Three weeks ago — which seems like three years ago now — I was the featured guest at the monthly meeting of the Stillwater Woman's Reading Club. The group formed in 1886 and is the longest-operating woman-founded club in Minnesota. I was honored to be invited and had a marvelous time talking to its members about my book, Crackerjack Bands and Hometown Boosters: The Story of a Minnesota Music Man. During my presentation at St. Paul Lutheran Church, I read an excerpt from Chapter 12, which seemed appropriate for several reasons. That chapter covers the years my great-grandparents G. Oliver and Islea Riggs lived in Bemidji, Minnesota (1919-1923), and it includes events like the influenza pandemic, a measles epidemic, and the passage of the 19th Amendment, which allowed women nationwide to vote in their first presidential election in the fall of 1920.
The week after my talk, I learned that Elias's college, Grinnell, was shutting down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the days seemed to both accelerate and elongate from there, as our daily routines changed by the day and by the hour. On March 12, I gave what I imagine will be my last public talk for quite a while. I was the guest of the Northfield Rotary Club, which holds weekly luncheon meetings at the United Methodist Church (or did; those meetings are currently on hiatus).
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| Courtesy of Northfield Rotary Club |
The audience, I was told, was not as large as it usually is, no doubt to the growing concern at that time about the spread of COVID-19 (this was one day before Minnesota Governor Tim Walz declared a peacetime emergency, and three days before he ordered all public schools to close between March 18 and March 27). The 65 to 70 people who did attend seemed nervous, as was I, about being in a large public group. So I decided to read again from Chapter 12. It gave me comfort to know that people 100 years ago endured a similar horror and got through it by supporting each other as best they could.
(Interestingly, that chapter also includes mention of a speech by Maria Sanford at the Methodist Church in Bemidji. I didn't appreciate the coincidence until later that my last public appearance was at a Methodist church.)
(Interestingly, that chapter also includes mention of a speech by Maria Sanford at the Methodist Church in Bemidji. I didn't appreciate the coincidence until later that my last public appearance was at a Methodist church.)
I closed my Rotary presentation with a short excerpt from Chapter 25 about a magical moment from the 2013 Vintage Band Festival, when a trombone shout group from North Carolina took the stage and brought the crowd to its feet. Reading that scene aloud gave me hope that we will endure the difficult times ahead and eventually emerge from our homes to gather and celebrate. I am holding out hope that we will hold the One Day Vintage Band Festival on Aug. 1 in Northfield as planned, and that music can provide a balm for us, like it did for my great-grandparents and their community during the darker moments of history.
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| A picture of the welcoming, receptive audience I had for my talk in Stillwater |
If you don't already have a copy of my book and are interested in reading it during this prolonged time of staying at home, you do have some options. It's still in stock and/or can be ordered through several independent bookstores, including Content Bookstore in Northfield (they ship for only 99 cents); Cherry Street Books in Alexandria; the Irreverent Bookworm in Minneapolis; Zenith Bookstore in Duluth; Beagle and Wolf Books and Bindery in Park Rapids; Drury Lane Books in Grand Marais; Ferguson Books and More in Grand Forks; and Beaverdale Books in Des Moines.
You can also order it online through Itasca Books, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.
It's available in several libraries, too, but since they're not open right now, I'll skip linking to their sites.
It's available in several libraries, too, but since they're not open right now, I'll skip linking to their sites.
Be safe and be well, and keep making and enjoying art.
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