Category Archives: Write Your Story Classes

Life in Pacific Grove with Our Beloved Butterflies

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We Pagrovians are justly proud of our local traditions. Sure, they may seem quirky and quaint to outsiders, but to us, they’re all part of what makes our town so special, and why we wouldn’t even think of living anywhere else. In the 12-9-2016 issue of the Cedar Street Times, “Keepers of Our Culture,” guest columnist Jeanne Olin shares a story about the Butterfly Parade that she wrote for one of our free memoir classes. Jeanne’s story will be included in the upcoming “Life in Pacific Grove,” a 444 page book to be published by Park Place Publications and professionally edited by Joyce Krieg to benefit the Pacific Grove Public Library. Find out how your story can be included at the end of this column.

Sparkling Skies, Scarecrows and Butterfly Flags

This week’s guest columnist, Jeanne Olin.

Jim and I moved to the beautiful seaside town of Pacific Grove in June of 2010 upon our retirements. We settled into our small home with its peek of the ocean and Pacific Grove welcomed us with its warmth, beauty, and fascinating history.

“I’ll see you in about an hour and a half, honey. I’m going to watch the Butterfly Parade.” It was October 1, 2016, and the tradition in Pacific Grove is to welcome the return of the Monarch butterflies with a parade on the first Saturday of October.

I walked along Lighthouse Avenue towards Juice and Java. I was to meet friends before the parade. The morning was sparkling. The fog and smoke had cleared and the sun was doing its best to add to the festivities. I passed by many a scarecrow peeking out from behind storefronts under the butterfly flags hanging from lampposts.

Pat and LaVerne were already at a table in front of Juice and Java and had pulled over chairs for Joan, Mary and me. “Shall we watch out here or should we watch from the coffee bar inside?” I asked.

“We can see better from here,” Pat answered. “Hurry, get your coffee. It’s almost 10:30 and the parade will be here any minute.”

Amber is Obviously a True Pagrovian

This well behaved terrier wouldn’t think of molesting a PG butterfly!

The first class of kindergarteners started to walk by. We all left our seats to get an even better view. The butterflies were followed by children dressed as other insects and even otters and clowns. The real star of the parade, however, was the Monarch butterfly. Pacific Grove takes the butterfly seriously. The first parade took place in 1939. The same year Pacific Grove passed an ordinance making it a misdemeanor to molest a butterfly.

The parade was over all too fast. I returned home to find my six pound terrier, Amber, fighting with a squirrel that had taken up residence in our oak tree. The squirrel was throwing down acorns upon Amber and Amber was barking in a threatening manner. I noticed a monarch butterfly resting on the windbreak above Amber. Amber surveyed the butterfly with interest and respect. Amber would never threaten a butterfly. After all, Amber is a Pagrovian!

Don’t miss out on the fun!

The next FREE “PG Writes!” memoir session will be this coming Thursday, December 15, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Little House in Jewell Park. The theme is “Finding Food in PG: Markets, Restaurants, Gardening and Preserving, and the Farmer’s Market.” Spend an afternoon devoted to your writing in a relaxed and supportive atmosphere. We want to include your story in “Life in Pacific Grove”, a 444 page book filled with stories by and for PG residents and visitors, to be published in fall of 2017. All proceeds will benefit the Pacific Grove Public Library. Patricia Hamilton is available to give a presentation to your group, book club, service organization, friends and family, and lead a writing session to gather stories, beginning January 15, 2017. Contact her at keepersofourculture@gmail.com to set up a date and time.

 

 

 

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Living in the Moment With Pals

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“My Perfect Day in the Grove” provided the theme for the latest writing class co-sponsored by Park Place Publications and the Pacific Grove Public Library. Participants write stories for the upcoming “Life in Pacific Grove” book, to be published in 2017 to benefit the Pacific Grove Public Library. One chose to write about a stroll through Washington Park, another focused on a visit to our library, and for guest columnist Keith Larson, the theme brought up a flood of childhood memories. This story first appeared in the 11-25-2016 issue of the Cedar Street Times.

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Artist and guest columnist Keith Larson puts pen to sketchpad to bring back childhood memories of a tree fort he and his pals built at Washington Park.

