Lincoln Writers Club celebrates 20 years

 

[May 12, 2020] 

Back a few months ago when life was normal for all of us, the Lincoln Writer’s Club would be meeting on this evening (Tuesday, May 12th). The group made up of folks with a common interest in writing and sharing what they have put to paper come together in the Alumni Room at the student center on the campus of Lincoln College.

Each month they are given topics to write about specifically for their club meeting and when they get together they share what they have written. They garner support and encouragement from one another at the end of the readings.

The group also has members who are working on long term projects and talk about progress and obstacles in their work.

They are a casual group, people who came together as strangers that are now close friends with a great deal of respect for one another. They welcome new members with open arms and are always there to cheer the accomplishments.

This month founding member Rebecca Johnson had plans to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the club. It was to be a reunion of the membership with press invited. Johnson and the other members were looking forward to sharing stories of their 20-year history and raising awareness for the club. However, coronavirus brought our community to a standstill.

For now, Johnson was happy to accept the invitation to write about the club and how it came to be.

The following is Johnson’s review of 20 years with the Lincoln Writer’s Club

2000-2020 Review of The Lincoln Writer’s Club
By Rebecca Johnson

My husband and I moved to Lincoln at the end of Oct. 1999. One of the first things I did was to look for a writer’s group I could join. I checked the library, the Oasis Senior Center, and the newspaper for information. When I found out there wasn’t one in Lincoln, I was disappointed. I told my husband, and his simple response was, “I guess you’ll just have to start one.”

After the initial shock wore off, and all the reasons why I couldn’t start a writer’s group, (like - I had no idea how to go about it) went away, I started to think really hard just what it would take, and if anyone else would be interested. I had a meeting with Richard Sumrall, Lincoln Public Library District Director. He was most helpful in my endeavor. I made posters, hung up flyers, and contacted the newspaper. I pulled out my resources from my book shelves and wrote down what my goals were.

On June 6th 2000, the first meeting of the Lincoln Writer’s Club was held in the Pegram Room of the Library. I sat there waiting for that first person to show up, my stomach turning summersaults, when Fay Stubblefield and Olive Goodman (with her daughter, Alice Geriets) walked in. Then someone else walked in, then another. Before long, I realized I wasn’t the only one interested in writing. The chairs started filling up, my stomach settled down, and I welcomed everyone.

There were 10 people who signed up to attend, and 15 showed up. With the success of establishing the Lincoln Writer’s Club, I gained the confidence to try a writer’s group at the Oasis Senior Center.

At the first meeting of the Oasis Memories Class, not one person showed up. I waited, and waited. After forty five minutes, one of the workers felt sorry for me and offered to come in and listen to my spiel. I said that was ok, and I gathered up my papers, and went home. I was disappointed, but not defeated. I worked at a nursing home, I knew seniors. Sometimes it took a while to convince them it wasn’t going to be work. It was going to be fun.

The next week I had two brave souls, who told two other brave souls to come. Word of mouth was my best advertisement. We ended up with seven dedicated members who wrote many family stories, and had a great time doing it.

I started the Christian Village Writer’s Club in 2007. They, too, were reluctant at first, but they trusted me, and those meetings turned out to be some of the best memories for me, and them. They were able to produce a memory book for each of their families, full of precious family stories. It was because of them, I too, was able to do the same for my family. I am proud of all my writer’s groups and their accomplishments.

All were represented at our 10 year anniversary in 2010, including Lincoln Writer’s Club, Oasis Memories Class, Christian Village Writer’s Club, family members, media, and friends.

Our 20th anniversary is being postponed, due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. As I write this we are still in quarantine. I’m reminded of my nursing home resident’s stories of the 1918 flu pandemic.

Watching the news every morning to see how many more people contacted the virus, how many have died, how many are recovering has been on my front burner. On my back burner has been writing a summary of another 10 years of The Lincoln Writer’s Club. Being home for over a month, I now realize I can keep up with both burners.

