great success & stories-- the first poetry reading of the project.

last saturday, the first poetry reading for the labors of our fingertips: poems from manufacturing history in berks county went swimmingly at the exeter community library with 21 appreciative audience members in attendance, including two of the poem-sources, linda steffy and al haring.

lilly jay hetrick-ludy debuted her poems which were written in mrs. elizabeth deangelo's first grade class at new hanover elementary school and heard gracious clapping after reading each of them. and now she's gearing up for a poetry night with her aunt for this evening. summer, rain, earth, and pizza were some topics she put to paper and shared with her ear-ready listeners.

( all photographs from this poetry reading were taken by samantha waterman. )

the reading began with introductions of non-manufacturing poems for those who aren't readily into the poetry realm, to give a better feel for the broad nature of how poems can come together, depending on who is writing them. here are the first poems read as great example pieces from poets who inspired this project:

"considering a field" by philip terman from the torah garden.

"blue ruby 1" & "blue ruby 2" by heather thomas from blue ruby.

"pauline learns to sew" by barbara presnell from piecework.

philip terman is the poetry professor of jennifer hetrick and the advisor for her minor, back in college days. heather thomas served as the third poet laureate of berks county and has been a breathtakingly inspiring mentor for hetrick. and barbara presnell, who lives in north carolina, is someone hetrick interviewed when she visited the city of reading to share her poetry book's words about an old textile mill down south with those in berks county, a great nudge to get this particular poetry project into our community.

( notice all the smiling & laughing. ) 

( linda steffy )

( the infamous little timing device, from long ago )

( al haring ) 

( al haring, perhaps post pronunciation of pennsylvania dutch curse words for when he attempted not to burn his fingertips as a boarder in sock manufacturing during his teen years. )

it is important to teach children how to love art from the start, and poetry can often be a form of that which they adore once exposed to the curious way of its language stirring in us.

it seems that people sometimes don't expect humor or pennsylvania dutch profanity to be in a poem, but this poetry reading and its poems crafted from wonderfully delightful seniors in berks county helped people to see that there is still plenty of fresh new everything in life, to learn, as we make our way from one day to the next.

an underwear story sort of joke provoked a wonderful brand of laughter at edna machemer's poem, which will be posted soon. keep your eyes peeled for it.

please check out older posts on this blog to find out about more upcoming readings, and additional ones will be posted in the future. in the meantime, thank you for all of your encouraging support, and stay savvy.

a glimpse: linda steffy, born 1948.

linda steffy grew up in the borough of boyertown and became a teacher at gilbertsville elementary school. but before her daily minutes with children in a classroom, she had summer jobs to support herself, and each were in manufacturing.  

steffy's poem became the first of this poetry project, and such a rewarding first to write, at that. it helps that she is great at being funny, and not everyone can say that about themselves. she sees the humor in everyday with laughter that still teaches lessons, even though she's retired. if you meet her at one of the poetry readings, you might pick up on her laughter skills and would suit well to hope you take some of them with you. below is an excerpt of her poem and some eye-scenes tied to these memories.

*

as a girl, i yelled up at the women working behind the fans

in the windows of the top floor at the beckerman shoe

factory in boyertown. throw down a heel ! one would toss

a chunky clump down—victory through a half a footfall.

my friends and i, we threw it in the road on the hopscotch 

chalked lines we’d drawn. the heels disappeared years ago.

i can still hear those machines running. i see men’s boots.

studying to be a teacher, i spent one summer before

graduation using my quick and efficient fingertips

to fashion the timing devices of missiles at witronics.

we heard they were for the vietnam war. before i quit,

i snuck a timing device out in my pocket. nobody knew.

i keep it in a drawer. history quakes quietly in drawers.

i made 500 of them in a day, little watch-like parts.

in new berlinville, i stitched waist-ready lines into belts

at harness house. a woman lost part of her finger once,

the heated drama of emergency and worry spilling 

through us. the next day, she walked back to her

machine, sat down, and kept at her workload. she

learned how to sew with a changed kind of touch.

the women cracked dirty jokes at lunch. i blushed.

*

( harness house )

( witronics ) 

( the infamous little timing device saved as a memory )

( the timing device between steffy's fingertips )

scheduled poetry readings from may to august, 2015.

