Betsy-Tacy Convention 2025, Part 3

Breakfast in the Banquet Hall followed my quick trip to Mass at St. Peters and Paul Catholic Church (this is not Tacy’s church, which I attended on previous visits but the timing worked out better). I was registered to go on the First Presbyterian Church Christian Endeavor tour, service, and Welsh snacks but had not slept well and somehow stayed to do Pub Trivia with Michelle Giorlando instead. Our team, the Ladybugs, consisted of Deb, Ethel, and me, and we were in the middle of the pack in skill, alas.

The Blue Earth County Courthouse
where Mr. Hart worked when County Treasurer

We were flummoxed when one question asked for the Milton quote that inspired Betsy during her sophomore year. “It’s ‘To thine own self be true,’ but that’s Shakespeare,” said Deb disapprovingly and I, great-niece of a Milton scholar racked my brains for another quote, without success. It turned out that Michelle G had misspoken but as that was her only misstep in three days we forgave her (plus she gave everyone credit for that answer!). The Book Swap was still going strong. I put down the second book I had brought from home, Practically Perfect by Janet Lambert, one of her best (and another duplicate for which I had to find the right recipient), and finally chose one by Kristan Higgins to read on the plane going home.

The next event was a talk on Syrian Communities by Danielle Haque, a professor at Mankato State, based on a paper she had written, From the Beqaa Valley to Deep Valley: Arab American Childhood & US Orientalism in Children’s Literature. She began with a quote from Tib’s mother, “Foreign people should not be treated like that. America is made up of foreign people. Both of Tib’s grandmothers came from the other side. Perhaps when they got off the boat they looked a little strange too.” While she praises Maud’s open mindedness and contrasts it to the bigotry we see today, she described three mindsets that influenced the lives of Arab Americans in the early twentieth century: US Orientalism, assimilation into legal and cultural whiteness, and cultural pluralism. It was also interesting to hear about other Midwest cities that had large Syrian communities and that Mankato State offers a minor in Middle Eastern Studies and the Islamic World, recognizing the area’s history. Professor Haque’s husband teaches in the History Department and added some context several times, while their daughter walked around with a microphone. I asked which church the Syrians would have worshipped at and he said it was the church I had attended that morning. Of course, the service would have been in Latin at that time. Another person asked how the Syrian peddlers got their goods and he said the supply chain would have come from New York.

I had been to the local cemetery to see Maud’s grave but I wish I had gone on the Slough Walk. However, it’s not possible to do everything and I enjoyed Potions, Powders and Patents Medicine: Women’s Health and Beauty Secrets From the Past by Susan Hynes, a talented historical reenactor.

After lunch, there was a brief slide show, highlighting deceased members of our group, concluding with a photo of Kathy Baxter. It was encouraging to look at some of the children in the audience and know the books will live on after we are all gone. In that spirit, the next event was a Keynote speech from Mara Wilson, an actress turned writer. I was not familiar with her but most of the audience knew her from her role as the daughter in Alias Mrs. Doubtfire (in my defense, I had read the book) and as Matilda in a movie of the Roald Dahl book. She retired in her teens to enjoy adolescence and has now written two memoirs and reads widely, including providing the narration for audiobooks. She told us her mother was from Minnesota and she had spent carefree summers at a lake with cousins, but lost her mother at a very young age. One of the memories she shared was being in a bookstore in Chicago when her mother saw the reissues of Betsy-Tacy and that was how she became an enthusiastic fan. She also loved the All-of-a-Kind Family books. She came and sat with us to eat her lunch and revealed that she had never been to the Tenement Museum despite having attended NYU. I recommended The Lost Passenger by Frances Quinn, which I describe as AoKF for grownups.

Mara with the Convention Organizers

The final event of the convention was perfectly chosen and very enjoyable: a concert of the songs MHL references in the books by a gifted singer, Maud Hixson. I own a CD of Deep Valley Songs but that singer is too trilly. However, Maud Hixson’s voice is just perfect: very warm and expressive and not too high. Her specialty is what is usually known as the Great American Songbook (popular music and jazz standards from about the 1920s through 1950s) but she has become expert in the music mentioned by MHL. She was commissioned to record a group of songs with her husband and pianist, Rick Carlson, by the Betsy-Tacy Society based on 20 of the over 200 songs mentioned in in the books. She really does know the books, as evidenced by her commentary between numbers. A CD or download can be purchased at her website.

I met Marie Epperson in Denver when attending a Cities for Financial Empowerment conference in 2019, my last flight before the pandemic. Her sister, Bekki, had driven all the way from Kansas City, not to attend the convention, but to see her sister, and they were kind enough to drive me to the airport. At one point I realized Bekki was driving 90 minutes north just for Marie, then would have to turn around to drive 430 miles south, and I was impressed by this sisterly devotion! I had some good brotherly devotion of my own: my flight was supposed to land at Logan at 11:20 but the departure was delayed and I did not find Peter until about 12:25 am. Luckily, Monday was a holiday so everyone could sleep late.