Armchair Travelogue: Follow the Yellow Brick Road in the Wonderful Wizard of Oz Outdoor Exhibit in Holland, Michigan

The characters in the Wizard of Oz book in front of the library in Holland, Michigan
#armchairtravel #travel #Hollandmichigan

Hello and welcome! The fifth Wednesday of the month...Some time I must google how often a fifth Wednesday occurs in a year. Anyway, since it's a special Wednesday because it's #5, I am sharing a blog post from the archives that popped up serendipitously. Yes, the 5th Wednesday is Serendipity according to my new schedule for the blog posts.

Posting Schedule for the Focused on Story Blog.

This was one of my most popular posts on the blog, so I thought it would be a good one to choose for you. I hope you are getting out a lot more now that the COVID restrictions are gone (in Michigan anyway.) 

Last year we were tired of "staying-in", so we broke out and took a drive with my daughter, Sara, and family on Memorial Day which turned out to be my birthday this year. So we had two great reasons to head out to Holland, Michigan, about one hour from our home.

Lighthouse at Holland

Sara wanted to see the famous tulips albeit late in the season. Ben wanted to look at Jeeps. Read no further if you are looking forward to a tour of the car dealerships featuring Jeeps. 

The characters in the Wizard of Oz along the yellow brick road in front of the Herrick Library.

Why would the city of Holland feature the beloved story, The Wizard of Oz, in their downtown area? Because the author of the book, L. Frank Baum, spent summers along the shores of Lake Macatawa in Holland. I wish I could tell you all about him and how some of the folks in his neighborhood can be seen as the characters in the book! I'll save that for another day because we're here to tour through this amazing exhibit.  It's FREE and Open 24 hours every day.

The 10' x12' open book is made of thousands of annuals a living "floral mosaic. 

I snapped this photo in September 2017 when we visited. On Memorial Day 2020, the book had not been moved from its winter home in the Holland City greenhouse.

Follow the yellow brick road across the road kitty-corner from this display to the amazing bronze sculptures of the cherished characters in the book. Interaction with the characters is encouraged. In fact, one cannot help but pet the lion, hug the scarecrow and tin man, and adore sweet Dorothy and her darling dog.

Sculptor Nick Christenson and his crew at Brodin Studios have made an outstanding exhibit that will make visitors smile and remember their experiences when reading the Wizard of Oz or seeing the movie based on the book.

I hope you will someday be able to visit when you're in the West Michigan area.

This little host greets you as you walk across the street from the park.

See what I mean? You can't resist the scarecrow!

The perfect word to describe Dorothy is precious. So is her lovable companion. 

Sara and I wanted to climb on the lion, but the hot sun made the bronze sculpture very very hot. I bet little kids wouldn't care. His broad back invites you to sit!

The tin man wins for the best grin.

Now the Fighting Tree was scary, just as in the book. But I ended up laughing.

Sunset over Lake Michigan
The photo was taken on the shore of Lake Michigan,
 one of the best places to view a breathtaking sunset.
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Click here for my blog post about more places to visit in Holland, Michigan.

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Deadly Undertaking by J.Q. Rose

Cozy mystery

A handsome detective, a shadow man, 

and a murder victim kill Lauren’s plan for a simple life.

Buy Links: Deadly Undertaking is available at your favorite digital bookseller.

Universal Link for Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Apple, etc.

Available in paperback at Amazon

AmazonUS  

AmazonCA 

Amazon UK 

Have you visited this exhibit? Have you read the book or watched the movie, The Wizard of Oz? Please leave a comment below. 

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Writing a Memoir: Memories are Tricky, Excerpt

Memories fade over time.

Hello and welcome to the Focused on Story blog. Today, I'm excited to share an excerpt from my WIP (Work in Progress) Looking Through Rose-colored Glasses. I would appreciate feedback from the story. Please leave your comments below.

Memories are Tricky by J.Q. Rose

Memoirs are factual stories about someone's life. 'Memoir' is from the French word mémoire, which means 'reminiscence' or 'memory.' They are a part of the nonfiction literary genre—from study.com, Instructor Anne Casano

I bumped into a bit of a memory problem while writing my account of our trip from our home in Illinois to our new home in Michigan in 1975. Granted, that was a long time ago, so I wanted to get the story of our move correct. Afterall, as it says in the definition, the memoir is a “factual story”. But what if the facts are a bit murky and the people you ask about the scene have a different memory from your own? Memories fade over time.

This weekend we visited with my brother Jim and my sister-in-law, Sandy reminiscing about this move because they drove two packed cars in the caravan of four vehicles on that long drive north to Michigan.