• saturday, may 30 @ 1 p.m. at the exeter community library at 4569 prestwick drive, reading, pa 19606

• sunday, june 21 @ 1 p.m. at studio b in boyertown at 39a east philadelphia avenue, boyertown, pa 19512 (seating limited to 30 people)

• saturday, july 11 @ 2 p.m. at the schuylkill valley library at 1310 washington road, leesport, pa 19533

• thursday, august 6 @ 6 p.m. at goggleworks, first floor cafe (with berks bards) at 201 washington street, reading, pa 19601

more poetry readings will be announced into autumn at berks county colleges and universities. keep your eyes and ears peeled for that news in case you aren't able to attend one readings scheduled for this summer.

at least one or a few sources who helped to create the poems will be at the poetry readings so that you can connect with these wonderful souls and learn from them or just appreciate those who are helping to make this project possible.

if you can attend one of these readings, once you're sure, please RSVP to thelaborsofourfingertips@yahoo.com or 610.401.3392.

a glimpse: al haring, born 1938.

al haring of maxatawny township, who knew all too well the likes of fancy socks and the ouchhh-provoking way of scolding hot steam in his teenage years, will be at the first poetry reading for this project.

the audience is welcome to ask him questions or share their stories tied to his own. and since this excerpt of his poem below involves pennsylvania dutch curse words, that may make the afternoon a bit more worthwhile for the ears, too ! the translation will be noted at the reading, if you don't know it and would like to learn what it means.

the poetry reading where you can see al haring and hear his full poem as well poems from other seniors around berks county is slated for saturday, may 30 @ 1 p.m. at the exeter community library @ 4565 prestwick drive, reading, pa 19606. please RSVP to thelaborsofourfingertips@yahoo.com or 610.401.3392. or feel free to respond via facebook.

*

they called me a boarder at the wanner hosiery mill

in fleetwood. some days, fuzzy angstadt drove us there 

from bowers after school in our junior and senior years.

we arrived around 4 p.m. to finish what the day shift 

couldn’t, learning  the fast art of placing  men’s socks 

on these boards, 12 feet, in profile, made from stainless

steel, pulsing steam to dry the cotton. the boards

took the wrinkles out of the fabric, heated a crease 

down the middle. at first, we burned our fingertips 

and yelled, gut fer dumb – heilich dunner wedder !

*

( first photos-- a hint for what follows in the rest 

of this poem; then it's al & bob the dog )

a glimpse: willie kramer, born 1932.

willie kramer of south heidelberg township worked in a tannery in fleetwood for several decades until he retired in 1995. below is an excerpt of the poem crafted from his memories for this project. he offered some great old photographs of his time while there, too. some newer ones are included below as well.

*

i still have my cutting knives. but i spent

18 years in the color department before i began

slicing leather that soon became what people

would later sit on in automobiles. i kept cups

of colors in front of me, starting in 1957. 

i matched mixed paint to the samples car

manufacturers mailed to garden state tanning

in fleetwood. we carpooled from cressona,

schuylkill county and had some icy-roaded

scares on route 662 in the chillier months.

about 20 different hues took homes inside

50-pound barrels. they never put it this way,

but i became an incidental chemist, regularly

measuring and weighing what i blended.

*

( cutting tools )

( leather samples )

a poetry project begins.

the goal of this project is to build poems out of the memories and reflections of seniors, in their 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s, who worked in the mostly now gone mills and factories of berks county, pennsylvania many decades ago. 

the project will last at least three years and will involve three books with 25 poems in each, created from recollections seniors have of working in manufacturing in berks county, to preserve their stories and give light to a part of local history which might otherwise be overlooked. and this is also a way to honor those who kept our economy more than afloat for so long.

( the boyertown burial casket company in the early 1900s )

a pennsylvania council on the arts grant and berks arts council grant are helping to fund this project, as will a kickstarter campaign soon. all support in all possible ways, whether financial, suggestions for seniors to interview, or spiritual and emotional hurrah-ing, is greatly appreciated. 

foothills publishing based in kanona, new york will be releasing the first book by the end of this august, as well as the others into the next few years. each book will be hand-stitched, which in itself a form of contemporary manufacturing and deserves a lot of respect per fingertip of those who help to make these and many other great poetry books possible, including several other berks county poets.

look for announcements of poetry readings around the community at libraries, art galleries, senior centers, retirement communities, and colleges and universities. some seniors from the poems will be in attendance at the readings so members of audiences can connect and talk with them about any common memories and stories of days long ago.

as the books are published this summer into the next few years, copies will be donated to all berks county libraries and historical societies as well as the seniors who offered their memories to help make this project possible.

if you have any recommendations for seniors to interview or insights of any kind which would benefit the project, or if you'd like to support it with monetary donations, please email us at thelaborsofourfingertips@yahoo.com, or call and leave a voicemail at 610.401.3392.