april 2016 program guide - Springfield

APRIL
2016
PROGRAM
GUIDE
SPRINGFIELD-GREENE COUNTY LIBRARY DISTRICT
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BIG READ
theOne
Book — One Community
PRESENTS
‘TRUE GRIT’
The Big Read invites all ages to enjoy the Charles Portis bestseller, “True Grit,” and join a roundup of Western-themed fun and
entertainment throughout April.
“True Grit,” set in the late 19th century, is the tale of Mattie Ross,
who at age 14 leaves her Arkansas home in search of her father’s
murderer. She seeks out a man with a quality she calls “true grit,” and
finds it in an unlikely character, federal marshal Rooster Cogburn.
Also tracking the murderer is LaBoeuf, a Texas Ranger who has an
uneasy partnership with the pair.
Read the book any way you choose. From the Library’s collection,
thelibrary.org/catalog, read a print copy, listen to the audiobook or
watch the DVD; or download the e-book from thelibrary.org/digital.
More than 30 events are planned, including Hank the Cowdog
author John Erickson, Ozarks storyteller Marideth Sisco, westerntheme artist Andy Thomas and Charles Portis scholar Jay Jennings.
And don’t miss Professor Farquar’s Great American Medicine Show!
This booklet has everything you need to plan your Wild West fun –
some just for adults, others just for kids, many of them for the whole
family. You can also find the Big Read schedule of events in the
current issue of Bookends, or online at thelibrary.org/bigread.
The Springfield-Greene County Library District was one of 75
organizations to receive a grant from the National Endowment for
the Arts to sponsor The Big Read, a project to revitalize the role of
literature in American culture and encourage citizens to read for
pleasure and enlightenment.
The Big Read is a program
of the National Endowment
for the Arts in partnership
with Arts Midwest.
Support is also provided by the Friends of the Library.
The Library is grateful for the many partners and volunteers who support
this project. See who they are, listed on the back page.
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Author John
Erickson Presents:
Hank the Cowdog
in Concert
Thursday, April 21,
7-8:15 p.m. at the
Springfield Art Museum,
1111 E. Brookside Drive,
for kids and families.
Photo courtesy of Western Horseman Magazine
Books will be available
for purchase and signing
at the event. Tickets are not
required. For information
call 882-0714.
You love Head of Ranch
Security Hank the Cowdog, now come meet
Hank’s creator! Author
John Erickson will join us
at the Springfield Art Museum for an evening of stories and
songs about Hank the Cowdog.
Erickson’s long-running, ongoing series
of children's books is playfully illustrated
by Gerald L. Holmes. The books follow
Hank, a smelly, smart-aleck dog that views himself as the “Head of
Ranch Security.”
Through the eyes of Hank, Erickson gives readers a glimpse of daily
life on a ranch in the West Texas Panhandle. His series of books and
tapes is in school libraries across the country, has sold more than
7.6 million copies, is a Book-of-the-Month Club selection, and is
the winner of the 1993 Audie for Outstanding Children’s Series from
the Audio Publisher’s Association. Publishers Weekly calls Hank a
“grassroots publishing phenomena,” and USA Today says this is “the
best family entertainment in years.”
Erickson began publishing short stories in 1967 while working full
time as a cowboy, farmhand and ranch manager in Texas and Oklahoma. Hank and his sidekick Drover are dogs Erickson worked with on
the range. This mixture of true-life experience, fun and adventure has
gained Hank a loyal following of thousands of children and adults.
Copyright © Maverick Publishing. All rights reserved.
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Special Guests
Stories of the West with
Marideth Sisco and
Dennis Crider
Friday, April 1, 6:30 p.m. in the
historic Fox Theatre, part of the
History Museum on the Square.
Enjoy stories, songs and music of the American West performed by
West Plains-based singer and Ozarks folklorist Marideth Sisco, with
additional music by West Plains guitarist Dennis Crider. Sisco and
Crider are two members of Blackberry Winter Band, that amazing
group of hillbilly musicians that performed several songs on the
soundtrack and screen of the Oscar-nominated movie “Winter’s Bone.”
Charles Portis and “True Grit”
Thursday, April 7, 7 p.m. in the Library
Center auditorium, for all ages. Join us
for a lively discussion of “True Grit” and
author Charles Portis by Jay Jennings,
a Portis scholar, personal friend for 30
years and editor of “Escape Velocity: A
Charles Portis Miscellany.” The book is
a collection of journalism, humor, short
stories and drama by the author of “True
Grit.” Jennings will sell and sign books after the event. “True Grit” is
not just a great genre story, Jennings says, but great literature, and he
offers biographical information about Portis and his writing career as
a journalist and novelist. Jennings is a freelance writer whose journalism, humor and essays have appeared in national literary journals,
magazines and newspapers including the New York Times, the Oxford
American, Garden & Gun and Travel & Leisure.
