Showing posts with label Betsy-Tacy Convention 2018. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Betsy-Tacy Convention 2018. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Betsy-Tacy Convention, Day 3

All too soon, it was Sunday morning.  Josephine had allowed us to sleep a little later but everyone had started gathering in the lobby. Beyond Domestic Science: Recipes from Betsy-Tacy, and some were mainlining caffeine.  This was a morning that showcased the NewBetsys, including Barb Fecteau as Mistress of Ceremonies!  were finally picking up their soon-to-be treasured copy of the new Betsy-Tacy cookbook.

Josephine Wolff and her mother, Perri Klass (both NewBetsys currently living in New York State), began the morning with a presentation entitled: “Stories About Girls Who Want Curly Hair for Girls Who Want Straight Hair.” This was based on the premise that they, both curly-haired, had been afflicted their whole lives (I started to say they had suffered in silence but I suspect they'd agree neither one is – exactly – silent). They moved on to share both the history of curling appurtenances, incidents we all know well (think: Jo/Meg/sizzle), and the many (mostly hilarious) quotes surrounding Betsy and her hair. Laughter and applause accompanied their delivery. I am still thinking about some of those old-fashioned curling irons which look like something a medieval dentist would use. As my mother has been known to say, “Don’t yearn for time travel: in books the heroine may end up as a member of the aristocracy but it’s more likely you’d be a scullery maid living in an era without Novocain!”
Heather described her "recruitment"

Next up was Heather Vogel Frederick, author of The Mother-Daughter Book Club series and other books, who grew up in Massachusetts, attended college in the Midwest, and lived in Oregon for years before we NewBetsys reclaimed her. Heather told the story about how she became a Betsy-Tacy fan, which gets funnier every time I hear it. As many good stories begin, she was minding her own business, busy promoting her book when Things Started Happening. First, a former listren in the Midwest urged her to read BT and BTT. Then, Heather happened to be speaking at a librarian conference in Portland where she was dangerously close to several of our more spontaneous Betsy-Fans. They accosted the unsuspecting Heather, anxious to persuade her to have her Mother-Daughter Book Club characters read Betsy-Tacy! This was obviously a good idea but might never have come to pass if Heather’s enlightened husband hadn’t urged her to accept an invitation to dinner from our own Radhika. I believe they withheld dessert until Heather agreed to read the whole series. She began to like the crazy women who were holding her hostage (Heather, this is known as the Stockholm Syndrome) although if she really liked them as much as she claimed, I don’t think she would have moved East, do you? Now she is a real member of what my sisters call “your cult” and we are delighted to have her (especially because she has more dignity than the average NewBetsy, and it might rub off on us, or not – see below, reading Forever in the hot tub). Heather interspersed her presentation with letters she has received from fans, some of whom now love Maud Hart Lovelace as well as Dear Mrs. Frederick.

Sunday, August 5, 2018

Betsy-Tacy Convention, Day 2

Early Saturday morning the amazing and uncomplaining (but perhaps wondering if herding cats would be easier) Josephine stewarded her charges onto buses for the motherland, Mankato!   Note that no one suggested we sing going either direction – perhaps the listren are not known for their melodious voices?   Or maybe no one wanted to be pelted by extra breakfast sandwiches? If NewBetsy Deb Holland had been with us, I suspect we would have been singing pleasingly.

Friday, August 3, 2018

Betsy-Tacy Convention, Day 1

Betsy-Tacy fans from all over the US and Canada headed to the Twin Cities yesterday and today for the 2018 convention, organized by Josephine Wolff, who only a short time ago was a well-read 8-year-old and is now an adult and accomplished member of the RIT faculty.   Although Delta tried to tempt me by offering me $500 to give up my 8:00 am flight, I made it to MSP and found the shuttle bus to the hotel.   It turned out that Mary Gebben, recently moved to Massachusetts from Georgia, was on my flight, along with a congenial family whose daughters (5th and 7th grades) attend my alma mater.
Where the Violent Study Club met
The Hawthornes' home
Once at the hotel it was fun to see so many familiar faces!   Lots of hugging!   I had lunch with the inimitable Kathy Baxter, Radhika Breaden, Jan and Mike Sasser, and when you are with Betsy-Tacy friends you forget that you haven’t seen them for 9 years!   We barely tore ourselves away in time to get on the bus for a tour of some key Minneapolis sites.   These included 4941 Lyndale Avenue South, the home of Jimmy and Marbeth Cliff, hosts of the Violent Study Club, and 4649 Dupont Avenue South, home of the Hawthornes (and Sally Day) where Delos proposed to Maud.