Back Row L to R: Evelyn Belcher, Bruce Huskins, Judy Lumpp, Lois Grohmann and Alice Geriets
Front Row L to R: Betty Agee, Deb Harmon, Marge Hamilton and Rebecca Johnson
Not pictured-Barbara Stroud-Borth, Catherine Carkulis and Manual Villarreal

The past 10 years of the Writer’s Club have also been very enjoyable. We gained some new members and have maintained an average of 10 attendees at meetings. Our dedicated members today include the original five members, Alice Geriets, 2000, past secretary; Rebecca Johnson, 2000, founder; Bruce Huskins, 2001; Marge Hamilton, 2003; and Evelyn Belcher, 2003; plus later members, Deb Harmon, 2010, past secretary; Barbara Stroud-Borth, 2012; Judy Lumpp, 2012; Lois Grohmann, 2013, present secretary; Betty Agee, 2015; Catherine Carkulis, 2019 and Manuel Villarreal, 2019.

From 2000 to 2004, we met at the Lincoln Public Library. Due to shortened evening hours at the library, we met at Einstein’s Coffee House for a while, then moved to Lincoln College, where we have been happily meeting ever since.

The Alumni room is a wonderful place to meet, and we feel safe and secure going to the parking lot after dark. The students have been kind and helpful towards our older members with opening doors and escorting them into the building, and the security guard checks in to see if we need anything.

Throughout the years, we have entered many writing contests, and many members have been published in several magazines and newspapers. We have attended writer’s conferences, enjoyed many guest speakers, and judged children’s writing contests for Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. We have been featured in the Courier’s Lifestyle twice, Lincoln Daily News and New Herald News.

Several members including Marge Hamilton and Betty Agee have written books, and some are still working on theirs.

We hosted a member’s quilt show, which featured old family quilts, and lots of family stories to go with them. We have maintained a book at the library with meeting information, copy of minutes, and member’s stories.

We have had four dedicated secretaries in the past twenty years of our club’s existence. I couldn’t have written this review without their detailed note-taking. I am extremely thankful for Alice Geriets, Fay Stubblefield, (passed away 2016), Deb Harmon and Lois Grohmann.

To my best recollection, former members, and writers, who have spent time with us include: Olive Goodman, Hazel Werth, Joe Dilillo, Skip Scudder, Pat and Tony Hunt, Lisa Kuhlman, Lois Leonard, Celia Milslagle, Beth Stephens, Nick Adcock, Araceli, Teresa Lukin, Bob McCue, Carol Meyer, Milayla Meyer, Gloria Reed, George Theobald and daughter, Desiree; Joan Schmidt, Joyce Leesman, Jake Day, Arsenio Inion, Paul Ayers, Rebecca Newell, Sandy Richardson, Susan Spenser, Autumn Shaffer, Mary Bentz, Kathy Papesch, Willard Emmons, Esther Will, Margaret Albright, and Fernola Gamble, plus the members of the Oasis Memories Class, and the Christian Village Writer’s Group. Several have moved, and many have passed away.

The LWC is made up of a variety of writers with a variety of genres. There’s poetry, fiction, nonfiction, mystery, song writing, and family genealogy. Several of our members have written family stories to pass on to their loved ones.

Each month a different member chairs the meeting, and has writing suggestions for the next meeting. It’s a good way to write in a different genre we normally wouldn’t do. But there’s always Writer’s Choice if we want to pick our own subject.

Most agree, writing is therapeutic. We look forward to getting back to our meetings at LC, and as always, all are invited to attend.

In our writing group, we have shared laughter, and we have shared tears. We have felt comfortable enough to share ourselves with each other. We have learned from each other, and we have helped each other grow as writers. We have shared rejection notices and we have shared letters of excitement.

People come and go in our group. Each one contributing something when they make that first visit, and taking something with them when they move on. I personally thank each and every one of them.

I also want to thank my husband and my family for their continued support. If it wasn’t for them, and my fellow writers, none of this would have happened.

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LDN wants to congratulate the club on their 20 years of success, and looks forward to helping the club celebrate this milestone further when they are once again able to meet together.

In the meantime, we wish the writers well, encourage them to stay strong, stay healthy and keep writing!

[Nila Smith/Rebecca Johnson]