Mt. Pleasant Scribblers meet for last time this season

Present at the Monday June 16, 2025 meeting included: Valerie Kreutner, Suzy Pool, Claudia Streeter, Mary Shy, Darlene Lutes, Karen Osborne, Kathy Wiley, Martha Wiley, Kathy Casteel.

Today’s Scribblers meeting began with a box lunch and general writing conversation to mark the end of the season. When summers are hot and most of us are vacationing, we take a break, but don’t worry. We will be back in September to entertain you and welcome you into our group once again.

Some of our conversations involved discussing where our inspirations came from with Karen Osborne, saying she simply struggled to write without having something in mind when she began. Others mentioned that writing prompts helped and after that was mentioned Claudia Streeter passed around some beautiful picture prompts and a box of gorgeous Power Thought Cards. On one side they might say something like “My income is constantly increasing.” The other side might say “I begin now, today, to open myself to ever increasing prosperity.” It is up to you as the writer to define “income” and “prosperity.” What brings you prosperity? If something inspires you to write, please come join us in September to share.

We continued with a sharing of what we thought of the writing in our book club choices and Kathy Wiley shared her daughter’s, pen named Mariah Stillbrook, published fantasy series starting with “The Lost Erwain.” Martha Wiley shared a pamphlet of information, for an upcoming presentation, on her Kids on the Move series about science. Both authors are available on Amazon.

Smash/Bullet journals were also mentioned by Suzy Pool and Kathy Casteel and how they draw in writers of all types and ages with their combination of mixed medium art and writing. Suzy will be tempting her granddaughters with them this summer.

Then the readings began with Suzy Pool presenting “The Rebuttal,” a response to a poem from a friend that asked “when the human body dies, does the soul miss it?” This rebuttal mentions things the soul might not miss from the remaining vessel. Will the soul miss loss of hearing, deterioration, broken bones or even abuse or will the earthly longing cease entirely and the soul go home?

Kathy Casteel stated that she struggled to write her piece this month with her topic containing so much personal emotion for her. She shared an essay on her family’s visits to the Nottoway Plantation and the main house’s total loss in a fire suspected to be the result of arson. She told of cruel memes, the new commentary platform of popular culture. The essay went on to present not only the importance of the history of the lives of the plantation owner’s family and the slaves who built the mansion and worked the land and how both needed to be remembered and respected in history to ensure that we “not only honor the past,” but are also “fostering a more inclusive future.”

Next were two pieces shared by Karen Osborne. The first discussed the process of teaching writing and how that has changed over the years. She mentioned attending courses on teaching writing and how that changed what she presented in the classroom. It seems the idea of teaching writing has moved from teaching writing = teaching grammar and one prompt for all students in a one size fits all attitude to a more open situation where students are allowed to teach US what they want to learn. Her second piece was a tribute for Father’s Day and spoke of the greatest gift her father had ever given her, the gift of a book in her lap. She went on to talk about the library in Queens Village, NY and how its library had lions at the entrance, just smaller versions of the ones at the one in NYC. She recalled wandering for hours in the stacks and loving the smell of the library which she deemed a mixture of “cedar, blueberries and well-worn polished floors.”

“Flight Risk,” by Mary Shy, was a delightful story of her orneriness as a rather small child. Living in a small town, one occasion she had walked herself up to the local cafe and ordered herself some breakfast. As the waitress was fairly sure she didn’t have any money with which to pay for this breakfast order a call to her mother was made and one of her brothers was dispatched to return her home. In another incident, she spoke of an attempt at running away to an aunt in Washington DC. Little Mary lived in northeast Iowa and really had no idea how far she would have to travel. Prepared with her wagon full of doll clothes and other required items, she made it a little over two blocks before mom came to scoop up the “flight risk” and return her home.

Kathy Wiley shared a haiku on the strawberry moon. Kathy has been researching the Pokanoket tribe which existed in Rhode Island at one time. She has spoken with a chief who had directed her to some other contacts that shared with her many facts of the tribe’s history, including the existence of 13 moons, 13 thanksgivings and 13 harvests. Kathy’s piece spoke of the strawberry moon shining over a harvest.

“I Heard It When I was Young” was the title of Darlene Lutes’ piece on a mystery of a murder committed on the road she lived on as a child and has returned to as an adult. Rumor had whispered of a lynching or a body found beaten in a draw on the lane. It seemed to have been forgotten until Darlene, while working on New London’s history, using historical issues of the New London Journal, happened across an article dated Oct. 26, 1928. The article told of the recent death of Thomas Grimes, in the Ft. Madison Penitentiary, and that he had been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of John Gavin, a local farmer. Further research, using Southeast Iowa Digital Newspapers, turned up an abundance of information concerning the murder of John Gavin, in 1907, and the trial of Thomas Grimes and his accomplice, Arnold Zimmer. Darlene told us the story of how John Gavin unexpectedly met up with the two and was brutally, heinously killed, apparently for the $9 he had on his person.

Following this was a piece on how summers change as we grow older and life changes around us. Valerie Kreutner read to us of how “Many Summers” as a child meant bringing in the cows, snapping beans and shelling peas then grew into college life and all that entailed. Next was married life and the freedom that came with being an adult, circling back around to a routine summer night of corn on the cob and sliced tomatoes.

Claudia Streeter closed the meeting with a piece entitled, “Old Age.” According to her writing, it would appear that Claudia, now 88, feels that she has arrived at old age. She spoke of going for walks and drivers waving with their “Iowa nice” greetings and choosing to wait for her to cross as if they are expecting her to dart out in front of them. She insists that she no longer darts anywhere but just moves slowly along the sidewalk. She has set a goal to live until she is 104, which certainly seems doable, especially with how much she enjoys “delivering her old bones to a new social situation.”

Scribblers are pleased to welcome new members who are interested in being part of a group, sharing efforts in the craft of writing. The next regular meeting will be at the Gathering Space at the Mt. Pleasant Presbyterian Church, 902 S. Walnut, at 1 p.m., Monday, Sept. 15, 2025.

For more information contact Karen Osborne, 319-367-5586.