The Thresholds Journal Fall 2006 issue, which was dedicated to papers from the one-room school conference, is now available online. http://www.cedu.niu.edu/blackwell/journal_scan.html
Scroll down from the issue from the first conference to find it. My article is the one about Electric Saladbowls. Enjoy!
Sarah Uthoff
I recently got an essay published in a collection called Letters to a Young Iowan. Mine was one that was addressed to a famous person who once lived in Iowa (Laura Ingalls Wilder) and I was asked to do a reading with several other people on a local NPR radio show called “Live from Prairie Lights” (a local, high quality, independent book store). The real audio link is now up at
http://wsui.uiowa.edu/prairie_lights.htm
for the show from May 25th. Take a listen. 
Sarah Uthoff
When I was in a school library I always posted what I was currently reading, to model reading and I’ve decided to pick that up here in Sarah’s Notebook. I’ve added a new category Books and I’ll try to add titles as I finish them with some comments and reaction. This first book is one I picked up from a professional listserv and I really think it was worth reading.
Brag! by Peggy Klaus - I just finished Brag and it took me longer than it really should have because I kept getting distracted onto other books. I finally finished it though and I think it is worth your while. I know everyone in my family is conditioned to be far more comfortable saying negative things about ourselves and I know many other people are, too. How do you react to getting a compliment? I know I sometimes have a really hard time knowing what to say back. That’s just one situation of the many that Klaus gives you suggestions for standing up for yourself, your accomplishments, and your work without coming across as the blowhard everyone tries to avoid. To get a taste of the book, try to answer her questions here http://www.klausact.com/brag/questionnaire.htm
Sarah Uthoff
June also is National Rose Month (actually it’s a very long list). They mean of course the flower, but I’d like to think of it as Rose Wilder Lane Month. Please read something by or about Rose this month.
If you’d like to have something close to the prairie roses she was named for, look for the Nearly Wild Rose at your local garden center. I’ve had one for about three years now and it blooms more constantly than any other variety of rose that I’ve already had.
Sarah S. Uthoff
I was at Burr Oak this weekend for their Laura Days. They seem to be changing the venue somewhat. They moved several of the events previously held on Sunday, to Saturday, including the parade. This puts them more in line with how most of the other Days around the area work (Beef Days, Popcorn Festival, Trekfest, etc.)
The most interesting thing I hadn’t done before was the cemetery walk. I thought it was really interesting. Although there are a lot of modern stones, and not a lot of trees or flowers, if you walk around they really do have some interesting ones. There was the Symms family who lost sons to both Andersonville Civil War prison camp and with Custer at the Little Bighorn. There was the Brace family, two grandparents, who were caught in a flash flood while visiting friends. The house they were in was swept away leaving them floating on a bed. The grandfather fell off, he stayed near them awhile, but when he quit calling back the grandmother jumped in rather than go on without him. The friend stayed on the bed and lived. It was on a tributary of the Root River. Finally one of the earliest stones was a girl who was killed in a prairie fire. There seemed to be a lot of stones with the image of a hand pointing upward and a phrase such as “Gone Home” at the top of the image. There were your normal carved draperies, flowers, and books, and one 3-D lamb sitting on top of a stone that was very good and I can’t believe it hadn’t been broken.
I am also now firmly convinced that, if they still made them, the pressed metal markers are the kind to have. Except for some tipping, I’ve never seen one of them broken or damaged. There were three more perfect examples here. One was the only military size one I’ve ever seen. My great-grandfather, who never met a folk myth that he wasn’t willing to present as his own idea, swears that the one in our local cemetery was used as a drop off point during prohibition. (They are hollow and the name plates screwed on and off.) I’ve heard similar stories from enough other places that I’m pretty sure it was just a story.
I also want to commend you to the Burr Oak Mercantile. Laura fans want this place to stay open, so there is somewhere to eat in town and a second set of public bathrooms. They have kind of changed their set up since I was last there. They now have more antiques and serve more adult beverages. Their antiques are good though. Take a look if you are ever in town and I can highly recommend their iced tea. (Happy Iced Tea Month)
Sarah Uthoff
One of the listservs I’m on presents a list of what the current month is. The list for June just came out and it is National Iced Tea Month. Ice Tea is one of my favorite drinks. It’s best made out of brewed tea that is quickly iced before it has a chance to cool according to detailed directions I found in an old cookbook long ago and I think it’s exactly right.
Unfortunately brewed ice tea has a relatively short shelf life, so many restaurants have gone to running some sort of “tea” through their fountains like pop. This kind of tea can be kept a LONG time and never has to be dumped. I’m hoping a revolution against this disturbing, if understandable, trend is the works because I’ve seen lots more brewed tea lately as I drive around. Please celebrate National Iced Tea Month by thanking a restaurant that still has brewed tea today!
Sarah Uthoff
The National Archive produces its own magazine/journal with articles focusing on research done using items in the National Archives. I recently discovered that a really good article is available from them full text on the web. Although the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library is part of this system, the article really looks at other federal government records (land management, census, weather, etc.) and what they can tell us about the Ingalls and Wilder families and where and how they lived.
http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2003/winter/little-town-in-nara-1.html
NOTE: Click on the print page button at the top of the article to print. It’s much more printer friendly and still has all the photos. The article is divided into two parts, make sure you get both.
Sarah Uthoff