My perfect day was actually three months long, a continuum of experiences created by the long honored tradition of giving kids and teachers a break in the summer. Days were spent in the present moment. As adults, don’t we hear a lot about “being in the now?” When I was 10 I didn’t worry about the past or the future when it was summer. Time was marked by, “Hey, what do you want to do now?” And so this special time in my life was structured only by what my friends and I could make up.
Perfect days started by lounging in front of the TV with elbows on the carpet and hands under your chin watching a variety of Hanna Barbara cartoon offerings, Wally Gator, Yogi Bear, Quick Draw McGraw and my favorite, Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy.
I tended to be the one in my neighborhood who wanted to get the day started. Mothers, who were always at home, got the knock on the door quite early. “Can Scott come out and play?”

Grand Visions of Tree Forts and Kool-Aid Stands

“He’s still watching TV, but you can come in.” Parents sometimes were concerned about how much TV to let us watch. I was lucky—I had only one screen to compete with while trying to get my friend’s attention. But I had to paint grand visions of tree forts we could build or money-making schemes like Kool-Aid stands to get my buddies away from the cartoons.
Eventually I got at least one friend to put on play clothes so we could start the perfect day. I lived on Marino Pines. There was more forest back then behind the high school and Forest Grove School, which was near to my neighborhood. People dumped their old wood in these places, which was good for us because we could many times recycle the material into a tree house. Nails came from the hardware store in the Forest Hill Shopping Center. At that time they were sold by weight. I remember a friend’s dad showing us how to take old nails and bend them straight so they could be reused.
Where did we get our money? A Kool-Aid stand at the corner of 19th and Marino Pines was a pretty good business for us, as was collecting returnable bottles from the forest if we could find a store owner willing to bother with the load we pulled in a red Radio Flyer wagon. Besides money for building projects, there was always a need to finance our comic books, Jolly Rancher candies and bubble gum with cards included.

Finding Heaven in the Camp Store

Heaven for us was the camp store at the corner of 17 Mile Drive and Sinex. The store was adjacent to a collection of rental cabins that is now 17 Mile Drive Village. The camp store was a ways from my neighborhood, but it was worth it because of all the goodies sold there—comic books, candy, ice cream, trading cards.
Well that takes care of the morning. At home, Mom made lunch. I happened to like Campbell’s tomato soup with saltines on the side and a tuna sandwich. I don’t remember Mom asking me what I was doing all day; she probably assumed that if it was bad stuff she would hear about it later and would let Dad take care of it. The trouble we got into is another story and could fill up this column for weeks.
Summer afternoons were always celebrated with a few spur-of-the-moment baseball games. It seemed like we would always come up short on the number of players needed, so most of the time we used the time-honored ghost runner on first. We could really get into who was winning for awhile but at the end of the game it didn’t seem to matter much. Hitting the ball, getting on base and catching some fly balls were all that mattered.
Late afternoons found some of us in front of the tube, tuned in to KTVU out of Oakland, as Captain Satellite blasted off into space with a collection of old Warner Brother cartoons, games, contests, and commercials The captain encouraged us to try a 7-up ice cream float instead of using root beer, which I had while watching the show. Thanks, Mom, for getting the ingredients. We put a lot of trust in the Captain when he made suggestions.
I built my last tree house in 1969 with a friend behind the high school. Childhood came to a close on that Saturday after those few boards had been nailed in place. I recently found an original board that had fallen from the tree. The perfect day made a feeling in me that I have used to measure my other days There is nothing quite like the freedom to just make it up as you go along.
I’ll meet you down at the camp store then maybe we can smash a few pennies on the tracks when the train comes through Asilomar. Just thinking about those times can bring back the feeling of my perfect day in the Grove.

Join the Class, Write a Short Story for “Life in Pacific Grove”!

The next FREE “PG Writes!” memoir session will be Thursday, December 15, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Little House in Jewell Park. The theme is “Finding Food in PG: Markets, Restaurants, Gardening and Preserving, and the Farmer’s Market.” Don’t miss this chance to have your story included in “Life in Pacific Grove”, a 444 page book filled with stories by and for PG residents and visitors.

