upcoming poetry readings in october, november, & december 2015.

the next poetry reading for the labors of our fingertips: poems from manufacturing history in berks county is this sunday, october 25 @ 2 p.m. at studio b in boyertown. the address is 39a east philadelphia avenue, boyertown, pa 19512.

 attendance is limited to 30 at the studio b reading, and some who RSVPed before couldn't attend. so now expected attendance is at 22. if anyone else would like to attend, please reach out with your RSVP. danke !

at least 5 of the 25 poem-sources from the first book in this project will be at this upcoming reading at studio b to answer questions and share stories after their poems are spoken for the audience.

*

and here is information for the next poetry readings as the season gets chillier.

  

wednesday, november 18 @ 6 p.m. at t.e.a. factory in reading: 

580 willow street, reading, pa 19602

sunday, december 6 @ 2.15 at the bernville area community library:

6721 bernville road, bernville, pa 19506 

*

please RSVP for any particular reading you can attend. and if you stumble across any seniors to interview for the second year of this project, please pass along any recommendations.

poetry project coverage in commerce quarterly magazine published by the greater reading chamber of commerce & industry.

commerce quarterly, a magazine published by the greater reading chamber of commerce & industry, featured this poetry project in its fall 2015 issue. this included scenes from the life of willie kramer.

a glimpse: mary hess, born 1941.

mary hess is one of several people who offered insights about working about the casket factory in boyertown for this poetry project. below is the excerpt from her poem crafted from interview content from a few months ago, as well as some old memory pieces she kept since the place shut down in the late 1980s.

*

in 1959, i lost my job at devon knitting mill, a clothing
factory in eshbach—a tornado stirred its spinning fury
through the village. that twister tore the whole place
apart. before that storm, they’d started me on machines
but later moved me to pressing men’s shirts and underwear.
once they hired me at h&r manufacturing on south reading

avenue in boyertown, i had the same boss as at my old job,
homer reiter. he gave us compliments on our work pretty
well in some moments. i found myself employed at a pants
factory near where sugg motorcar company is now, too.
but  i eventually heard that the casket factory in boyertown
was hiring, so i applied there, and soon, my name inked

into their payroll files. at first, i sawed wood and almost
lost part of my right hand’s ring finger from the blade. that
doctor told me i’d never have feeling in it again, but it buzzes
and pulses now, so my body proved him wrong on that one.
my girlfriends, sally and shirley in the shipping department
nudged me to apply for a job with them, so i did. betty

toulish stepped out of the driver’s seat of the loader one day
while prepping a truck, maybe to see how to get the forks
lined up in the tracks better, and that lift fell on her. we
heard it, ran quickly, found betty—her bones crushed, pushed
into the ground beneath its weight. heartbroken, we learned
she died from the injuries a few years later. at some point,

i did inspections, peered hard into wood and metal sides
to identify the nicks, the dings, requesting smooth touch-ups
for honoring the dead by the caskets they’d quietly know.

*

two more copies of the first volume were donated to the berks history center and polish-american heritage association of berks county.

copies of the first volume of the labors of our fingertips: poems from manufacturing history in berks county were also donated to the berks heritage center as well as the polish-american heritage association of berks county. this brings the book donation total for the first year of the project, across all berks county libraries and historical societies, to 41.

if anyone knows of other less publicized local historical societies in berks county to donate copies to, feel free to reach out with any contact information you may have. some have been a little difficult to find, even figuring out they exist in the first place. oi !

"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.

*

a few initial copies of the first book for the project made their way to berks county today !

an early release of 10 copies of the first book for this project arrived in the mail today. the remainder will be printed and ready from the publisher by mid-september or earlier. but below are some eye-scenes from it for now, and if you'd like to order a copy, please email thelaborsofourfingertips@yahoo.com or call 610.401.3392. if you contribute $20 to the gofundme campaign for the project, that is another way for you to get a book, until copies run out.

copies will also be available for sale at the next poetry two readings for this project, which are set for thursday, september 17 @ 7 p.m. at klein lecture hall at albright college in the city of reading and sunday, october 25 @ 2 p.m. at studio b in boyertown. please RVSP if you can attend either event. and thank you tremendously for your support for this long but worthwhile labor. =)

proof and cover options-- trying to decide among these awe-stirring options.

the proof and cover options for the first book of this poetry project arrived in the mail today. it's stirring such awe here with the pretty-factor !

if you have recommendations on the color/texture options between these pretty cover choices, please feel free to note your insights. it seems like it will be hard to pick one because they all have their own lovely appeal eye-wise and then also seemingly through a few other senses, starting with feeling. community insights are always helpful, and you are all a part of this, if you're reading this page.

to make it easier to tell which is which, let's describe the options as 1 through 6, starting with 1 in the bottom left corner, and the actual book proof's cover is 6.

the manuscript for the first book in this project is finally in the hands of the publisher.

the manuscript for the first book for this poetry project is finally in to the publisher. phewww-- such a wonderful point to get to ! more news will be on its way for the official release in the next few weeks. stay tuned. thank you all for your incredible support you've offered here.

and here is an inspiring quote from the early pages of the book. keep it close to your heart as you find your way through your days.

some poems you read, and some poems you are.