Big Read Book Talk at Barnes & Noble
Wednesday, April 13, 7-9 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, 3055 S. Glenstone
Ave., for adults. Vincent Anderson, author of “Bald Knobbers: Chronicles of Vigilante Justice,” and Larry
Wood, author of "Wicked Springfield:
The Seamy Side of the Queen City,” will
talk about their works, with emphasis on
crime in the period of “True Grit.” Books
will be available for purchase and signing at the event.
Anderson is the historical librarian
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Larry Wood digs beneath the surface
of Queen City history to reveal a rough
frontier town from the 1830s, where
whiskey flowed freely, gunplay and fistfights abounded and gambling thrived.
The Civil War not only brought the
horror of warfare home to Springfield
but also introduced other worldly vices
scarcely known in previous years.
Larry Wood photo © Steven Anderson Law
and teacher at the Donald W. Reynolds Library and columnist for the
Baxter Bulletin. The famous vigilantes were not a single vigilante
group, he discovered, but rather many vigilante groups throughout a
wide swath of the Ozarks Mountains.
Tuesday, April 19, 7 p.m. in the Library
Center auditorium, for adults. Singing
cowboy Gary McMahan will entertain you
with tales and tunes of cowboys and the
great American West. CDs will be available
for purchase and signing at the event. Gary
is known for his award-winning songs,
captivating stories, uproarious humor and
national championship yodeling. His songs
have been recorded by artists such as Garth
Brooks, Ian Tyson, Chris LeDoux, Riders in
the Sky, Dave Stamey and Juni Fisher. His
songs, stories and poems embody what many believe to be the heart
of the new West. Gary comes by his cowboy heritage naturally. He was
born into it and has ridden, wrangled and roped all over the West, all
the while collecting reflections on cowboy ways. Those reflections are
the backbone of all his songs, stories and poems.
Gary McMahan painting by Charles Matthews
Poetry, Songs and Stories
of an American Cowboy
Professor Farquar’s Great
American Medicine Show
Step right up for a great show of music, magic and
mirth from Professor Farquar's Great American
Medicine Show! There'll be no snake oil sales, just
laughter and tales from the age of the cowboy
during this recreation of a 19th century sideshow
with a historic twist. For all ages.
• Saturday, April 30, 2 p.m. in the Library Station Frisco Room
• Saturday, April 30, 7 p.m. in the Library Center auditorium
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more big read events
“True Grit” at Wild Bob’s Musical Book Club
Saturday, April 8, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Lindberg’s
Tavern, 308 W. Commercial St., for age 21 and
older. Read “True Grit” and join us at Wild Bob’s
Musical Book Club for book-inspired music and
half-time trivia. Wild Bob’s is a one-of-a-kind
Springfield experience in which local singersongwriters create and perform original songs
inspired by the monthly book selection. $5 cover.
“True Grit” at the Moxie
Saturday, April 9, 1-4:15 p.m. at the Moxie
Cinema, 305 S. Campbell Ave., for age
13 and older. Enjoy the second movie
adaptation of Charles Portis’ 1968 novel
“True Grit,” rated PG-13, directed, written
and produced by the Coen brothers.
Following the movie, Tim White from
Missouri State University’s Media and Film Department will present
“True Grit: Baroque Western and Postmodern Western.” They say that
a Hollywood period piece tells the viewer much more about the time
period during which it was made than it does about the period it
depicts. Nowhere is this more evident than in the two adaptations of
the 1968 novel, “True Grit.” White will explain why a look at these two
films will tell us as much about Hollywood as it will about the West.
Admission is free to this Big Read event.
Big Read Trivia Night
at Patton Alley Pub
Monday, April 11, 7-9 p.m. at Patton Alley Pub,
313 S. Patton Ave., for age 21 and older. Bring your
friends in teams of 2-6 to a special night of literary
trivia based on the Big Read title, “True Grit.”
Judge Parker, Outlaws and the American West
Tuesday, April 12, 7 p.m. in the Library
Center auditorium, for adults. Join
us as Tom Wing, assistant professor of
history at the University of ArkansasFort Smith, talks about “Hanging Judge”
Isaac C. Parker, deputies, outlaws and
hangings.
