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Happening
at the Crossroads
January 17,
2010
by Coggin
Heeringa
Log Cabin Book Discussion and more on the Big Read!
Like the rest of Door County, Crossroads at Big Creek is participating in the Big Read.
This
year, we all pouring over My Ántonia , a book by Willa Cather, which
focuses on a pioneer family from from Bohemia. The historical novel is
set in Nebraska, beginning in the 1880s.
In Door County about
that same time, families from Bohemia were settling in the Rowleys Bay
area. In his book Rowleys Bay, Reliving the Heritage of Northern Door
County, author Leonard Peterson wrote:
“The family arrived on a
schooner in 1874. They had lived in Racine, Wisconsin, for a couple of
years after arriving from Bohemia. (The history of Bohemia goes back to
the sixth century and is very involved with boundary changes and
rulers. In the 1880s and until 1918, the history of the country was
merged with that of Austria and the Habsburg Dynasty. Since 1918,
Bohemia has been part of Czechoslovakia.) The owners of the Rowleys Bay
dock before 1975 was a Racine Company, Osborne and Osgood, which
recruited several families to work for it in the lumber business.”
It
seems this lumber company valued and recruited Bohemian workers because
they were sturdy and were known to have a strong work ethic. The men
logged in the winter, walking each Monday across the ice of Rowleys Bay
to what is now Newport State Park, living in shanties near Duck Bay
during the week, and returning to their families on Sundays). In
summers, the families farmed the land.
We can imagine that their
experiences in America and their love for the land must have been
similar to those depicted in My Ántonia. Still today, a number of
Bohemian families consider the Rowleys Bay area their “home place.”
On
Friday, January 22, at 7;00, the Big Read Lecture: “Landscape as Home
Place” University of Nebraska English Professor and Willa Cather
scholar Susan Maher will discuss the powerful connection people have to
the lands that surround them, particularly as reflected in “My Ántonia.”
Professor
Maher currently serves as vice president on the executive board of the
Willa Cather Foundation. The lectures is sponsored in part by the Door
County Land Trust and the White Lace Inn.
Another Big Read event
will occur at Crossroads on Thursday, January 21. The Door County
Library will conduct a Log Cabin Book Discussion of My Ántonia in the
Warren House of the Historical Village At the Crossroads from 2:00-3:30.
Sunday
afternoon, snow conditions permitting,the Friends of Crossroads will
loan ski equipment as a part of the Crossroads Community Ski program.
Cross-country skis and snowshoes are available on a first come first
serve basis between 1:00-3:00.
Crossroads at Big Creek is a
donor supported preserve welcoming learners of all ages to programs on
science, history and the environment. The Collins Learning Center,
located at 2041 Michigan is open daily from 2:00-5:00.
Thursday, January 21, 2:00
Log Cabin Book Discussion
The
Door County Library will conduct a Log Cabin Book Discussion of My
Ántonia in the Warren House of the Historical Village. The wood stove
will be going, but sweaters are recommended. Free and open to the
public.
Friday, January 22, 7;00,
Big Read Lecture: “Landscape as Home Place”
University
of Nebraska English Professor and Willa Cather scholar Susan Maher will
discuss the powerful connection people have to the lands that surround
them, particularly as reflected in “My Ántonia.” The lecture is
sponsored in part by the Door County Land Trust and the White Lace Inn.
Sunday, January 24, 1:00-3:00 (snow permitting)
Community Ski
Friends
of Crossroads provide ski and snowshoe equipment free of charge to
those wanting to get in touch with nature in winter. First come first
served. Call 746-5895 for conditions.
Many of
the Past News articles may be retrieved from this directory,
indexed and named in the following manner: 080101-news.htm
where
the first two numbers are the year, the second two the month and the
last two the date.
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