– joe swider, a resident of perry township, berks county, pennsylvania

a tilden township woman's poem inspired by a reading for this poetry project.

a stitched collage artist by the name of martha ressler, known to many as marty, attended the first thursday poetry night hosted by berks bards at goggleworks in the city of reading last thursday where the labors of our fingertips: poems from manufacturing history in berks county stood as the main feature before the open mic. she'd heard about the event through email updates. and she herself worked in the garment, meat-packing, steel, and automotive industries, outside of our region. so she had a personal interest in these local manufacturing history poems for that reason.

( martha ressler and a sampling of her art -- credit: jay ressler )

ressler grew up in cleveland and last lived in pittsburgh before moving to tilden township. but her diverse background in different manufacturing jobs in the past few decades kept her ears perked well as the poems from this project spread across the air on the first floor of goggleworks.

she felt inspired to write a poem of her own just from listening to the poems from this project and noticing a quick jump of a movement for the goal of a sudden edit by the poet. her poem is below, in gratitude of her agreeing to let it be shared as a part of this project. and the line about a baby bird in her poem references the poem which is from the memories of willie kramer of south heidelberg township, although the feather-y reminders portion is not in the excerpt posted here earlier on the blog. some mystery is still tucked in the words you've yet to see. you can find out about the winged ones once the book is released in a few weeks.

*

poem for jennifer

by martha ressler

i came to hear poetry about working.

i expected a grizzled time worn poet, face like leather, muscles knotted, hands scarred.

instead stood this young woman, long light brown hair and so thin she could have walked out of her boots.

she read her poems, tentatively.

she had listened to workers, for hours.

they talked about their tools, their machines, their co-workers, and their losses. 

they spoke of their boredom and fleeting moments of joy.

i remember the one about the worker delighted, briefly, by a mother and baby bird, flying up in the rafters. 

i remember the poem about the sewing machine operator whose factory closed down. 

everyone moved on, but the women left the secrets they’d told, the laughs they’d shared, in a tangled knot of threads on the floor.

i liked that the young woman with long brown hair stopped reading, once, to reach for a pen. 

she wanted to correct “sewing” to “knitting.”

“i got them confused before i learned the difference.”

she learned that and so much more. she learned about extruders, swing shifts, piecework versus hourly pay, and the difference between warp and weft.

she listened and absorbed, asked questions, and then listened some more.

then she spun those stories of boredom, routine, and joy into silken word threads.

august 6th-- berks bards features the labors of our fingertips: poems from manufacturing history in berks county.

berks bards graciously invited the labors of our fingertips: poems from manufacturing history in berks county to be the focal feature for its monthly reading in august-- last thursday at goggleworks in the city of reading. around 40 people made up the audience for the hour or so before the open mic portion of the evening.

two poem-sources were able to be a part of our literary-loving and history-hugging moments: willie kramer of south heidelberg township attended this reading, to talk about his memories of working in a tannery in fleetwood for a good portion of his life, and so did vasilia vardaxis of the city of reading, who kept close to candy daily at the luden's plant near her home long ago. before this, the kramer and vardaxis had never shared their stories in front of an audience, and seeing them light up at sharing responses to people's questions is a great reminder of why this project is so valuable. stories are so important, which is something pursuing the creation of these poems and also just even reading them brings to the surface of our understanding.

below is an excerpt of the poem inspired by varadaxis whose mother birthed her an ocean away from berks county.

*

i left greece for this new country in 1956, that story
of wanting a better life, leaving a poor village behind.

at 26, new to this soil, i made the city 
of reading my home and never left except 
trips back to greece, last in 1980. my pictures

are there with family, of my first job and my last, 
all in one. i touched candy daily at the luden’s plant 

on eighth street in reading. most people 
know how hershey bought it out, except 
the young kids today. they probably don’t. 

now it is anything but, a candy factory’s rich smells no 
longer saturating the air in that building. when candy 

came down on the belt, we’d package it.
the belt moved fast, so you had to work quickly. 
on decorating duty, we put diced almonds 

on top of fifth avenue bars. but then we stopped and just 
kept the bars plain. during most of my time in packaging, 

we grabbed the sweets and arranged them into boxes. 
cherry, lemon, and honey lemon cough drops. 
creme drops, too. the candies dropped down 

onto a shaker first, to make them more straight, coming  
from the department above ours. i earned $40 a week, at first. 

but 20 years of lifting 40-pound boxes of that
stuff took a toll on my back, angered my spine.

*

( vardaxis )

ryan marie rettew kindly managed the camera for the evening as a way to support this poetry project.

