Patty and I held the first workshop for the Community memoir project on Saturday, July 17th. To give some sense of the small town where this is happening, here is a photo showing the view from the back of the house that Patty and I own in Mount Carroll:
Only 140 miles west of Chicago, but the only thing blocking the view are trees, horse stables, and small ponds. That's our house on the right, and that huge tree is apparently one of the biggest and oldest in the county. Next, here is the Owen P. Miles Musem, home of the Historical Society that is our project sponsor, and where we are holding the workshops. Built in 1873 in the Italianate style, it was the family home of several generations of the wealthy Miles family:
And here are a a few photos from the first workshop, showing photographs that people brought along, and some of the writing that they produced during the two-hour session:
After the workshop ended, we went to the small downtown area to sit at a table and hand out information about the project at Cruise Night, a car show that occurs four or five times during the summer. Classic car enthusiasts gather from the county and further afield to display their beloved automobiles:
In a sign of how this rural town is starting to recover from a long period of economic depression, Saturday was the opening day for a new store that wants to sell fine wines and cheeses:
We went in, sampled some of their wines, bought a nice bottle of red, and roped the owners in to our community memoir project. All in all, a good day's work.
