortunes -- a coin, button, ring and a thimble are placed in the cake dough. The guest who finds one of these objects in his slice is supposed to learn his fortune from the token: a coin - wealth, a button poverty, a ring - marriage, thimble - a spinster or bachelor. In Russia a birthday pie is as popular as cake, with Happy Birthday pricked into the crust.
Playing games at a birthday party used to symbolize wiping out the past year and starting a new year ahead. Games of skill or strength were played so the guests could see how much the child had progressed since the previous year, Everyone present was proud of the demonstration,
In some countries it is the custom to plant a tree with the birth of each youngster in the family and it parallels the child's growth. If the tree drooped it was thought the child would become ill. Usually an apple tree was planted for a boy and a pear tree for a girl.
“Whoever loses his good name is as unfortunate as he who loses his shadow.” In some cultures the baby was given a secret name when born and his true name was known only to his family and trusted friends, thus hidden from possible enemies. This custom is observed among the Egyptians, Brahmans of India and the North American Indians, With the Australian aborigines, their names were secret and whispered only on the most special occasions. They were never murmured in the presence of a woman, not even wives or mothers, or within the hearing of a man of another tribe.
The modern belief about birthstones bringing good luck is thought to have originated in Poland in the 1700's. These superstitions spread to other European countries and finally to the United States. According to tradition, he who wore his birthstone had a potent talisman to protect him from evil and bring out the best in his own character.
What has become a friendly and generous American custom is the taking to school a treat to be shared by classmates on birthdays: cookies, cupcakes, suckers or other goodies are enjoyed by all. Some American schools encourage receiving an inscribed book for the school library from the birthday celebrant.
Birthday spankings, one for each year of life and one to grow on, were first administered to soften the body for the tomb, with the theory that good fortune may be offset with a bit of distress so the good luck would last. Now birthday spankings are part of the fun guests enjoy and the receiver suffers good-naturedly.
All the celebrations and traditions that surround a child's birthday go into his memory bank to be drawn on later when he hears those magical words, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”