( vardaxis enjoying heart-sharing time with the audience. )

( like vardaxis, willie kramer initially heard and read his poem crafted through this project months ago, but only last week did he first hear it voiced to dozens of berks county residents who then began to ask him questions about his life, experiences, and memories. and they clearly loved hearing what he had to say-- and he loved that. his eyes said it all. so it's win-in-city, all around. find out more of what this is like at a future reading, and if you aren't already on the email list for this project, feel free to request to be added to it via thelaborsofourfingers@yahoo.com. )

foothills publishing.

thank the literary deities-- the final 25 poems for the first book for this project were finished as of a few days ago. progress is such a beautiful thing.

foothills publishing based in steuben county, new york will be publishing the first book under this project's title, the labors of our fingertips: poems from manufacturing history in berks county, as an initial volume. the release date is pending but in the works.

michael czarnecki, who lives a little more than three hours from berks county, is the man behind this foothills publishing and started his literary operation in 1986. 

it became a great privilege to write about him for the reading eagle after he visited berks county while on tour in 2013. the article is readable here.

as that reporting notes, czarnecki has already published books of poetry by several berks county residents in the past, including berks county's third, fourth, and fifth poet laureates-- heather thomas, craig czury, and maria mcdonnell, respectively. he has a great reverence for the writings which come from the minds and hearts of those who put words on the page in berks county.

( blue ruby by heather thomas, released by foothills publishing ) 

as you can see above, czarnecki does hand-stitching of poetry books, and it's clear that a dedicated care goes into the creation of anything he produces.

the gofundme campaign for this poetry project is officially launched !

while this project was originally slated to have a kickstarter campaign to help with supplementing costs outside of what expenses are covered in it through state arts grants, moving instead to gofundme as a crowd-sourcing platform made more sense because of less limitations. kickstarter only allowed one and two-month campaigns, with one-month campaigns usually ending up more successful than two-month campaigns. for someone with a lot of jobs and responsibilities to juggle, in addition to a project like this, that's a lot of pressure on top of what's already a lot of pressure. an ongoing campaign with no time limitation made more sense here since the project will continue for two more years. plus, if a campaign goal is not met, with kickstarter, you don't get the funding at all. but with gofundme, you as the person running the campaign have access to the funds immediately, with each transaction, minus the fees. less stress and strain seemed like the more rational route to ensure continued support possibilities here.

to support this poetry project through gofundme, please check out the link below.

http://www.gofundme.com/berkscountypoems

most crowd-sourcing sites don't let you have long titles, thus the shortened campaign title and URL wording for the labors of our fingertips: poems from manufacturing history in berks county.

any and all support for this campaign will be greatly appreciated, please know. funding the arts while preserving history of manufacturing in our country is a challenge which deserves to come to the surface across all different kinds of stories we might otherwise lose.

please pass this on to anyone who may be interested in supporting this project's continuing influence in the berks county community. it may well set examples for people and organizations well outside of southeastern pennsylvania, too, which would be a great sign for saving more local history in the form of poems while honoring the seniors who have made this project possible.

a glimpse: ray doskus, born 1942.

working with chocolate every day can make you tired of it quickly, ray doskus of lower alsace township learned in his earlier years. he also has a humorous twist at the end of his poem, but that is something you'll have to wait to hear at a poetry reading or see in the first book for this project. the tail-end surprise story, around his chocolate days, involves a trolley and cotton candy. his poem excerpt is below.

*

on moss street in reading, i grew sick of the smell of chocolate

in about two weeks. operating the machines for filling molds

at bortz chocolate, inc. in the 1960s, they started me out at 90

cents an hour.  by the next year, they bumped me up to $1 per

hour. barely 18, i rented a house on those wages for $38 each

month. young people envy those numbers nowadays, but we

had to work hard for even a dollar back then. we had molds

from the size of a penny up to a giant rabbit, a few feet tall.

it wasn’t just big rabbits, although those furry creatures

are probably the easiest to remember. we filled up molds

of ducks and pigs. at holidays, they brought out easter eggs,

turkeys at thanksgiving, reindeer and wide-bellied santas

at christmas. by then, the molds might have moved from 

cast-iron to aluminum alloys. any old mold they didn’t want 

to use anymore—they’d smash into pieces in the back parking 

lot so nobody would steal their designs. history is always 

harder to preserve when worry about proprietary this or that 

is behind even making candy. you had to know the amount

of ounces for any mold you poured, to set the machines right.

if you set a mold to have 8 ounces come down, and it only

needed 3 ounces to fill it all in, you had a mess to clean up.

once, i filled a bunny mold so full that one of the women

carried it away and could barely hold it. we had to melt it

back down before the bosses knew, to not get in trouble.

*

( these tickets are curious artifacts. find out more about them in the full poem 

when the first book for this project is released or at an upcoming poetry reading. )