"look john, we're on here." -- pauline phillips to john heck, residents of hearthstone at maidencreek.

this afternoon, a call came in from kathy moore, the activities coordinator for hearthstone at maidencreek near the blandon area. she'd called to confirm that the package of six copies of the labors of our fingertips: poems from manufacturing history in berks county arrived there today for residents there who helped to tell their stories for this project: helen mengel, pauline phillips, erma merkel, irene schappell, john heck, and edna machemer.

moore noted that she loved seeing the personalized letters written to each of them and how a detail about what audiences loved most about their particular poems at poetry readings fit into the final words of each, as a way to help these seniors see that they are known, valued, and appreciated even by strangers who they'll never meet.

but the best part involved interruptions in trivia time.

moore said as she hosted the game a few hours ago, phillips talked to heck and said, "look, john, we're on here," in referencing the cover of the labors of our fingertips: poems from manufacturing history in berks county.

heck's picture is at the bottom right corner of the front cover of the book, and the photograph of phillips is to the left of his. above phillips' picture is that of another fellow resident of theirs, machamer, who is getting famous at poetry readings for her wonderful underwear joke-ish story poem. 

here are links to the excerpts of their poems on the blog, for anyone who hasn't seen them yet or might want to eye-peruse them again.

john heck

pauline phillips

edna machemer

and more good news here is that a poetry reading exclusively for residents of hearthstone at maidencreek is in planning stages, to help honor the residents whose stories were captured in poem-form and to nudge other residents and the staff to appreciate these individuals even more. the world only moves toward progress when poems are involved !

39 books were mailed to libraries and historical societies in berks county this afternoon !

this afternoon, 39 copies of volume one of the labors of our fingertips: poems from manufacturing history in berks county went out in the mail to historical societies and libraries specific to berks county. some additional, less known historical societies may exist, so if more are found, they will receive copies of the book for free as well as a way to inch this art and history and these stories in poem-form across as many grateful nonprofits as possible.

the following historical societies and libraries in berks county will receive their free copies of this book of poems soon. if you know of any which aren't on this list, please nudge that information over here so copies can be sent to every relevant nonprofit.

• albany township historical society
• amity heritage society
• andulhea heritage center
• berks county genealogical society
• boyertown area historical society
• dreibelbis farm historical society
• earl township historical society
• fleetwood area historical society
• hamburg area historical society
• heidelberg heritage society
• historical preservation of berks county
• industries of the wyomissing creek historical society
• kutztown historical society
• leesport area historical society
• pine forge historical society
• tulpehocken settlement historical society
• berks county public libraries
• bernville area community library
• bethel-tulpehocken public library
• boone area library
• boyertown community library 
• brandywine area community library
• exeter community library
• fleetwood area public library
• hamburg public library
• kutztown community library
• mifflin community library
• muhlenberg community library
• oley valley community library
• reading public library-main
• reading public library-northeast
• reading public library-northwest
• reading public library-southeast
• robesonia community library
• schuylkill valley community library
• sinking spring public library
• spring township library
• village library
• wernersville public library
• west lawn wyomissing hills library
• womelsdorf community library

the books for poem-sources, including 25 seniors and in some cases, couples, went out into the mail last week, and some were hand-delivered, as were copies for the library and historical society in boyertown.

to order a copy of the book as a member of the community, the cost is $20, and it can be purchased by cash or check made out to the author or through supporting the gofundme campaign by credit card. additional donations are welcome separately from book purchases. the gofundme campaign is below.

http://www.gofundme.com/berkscountypoems

so many different people across our community have been incredibly supportive with and enthusiastic about this project. thank you to everyone who continues to keep appreciation for these efforts and this story-sharing and history-preserving possible.

100+ people attended the albright college poetry reading for "the labors of our fingertips."

last thursday, we had 100+ people attend the poetry reading for the labors of our fingertips: poems from manufacturing history in berks county at albright college in the city of reading, a wonderful turnout ! and reading from the actual first volume in this series of poetry books, now that it's been delivered from the publisher, added a nice perk to the feel of sharing these poems with heart after heart in the audience. to order a copy of the book or help contribute to this countywide effort, visit the gofundme campaign page for this project.

willie kramer and vasilia vardaxis attended this poetry reading again like they did last month with berks bards' first thursday poetry open mic, to help everyone really see the people behind some of these manufacturing industry stories in poem-form. kramer even brought artifacts for us, including all different kinds of leathers and his old cutting tools. we passed a few of the leather samples throughout the entire audience so everyone could feel the texture of these old pieces of history and see them up close. of course, we kept the tools up front so nobody hurt themselves with sharp factors ! the poem-excerpt for kramer can be read here, while the one for vardaxis is readable here, in older blog posts.

john robert pankratz, a history professor on the albright college campus, is also a professional photographer. as an artist himself and a great advocate of the arts as well as history, which are both alive in these poems, pankratz contributed his photographs for use as a way to support this poetry project. many beyond-words thanks to him for this kindness. his photographs are below within this post.