All proceeds will benefit the Pacific Grove Public Library.

Patricia Hamilton is available to give a presentation to your group, book club, service organization, friends and family, and lead a writing session to gather stories for the book, beginning January 15, 2017. Contact her at keepersofourculture@gmail.com to set up a date and time.

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Kids—Tell Your Side of the Story!

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Adults and kids will work closely together at the free memoir class sponsored by Park Place Publications and the Pacific Grove Public Library.

You don’t need to have decades of life under your belt, or even to have finished growing up, to tell your life story. “Keepers of Our Culture” come in all shapes, sizes and ages. With that in mind, this column is teaming with the Pacific Grove Public Library to offer a free memoir-writing class just for kids.

Boys and girls between the ages of 8 and 12 are invited to come to the Little House in Jewell Park on Thursday, July 14, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. for a session that promises to be both empowering and full of fun. Your leaders will be Heidi Feldman and Patricia Hamilton. All we ask is that the child be accompanied by a parent or adult friend. Snacks will be provided, as well as all materials. Pre-registration is not required, but seating is limited so we encourage you and your child to arrive early. (This story appears July 8 in the “Keepers of Our Culture” column by Patricia Hamilton and Joyce Krieg in the Cedar Street Times.)

Kids, Do Try This at Home

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Children will find out how empowering it is to write down their own stories at the free memoir class July 14 at the Little House in Jewell Park.

Here’s a sneak preview of the six writing prompts we will use on July 14. If you’re unable to join us, you can always try this on your own at home. Perhaps a parent or older sibling will help you write a short story about one or more of these topics:

  1. A Memorable Birthday: What made it so special? Describe what happened, who was there, and other details you remember. What would make your next birthday extra-special and perfect?
  2. A Happy Family Story or a Sad Family Story: What happened to make it happy—or sad? Who was there to share it with you? What would you like to tell them today about your feelings then?
  3. A Favorite Relative: What makes them your favorite: Things they do? Things they say? Write a letter to them telling them why they are your favorite relative.
  4. A Family Tradition: Special foods on big holidays, family vacations, nicknames you have for each other. Write about the fun stuff you and your family do together.
  5. Most Embarrassing—and Funny—Moment: Where were you and who were you with? What happened? When did this happen? How did you feel about being embarrassed? How funny was it?
  6. Grandparents: If you have grandparents in your life, write about what makes them and the times you spend with them so special. Describe what they look like, the words they use, the clothes they wear. What kind of car do they drive? How do you know they love you?

Don’t worry about spelling and grammar! This is not a test and you won’t be graded. Instead, just write down everything that you can think of for each prompt, whether it’s just few words or a long sentence. Then choose which prompt you really want to write about, the one that “speaks” to you, the story that is yearning to be told, and keep writing.

After you finish your story, re-read it and fill in anything new that comes to your mind.

Sharing Our Stories Give Us Superhero Power!

Keepers Culture 7-8-16 Pic 1When you feel like you’ve gotten all of the important stuff down, read your story to someone. This may be a parent, grandparent, teacher or trusted friend. That’s where the superhero power comes in. By sharing the stories you’ve written with people you trust, you’ll gain greater understanding about what you’ve already experienced, and prepare yourself for your next adventure!

You may decide that you want to continue the process by keeping a journal. If so—congratulations! That journal is sure to become a faithful “friend,” the keeper of your innermost thoughts, and later on, a valuable reminder of your early life experiences.

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NPR’s StoryCorps has a smartphone app that enables you to record your story and upload it to StoryCorps.

Another cool tool for “Keepers” of all ages is the free StoryCorps app that allows you to record any story you write. The app walks you through an interview by providing all the necessary tools: preparing questions (like those above), finding the right environment for your conversation (must be quiet), recording a high-quality interview on your mobile device (hold it close and speak slowly), sharing the finished product with friends and family, and uploading your conversation to the StoryCorps.me website. Download the app for your smartphone at the iTunes Store or Google Play.

To learn more about the writing and publishing services offered by Park Place Publications, and for a free consultation, contact Patricia Hamilton at 831/649-6640, publishingbiz@sbcglobal.net.

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