TGIF, AND WHAT'S UP ON THE BOOK TOUR

My favorite moment of a speaking engagement: the quiet after the event. Such was the case last Thursday night in Hagerstown at the Hartley Hills Country Club following the Rural Urban banquet.

A week ago, I had the pleasure of being guest speaker at the 62nd annual Hagerstown Rural Urban Banquet, sponsored by Western Wayne County organizations and businesses, along with Hagerstown Young Farmers and Optimists.
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I’m comfortable attending events alone, as I spent 37 years covering such things for community newspapers and several years before that, writing for college newspapers.

Julie, Ben, and me!

This time, however, I was invited to bring guests. To my delight, younger son, Ben, and his girlfriend, Julie, were those guests. What a treat! Thank you, Rural Urban!
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The evening went well, the food and conversation were great, and I got to visit with some folks I have met and written about from the Western Wayne area over a course of decades, including my former boss, Bob Hansen, and 50-year Dance with Cindy owner, Cindy Oler, who in retirement is a columnist for her magazine for women.

Backdrop was the beautiful Harley Hills Golf Course. After festivities ended, and the last opportunity to sell a book had passed, dusk settled in.
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Someone helping at the banquet graciously asked to help transport my wagon to the car where I packed everything into assigned spaces and started to drive off into the beautiful sunset. 

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Next on the public calendar is a free program in the Cicero library (Hamilton North), open to anyone from 6-7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 9.

See the promotion below. It says it all! Thank you to writer, author, and owner of Ghostwriting Spark, Susan Sparks, for securing this opportunity. She's active with the library and a member of Writer Chicks Society.

​Bring an heirloom with a story about it to tell and join us! I'm bringing a door prize, too! And I'll have my books for sale.

During the Rural Urban banquet.

Join me at the Hamilton North Library in Cicero on Tuesday night as we share memories, laughs, and maybe even some inspiration about cleaning out our storage spaces.

AND ... it's corn and tomato season in the heartland! Would you just look at these beautiful cherry tomatoes? YUM! They are delicious, too. I love them in contrast with this old blue bowl.

Roadside cherry tomatoes in an assortment of yummo flavors. Going back for more today.

What's in your plans for this August weekend? I'm heading shortly to Bloomington with Writer Chick Cathy Shouse. She writes cowboy romance. She's got a conference there tomorrow, and I'm spending the day with New Castle-native Cheryl Bennett, hanging out in her adopted hometown of Bloomington. 

Just a quick change-of-pace 28 hours or so. I hear it's Freshman Move-In Weekend! Yikes!