Jim and Sandy followed me and I followed Gardener Ted. No surprise, along the route, we became separated from him. That was a problem since I had never driven the roads to Fremont by myself. You can imagine my anxiety without Ted ahead of me. I prayed we would meet together so we could re group.

In my memory, we met at the rest stop on 94 just over the Michigan border, but Ted remembered meeting at his favorite restaurant, Bill Knapp’s in Benton Harbor, MI. So after much discussion and fun trying to recall the trip, Jim and Sandy convinced me we actually met at the restaurant and not the rest area. I do have a memory of the restaurant, so I conceded to change my story.

My brother Jim chuckled when he said, “I think you should’ve told this story sooner so we could remember all the details.”

I’m sharing an excerpt of that story today—not the complete trip and definitely not the final draft as I work through the manuscript.

I just want you memoirists to check with folks who are involved in your stories and listen to their memories to see if you agree or not. Their recounting of the situation may spark even more memories for you and shed light on a situation.

You have the final say as how the story goes because, afterall, YOU are the author of your own life. Nobody can tell it better than you.

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Chapter 5--Moving North to Michigan

We traveled to our new home in West Michigan.

Gripping the steering wheel of our dark green 1970 Ford Torino, I felt anxious about the responsibility of driving the eight hour trip to Fremont. I would have my daughter and mother-in-law in the car with me. Would we get lost? Would we get in a wreck? Would the weather turn into a blizzard? After all, we were headed to snow country.

My stomach was in knots as I drove one of the four vehicles loaded to the max in our moving cavalcade, feeling like the Clampett family from the ‘60’s Beverly Hillbillies TV series. In 1975, we had no access to cell phones, GPS, personal walkie-talkies, or radios to keep us in touch as we motored along the highways. I had traveled to Fremont three times, but I had never driven the entire route. I was kicking myself for not paying better attention to the various highways and turns on the previous trips. The route was a puzzle for me.

I thanked God Ted’s mother, Mildred, could accompany me. Mildred took delight in entertaining and caring for one-year-old baby Sara and she even loved to change diapers!  I had no worries about our daughter making the trip with Grandma Glaser with us.

Children’s car seats were not used and seat belt laws didn’t exist in 1975 in our part of the country. So Mildred held Sara in her lap for the trip or laid her in the back seat for a nap. Today’s parents probably can’t imagine that.

 “Are they still behind us?” I asked her an hour into the drive. Mildred sat in the passenger seat entertaining Sara with some plastic toys on a ring. She hung on to Sara and turned her bulky frame to look out the side window.

Of course, she couldn’t see the rest of our caravan any better than I could with a big semi-truck in the way. I tried to swallow away the panic I felt after losing sight of my brother Jim following me in our 1969 Chevrolet Impala. My sister-in-law Sandy with her toddler daughter, Melissa, trailed Jim in their car. Ted led the parade in a BIG U-Haul truck pulling a trailer crammed with furniture and all our earthly belongings.

Jim and Sandy had never made the trip, so I depended on following Ted and they depended on following me to our destination. You would think I wouldn’t lose sight of a big truck, right? But that was not the case.

About two hours into the trip, we hit Chicago traffic. I tried to keep behind Ted, but that wasn’t possible. He disappeared in the sea of cars and trucks. So I just kept driving the route we were on and looking for signs for the next turn-off.  I knew if I hit I-94 I’d be on the right road and would eventually make it to Benton Harbor just about 20 miles over the Michigan border. We had made plans to stop at the Bill Knapp Restaurant, his favorite place to eat on the route to Fremont. I was pretty sure he would remember since it meant a good meal awaited us.

I finally loosened my grip on the steering wheel when I pulled into the restaurant with Jim and Sandy who had caught up with me after we passed through Chicago’s traffic. I spotted the big truck parked there and my heart quieted a bit. We were nearly halfway to our new home!

Ted’s smiling face and sparkling eyes revealed his relief and excitement when he greeted us as we opened the car doors. “I didn’t know how long to wait because I didn’t know if you were ahead or behind me.” I was worrying so much about my making the drive, I never thought how he must have felt with all the responsibility of driving a rented truck and the safety of all of us.

We were delighted to have some time together to discuss the trip so far and to relax over the tasty fried chicken dinners made famous by Bill Knapp. We headed north again and stayed together for awhile until we came to Holland, Michigan. I thought I knew the way. “I thought I knew the way” are the salient words here. I realized I didn’t when the turn-off I took routed us through downtown Holland instead of bypassing the city. Jim and Sandy followed right along behind me. My heart bounced when I spotted the signs that pointed back to US 31. I finally breathed again because I knew Fremont was only an hour north and I would actually have a sign on 31 that pointed to the road to take us to Fremont!