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Friday, April 15, 7-8:30 p.m. in
the Library Center auditorium,
for adults. Singer, songwriter and
acoustic guitar player Dana Cooper
will perform a set of music inspired
by “True Grit.” Dana Cooper has
been described as a “powerhouse”
troubadour and a “song poet” who
dedicated himself to a life of music
over 40 years ago. He engages and
inspires audiences around the
world with his quick wit and insightful stories. He has recorded
over 20 albums and has received numerous awards including the
2014 Heritage Musician Award from Pilgrim Center for the Arts in
Kansas City.
© 2012 Jeff Thorneycroft
Songs of Pluck
and Gumption
Guns of the West and “True Grit”
Tuesday, April 26, 7 p.m. in the Library Center
auditorium, for adults. David Kennedy, curator of
the U.S. Marshals Museum in Fort Smith, Ark., will talk
about some of the famous and not-so famous guns
used in the American West, with a focus on the guns
from the book and two film versions of “True Grit.”
Show Us Your True Grit
Thursday, April 28, 7:30-9 p.m. at BookMarx Book
Store, 325 E. Walnut, for adults. Winners of the “True
Grit” Flash Fiction contest are invited to read their
works at the monthly local writers series.
Brown Bag Travelogue:
Clothing in the Time of
“True Grit”
Wednesday, April 20, noon in the Brentwood
Branch community room, for adults. Feel free
to bring a sack lunch. Travel Through History
— Clothing in the Time of “True Grit.” Fashion
historian Nancy Farris-Thee will take you on
a time-traveling adventure as she talks about
clothing styles from the period of “True Grit.”
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Big Read Events At-a-Glance • April 2016
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
“True Grit” Waverly House Art Reception, 5-7:30
p.m., Waverly House Gifts & Gallery, exhibit April
1-May 21, for adults
1
Artist Andy Thomas, 8 p.m., First Friday Art Walk/
Art Talk 6-9 p.m., exhibit of Horse and Western
Art by Jennifer Leeper, Park Central Branch, for
adults
2
Stories of the West with Marideth Sisco and
Dennis Crider, 6:30 p.m. Fox Theatre at the
History Museum on the Square, for all ages
Evening Book Discussion, 6:30-8:30
p.m. Brentwood Branch, for adults
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Big Read
Trivia Night at
Patton Alley
Pub, 7-9 p.m.,
for age 21 and
older
Big Read Book Discussion,
5 p.m. Strafford Branch
Library, for adults
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Buckaroo
Storytime,
10:30 a.m.,
Brentwood
Branch, for all
ages
Book Discussion, 1:30 p.m.,
Ash Grove Branch, for
adults
Brown Bag Travelogue:
Clothing in the Time of “True
Grit,” with Nancy Farris-Thee,
noon, Brentwood Branch, for
adults
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Poetry, Songs and Stories of
an American Cowboy, Gary
McMahan, 7 p.m., Library
Center auditorium, for
adults
Book Discussion, 1:30 p.m.,
Brentwood Branch, for
adults
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Guns of the West and “True
Grit,” with David Kennedy, 7
p.m., Library Center
auditorium, for adults
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NXT Chapter: A Book Group for 20/30
Somethings, 7:30 p.m. Library Center
Harrison Room, for ages 20-39
Book Discussion, 1 p.m. Library
Center meeting room A, for
adults
“True Grit” Book Discussion for
Teens, 4 p.m., Fair Grove
Branch, for grades 6-12
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Judge Parker, Outlaws and
the American West, 7 p.m.
Library Center auditorium,
for adults
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8
5
Charles Portis and “True Grit” with Jay
Jennings, 7 p.m. Library Center
auditorium, for all ages.
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Big Read Book Talk at Barnes
and Noble, 7-9 p.m., authors
Vincent Anderson and Larry
Wood, for adults
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Northview Book Discussion, 10:30 a.m. Northview
Center in Doling Park, for senior adults
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“True Grit” at Wild Bob’s Musical Book Club,
6:30-8:30 p.m., Lindberg’s Tavern, for age 21 and
older
Happy Trails to You, Lil’ Buckaroos! 9:30 a.m., Ash
Grove Branch, for infants-age 6
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Songs of Pluck and Gumption with Dana Cooper,
7-8:30 p.m., Library Center auditorium, for adults
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“True Grit” at the Moxie,
discussion with MSU’s
Tim White, 1-4:15 p.m. at
Moxie Cinema, for age 13
and older
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Horse Hootenanny, 1
p.m. Strafford Branch, for
infants-age 6
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Pony Tales, 2-2:45 p.m.,
Rutledge Wilson Farm
Community Park, for all
ages
Buckaroo Storytime, 10:30 a.m. and 4
p.m., Brentwood Branch, for all ages
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Show Us Your True Grit, 7:30-9 p.m.,
BookMarx Book Store, reading of Flash
Fiction Contest winners, for adults
Adventures in the Magic Tree House, 9:30-11 a.m.,
Ash Grove Branch, for grades K-4. Registration
starts April 15; call 751-2933.
