Community Civility

Dr. P.M. Forni, a recognized expert and author on the subject of civil behavior in society, will talk about the principles outlined in his books which are the basis for the UW-Oshkosh conference, “Civility in Everyday Life,” held Feb. 22-24. Dr. Forni is the author of "Choosing Civility: The Twenty-five Rules of Considerate Conduct" and "The Civility Solution: What to Do When People Are Rude."

He will appear at the Oshkosh Public Library at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 24.

Immediately following Forni, there will be a panel discussion, "Be a Good Sport: Civility On and Off the Field."

A panel of local coaches, sports journalists and youth sports coordinators answer questions and share their experiences related to sportsmanship on the field, on the sidelines and in the stands.

Panelists include:
Mike Woods – Appleton Post-Crescent
Lester Millette – Senior Youth & Family Director, Oshkosh YMCA
Chris Kujawa – Head Football Coach, Oshkosh North High School
Chris Guido – President, Oshkosh Youth Soccer Club
Chris Mehring, Director of media relations and radio broadcaster, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

For more information, please contact the Oshkosh Public Library at 236-5205.

Guest Speaker on Feb. 5

Mark Ferguson, former owner of the Buckstaff Observatory property in Oshkosh, would like to compile a history on the facility and is seeking area writers, who may be interested in helping out. He will be our guest speaker at the Feb. 5 meeting to discuss the project.

The Observatory is currently in the news because it is being dismantled and moved to Illinois. You can read about it here.

Congrats Tom!

Tom Cannon’s story "Mornings with AJ & Jen" (the story of two morning deejays taken hostage) was accepted for publication by “On the Premises” magazine. The story and short author bio will appear in March, Issue 13.

As an aside, the story was initially on hold until Tom made some recommended change. In accepting the story upon second review, co-publisher Tarl Kudrick noted:

“You are, by far, the easiest guest writer we've worked with to date. You cleared up all of our concerns in one rewrite. I wish I was better at picking writers like you out of the rejection pile, as opposed to writers who aren't good enough to fix their story's problems, or who fight us over every suggested comma. If you ever need a reference to convince some other editor that you're easy to work with, just ask.”

To paraphrase Stephen King in “On Writing,” the only hard rule in writing is to do whatever your editor asks.

Congrats to Judi!

Congrats to member Judi Scherkenbach for landing a weekly guest column, "Reflections," in the Omro Herald. The column is a casual inspirational column, similar to one she wrote for 10 years while living out west.

Oshkosh Brewery Stories

Oshkosh resident Ron Akin is putting together a book about the history of the Oshkosh breweries. He wants to add some "personality" to the book, and not just a lot of names, dates and pictures and he is looking for your stories about the breweries. Something that might be amusing, or interesting for people to read about. What were the working conditions like, the camaraderie, the funny stories about beer brewing, the worker relationships that grew?

If you have a story to share, please contact Ron at rkakin@sbcglobal.net

Meeting Reminder

The Oshkosh Area Writers Club will meet at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 15th, at the Oshkosh Public Library. Dixie is the Spotlight Author. The writing prompt is to work your White Elephant gift into a story.

As always, meetings are free and open to anyone age 17 or older.

Author Spotlight Schedule

Author Spotlight is a chance for people to bring in long pieces, novels or compilations. Advance registration is required.

Upcoming Spotlight Authors:

Jan. 15 - Dixie

Feb. 5 - Pat K.

Feb. 19 - Bob B.

March 5 - Chuck