( kramer & his wife, gerry kramer, chat with hetrick before the poetry reading )

( kramer answered a large number of questions from 

the audience about his leather tannery days )

 ( vardaxis shared her memories of leaving greece to 

live and work in the city of reading in the 1950s )

and plentiful thanks as well go to alberto cacicedo and marian wolbers of the english department on campus who helped this poetry reading to possible and for rounding up so many students who kept attentive for the evening. 

realizing some of the students were from out of the area and had no real concept of the fact that the city of reading was once very different and had department stores, all kinds of shops, and a lot of culture as a destination point many decades ago, we shared details of old days to help these young folks in the audience better appreciate the heart of berks county around vardaxis' candy-packaging memories from working in the former luden's plant on eight street.

the pagoda writers.

during the first saturday in september, the pagoda writers based inside the historic pagoda in mount penn hosted their monthly workshop and invited jennifer hetrick to be the second guest speaker of the afternoon, to explain the story behind this poetry project while also sharing writing ideas from it.

international photojournalist blair seitz spoke first and discussed the concept of writing from images, whether curious prose or something cut into line breaks of poems.

donna luhrs who attended the workshop generously offered a few modified versions of her pictures showing blair seitz and jennifer hetrick. they are below.

the importance of preserving memories and history around us through interviewing those we're connected to, or those we may benefit to meet, and creating poems from them, isn't something people always think of right away on their own. its advantages touch everyone who is tied to the potential poems. and efforts like these can push art and history forward in a beautiful stretch of lines. 

working these kinds of opportunities into existence is also a way for us to put ourselves in the very seat of why we are here on this earth-- to be creators. plus, it's doubtful that those interviewed wouldn't feel more appreciated and valued through someone crafting a poem from their memories. and appreciation is one thing our world needs now more than ever. so the perks are really just reaching in all directions with these kinds of ideas.

once talking to workshop-goers about this poetry project, one idea we bounced around the room for potential writing prompts were using memories of manufacturing history stories from a person's family or his or her own life, if they happened to work in the industry. we also explored writing poems or prose inspired by the details in the few poems read from the project that day. and since food memories are such a great writing-persuaded outlet, we talked about the kinds of foods people might remember from childhood days back when our lives were so different. lebanon bologna and cheese sandwiches as well as peanut butter mixed with homemade strawberry jelly were some food details read during stanley burkert's poem from this project.

one man proudly read a brief set of lines he wrote about his grandfather's deep affection for tasty kakes at lunch, at work, on his breaks, and even the need to stop to pick up more on the drive home afterward. anyone who has known tasty kakes, and especially those who moved out of the area and can't buy them at a grocery store, knows the ache of missing that southeastern pennsylvania treat.

the pagoda writers are a great local asset in our community, and they strive to bring in different guest speakers with a variety of backgrounds and focuses in literature on a regular basis. it served as a true honor to speak to their participants. to find out more, visit them online at www.pagodawriters.com, or you can send a quick email to LTJamesThePagoda@gmail.com.

albright college poetry reading this thursday evening.

the next poetry reading for this project is tomorrow, thursday, september 17 @ 7 p.m. at klein lecture hall at albright college in the city of reading. 

klein lecture hall is along bern street near 13th street next to a parking lot for visitors.

for a campus map to see how to find klein lecture hall, click here to see the scenery in PDF.

willie kramer and vasilia vardaxis will be poem-sources again, like last month, but having a whole new audience of people listening to their poems and asking them questions, especially college-aged students, will be a delight for them.

copies of the book will also be for sale, now that they'll finally be available.

if you can attend this poetry reading, please RSVP to thelaborsofourfingertips@yahoo.com or 610.401.3392.

a glimpse: stanley burkert, born 1935.

stanley burkert grew up in the monterrey area on the outskirts of kutztown and now lives in maidencreek township. at poetry readings, people seem to really love the first line of his poem and hearing and the next sentence involving breakfast food used in a way other than eating it at a kitchen or dining room table. his shoe-making stories and memories are one of a kind and take shape on a fruit-named street in kutztown. below is an excerpt from his poem.

*

at age 10, i found a nail in my foot. my grandmother

pressed a piece of uncooked bacon against the skin

to help draw out the pus, and it worked. we mostly

walked barefoot in those days. so i never expected

that i’d one day be making shoes in a factory on peach

street in kutztown, at the saucony shoe manufacturing

company. i started on february 1, 1954 and kept that

job for nine years. we fashioned sports shoes—ones

for football, golf, bowling. i made one at a time with

a last, the wooden form shaped like a foot. you built

the shoe around it. later, my job changed, and i put

a shoe on a grinding machine, held it upside-down,

and smoothed the edges of each of them at the bottom.

i inserted temporary tacks into the underside. then

a man who did the stitching around the outer sections

took over, the next step. they paid me 75 cents per

hour at first, and after a year, i said to the owner,

mr. winchester of new york city (when he visited,

he stayed at the monterrey hotel on route 222—

it later burned), don’t you think i deserve a raise ? 

he asked, how much are you getting ? so i told him. 

my next paycheck showed that i had been bumped up 

to 80 cents an hour. i felt so proud of that extra nickel 

by the hour i’d be earning. i made a pair of mickey 

mantle’s baseball shoes and a pair of size 22 boxing

shoes which later shipped to germany. sometimes i

ate lebanon bologna and american cheese sandwiches

on my lunch break, or peanut butter with homemade

strawberry jelly. i quit to milk cows for a while, then

worked at the furnaces at cartech near route 12.

*