Professor Farquar’s Great
American Medicine
Show, 2 p.m. Library
Station Frisco Room, and
7 p.m. in the Library
Center auditorium, all
ages
South Side Senior Center Book
Discussion, 1:30 p.m., South Side
Senior Center, for senior adults
Author John Erickson Presents: Hank
the Cowdog in Concert, 7-8:15 p.m.,
Springfield Art Museum, for all ages
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29
30
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book discussions
Then join one of these casual
gatherings to explore the themes
and memorable characters of “True
Grit.”
Ash Grove Branch Library
• Tuesday, April 19, 1:30 p.m. at the
Ash Grove Branch, for adults.
Brentwood Branch Library
• Evening Book Discussion,
Thursday, April 7, 6:30-8:30 p.m.,
for adults.
• Tuesday, April 26, 1:30 p.m. in the Brentwood Branch community
room, for adults.
Fair Grove Branch Library
• True Grit” Book Discussion for Teens. Wednesday, April 13, 4 p.m., for
grades 6-12. Join us for a special teen book discussion. Refreshments
will be provided.
Library Center
• NXT Chapter: A Book Group for 20/30-Somethings, Thursday, April
7, 7:30 p.m., Harrison Room, for ages 20-39.
• Wednesday, April 13, 1 p.m., meeting room A, for adults.
Northview Center
• Friday, April 8, 10:30 a.m., for adults. Northview Center in Doling
Park, 301 E. Talmage St.,
South Side Senior Center
• Thursday, April 21, 1:30 p.m. at the South Side Senior Center, 2215 S.
Fremont Ave., for senior adults.
Strafford Branch Library
• Tuesday, April 12, 5 p.m., for adults.
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©2010 The Overlook Press, Peter Mayer Publishers, Inc.
Read the book any way you choose.
From the Library’s collection,
thelibrary.org/catalog, read a print
copy, listen to the audiobook or
watch the DVD; or download the
e-book from thelibrary.org/digital.
discussion questions
Here are some questions from the National Endowment for the Arts
Reader’s Guide to start a discussion with your family or book club.
1. Mattie says that she is looking for a man with "true grit" to avenge
her father's death. When given a choice of marshals, including
one who is "straight as a string" as opposed to Rooster, who is the
"meanest," why does she choose Rooster? How do you think she
would define the quality of "true grit"?
2. What evidence can we find that Mattie won't abide mistreatment
of anyone because of his or her background? What prejudices does
she admit to?
3. Rooster admits to killing and stealing and is portrayed as a drunkard. Why does Mattie, an upright and moral Christian, have such
affection and admiration for him? Does this reveal a contradiction
in her moral code?
4. Do you think Mattie's account of her adventure, as she looks back
at her actions from a time decades later, is an accurate one? Why or
why not?
5. At many points during the action, Mattie, Rooster and LaBoeuf all
"stretch the blanket," exaggerating or lying under certain circumstances. In which situations does the lying seem justified? Do any
of these instances of lying or exaggeration change your impressions of the characters?
6. There's an old proverb proclaiming that there is sometimes "honor
among thieves." In what ways do the outlaws and bandits encountered in the book by Mattie, Rooster and LaBoeuf display a code of
conduct that argues that they're not purely evil?
7. Near the end of the book, when Mattie encounters the elderly
outlaws Frank James and Cole Younger at a "Wild West" show, she
is polite to Younger but says to James, "Keep your seat, trash!" Why
does she view them differently and what does it say about her
memory of her adventure?
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exhibits of western art
Experience “True Grit” through the eyes of talented artists at three
extraordinary exhibits.
“True Grit” Waverly House Art
Reception
Friday, April 1, 5–7:30 p.m. at Waverly House
Gifts & Gallery, 2013 S. Waverly Ave., for adults.
Enjoy a reception for the artists accepted in the
True Grit Juried Art Show with works inspired by the Big Read title,
“True Grit.” The winner of the show will be announced at the reception.
Works will be on display at the Waverly House April 1–May 21.
First Friday Art Walk
with Artist Andy
Thomas
Friday, April 1, 6–9 p.m. at the
Park Central Branch Library,
for adults. Join us for First Friday
Art Walk including an art talk at 8
p.m. by contemporary Western oil
painter Andy Thomas, who will
“Danger on the Santa Fe Trail” by Andy Thomas
talk about his paintings, many
of which depict images of the
American West, and demonstrate his technique for bringing history to
life on canvas.
Enjoy the opening of a new exhibit, Horse and Western Art by Jennifer
Leeper.
Studio 55 Fine Arts
Guild Shows Its True
Grit
“Contentment” by Darlene
Prater
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Daily, February 22–May 16, at Sky Gallery at
the Springfield-Branson National Airport;
reception Wednesday, April 13, 3 p.m. open to
the public. Artists from the Studio 55 Fine Arts
Guild present selections juried by a Springfield
Regional Arts Council panel. Abstracts,
Impressionistic and realistic painting, digital
art and photography reflect True Grit themes of
persistence and continuance in a course
of action.
for kids and families
Happy Trails to You,
Lil’ Buckaroos!
Friday, April 15, 9:30 a.m. in the Ash Grove
Branch community room, for infants–age
6. Dress up in your best cowboy or cowgirl
get-up and join us for stories and songs
around the “campfire.”
Horse Hootenanny
Saturday, April 16, 1 p.m. at the
Strafford Branch, for infants–age 6.
Little cowboys and cowgirls get to horse
around with their favorite animal while we
wrangle up some crafts, songs and contests to
keep them busy.
Pony Tales
Saturday, April 16, 2–2:45 p.m. at Rutledge Wilson Farm
Community Park, 3825 W. Farm Road 146, for all ages. Come on
down to the farm to meet some of our animal friends and explore
one of Springfield's best family spaces. We'll share farm stories, songs,
crafts and activities in celebration of the Big Read title, “True Grit.”
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for kids and families
Buckaroo Storytime
Monday, April 18, 10:30 a.m. in the
Brentwood Branch community room,
for all ages. Come on down for stories,
songs, activities and books that celebrate
the cowpoke in all of us. We’ll have a special
cowboy guest to serenade us, so don your
Western wear for a down-home, bootstompin’ good time!
Buckaroo Storytime
Thursday, April 21, 10:30 a.m. and again at 4 p.m., in the Brentwood
Branch community room, for all ages. Come on down for stories,
songs, activities and books that celebrate the cowpoke in all of us.
We’ll have a special cowboy guest to serenade us, so don your Western
wear for a down-home, boot-stompin’ good time!
Adventures in the Magic Tree House
Friday, April 29, 9:30–11 a.m. in the Ash Grove Branch community
room, for grades K–4. Travel with Jack and Annie to distant times
and lands as we explore books from the Magic Tree House series
by Mary Pope Osborne. “Ghost Town at Sundown.” In conjunction
with the Big Read, we’ll explore cowboys, horses and the Wild West.
Registration starts April 15; call 751-2933.
Show Your “True Grit”
with a Big Read T-shirt
There’s no denying who the marshal is
when you’re out and about showing your
support for the Big Read.
The cotton/poly blend shirts in adult sizes
S-2XL will be available for purchase starting
Monday, March 28, at the Between Friends
Gift Shop located at the Library Center. Call
the gift shop at 883-6936 for prices or to
make arrangements to have your shirt sent
to your neighborhood branch.
Purchases from Between Friends are taxfree and benefit the Library.
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“I have never been one
to flinch or crawfish
when faced with an
unpleasant task.”
— Mattie Ross
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Thank you
to our 2016 Big Read sponsors
and partners …
National Endowment for the Arts
in partnership with Arts Midwest
Friends of the Library
Barnes and Noble
BookMarx Book Store
History Museum on the Square
Lindberg’s Tavern
Moxie Cinema
Northview Center
Patton Alley Pub
PFI Western Store
Rutledge Wilson Farm Community Park
South Side Senior Center
Springfield Area Arts Council
Springfield Art Museum
Springfield-Branson National Airport
Studio 55 Fine Arts Guild
Watkins Outdoor Advertising
Waverly House Gifts & Gallery
Steve Raper/Missouri Neon Outdoor
Springfield-Greene County Library District • 4653 S. Campbell Ave. • Springfield, MO 65810
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