My eyes searched the highway roadside as we approached Fremont. When the Fairview Floral sign loomed ahead,  I startled Mildred when I shouted, “There it is!” with the same excitement as if I’d opened a brand new Christmas gift. We all followed Ted into the parking lot of the flower shop. Everyone exited their cars and gathered together to take in the site of the chalet style building and its greenhouses. Finally, we could share our new life with part of our family. 

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Have you moved everything you own to a new location? 

How did you feel? How was your trip to your new home?

Please share your experience in the comments below. 

Thanks for stopping in today.

The 5 W's in Story: Sandy Carlson's Tales of the Lost Schooner, Giveaway

The 5 W's of Stories

Hello and welcome to the Focused on Story blog. We continue with the popular series, The 5 W's in Storytelling. Guest authors tell us about the who, what, where, when and why in their stories. This week our guest is multi-talented author, Sandy Carlson. She's a Michigan writer, like me, so we have become friends online. Today she is sharing one of her books based on Michigan history written for middle-grade readers. Her thorough research of the times is evident in her book slipping in information about Michigan, so while the kids are reading and being entertained, by ghost stories in today's book, they are learning history too!

Giveaway: Please leave a comment to enter the drawing for a chance to win a paperback copy of the book to a winner within the United States or an eBook to a winner outside of the US. Deadline for entry is 10:00 pm ET, Sunday, November 18.

Hi Sandy! Welcome. I've taken my Dramamine so I can sail the Great Lakes on the schooner with you!

Tales of the Lost Schooner by Sandy Carlson
Historical fiction ghost stories set in the mid-1800’s

Thanks for inviting me to your blog. Hello to all who’ve dropped by to visit. Today I am sending out the 5-W’s of my middle-grade historical fiction novel, Tales of the Lost Schooner.

Who:
In the mid-19th century, 12-year-old Honor Sullivan finds himself and his two younger sisters as street urchins, abandoned by their mother. They decide to join The Orphan Train, taking children off the streets of New York to the frontier “out west” for a better life.

What:
Before getting on the train to their final destination, Honor is shanghaied to work aboard a schooner. He keeps planning on jumping ship (if only he knew how to swim) to reunite with his sisters. He knows the town destination is Dowagiac and is in Michigan, but that’s all. 

Where:
The story starts on the streets of New York City. Then we follow Honor on the schooner, The City of Cheektowaga, from Detroit and around Michigan’s lower peninsula to near the southern tip of Lake Michigan.

When:
1854, to be more precise.

Why:
Honor needs to find his sisters, make sure they are safe and placed out in good homes.

How:
To keep him from missing them so much, a shipmate tells true ghost stories from around the Great Lakes as they pass those very spots. (The reader also learns a lot of history of early shipping on the Great Lakes.)

If you’d like to leave a comment about how you deal with missing loved ones, please share. Thank you for visiting. Remember any comment will enter you in the drawing.

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Tales of the Lost Schooner by Sandy Carlson
for Middle-Grade Readers

Back of the Book: 

The schooner’s captain pulled 12-year-old Honor Sullivan apart from the other orphans. Captain Klaus claimed he needed a strong lad like Honor for a sister he didn’t even have. But Honor has a sister – two of them. The last he’d seen of their fuzzy red heads was the end of September 1854, as they headed down the ship’s plank for the Orphan Train, going off to be placed out with a new family.

Tricked by the captain, and sailing around Michigan’s Mitten, Honor learns the ropes and duties of a sailor. He passes the time aboard down in the dark hold, listening to Old Salty’s tales of shipwrecks and ghosts. The stories won’t distract him for long, though. As soon as he can, Honor plans to abandon ship and go in search of his sisters.

Buy Link: Amazon

About Sandy:
Sandy grew up boating on the Great Lakes. She loves and appreciates each of the five in their unique ways. She also grew up telling ghost stories to her siblings, cousins and friends. Among other places,

Author Sandy Carlson

she’s lived in Cleveland, in Buffalo, in Wisconsin, and in Michigan – a state with 3,126 miles of freshwater coastline.

Filled with the wonder of history, longing adventure on the inland seas and loving story-telling, she’ll be a’tellin’ stories until the day she dies, me maties.

Click here to visit Sandy online at her blog.

GOOD NEWS: Dr. Bob Rich is offering a FREE BOOK EDIT for the winner in his current contest. I'm thrilled to discover my entry, Looking Through Rose-colored Glasses, made the short list! You can read the 1000 word submission along with the other entries at his blog, Bobbing Around. Click here to see the 10 entries. Vote for 3 of your favorites. Deadline for voting is December 23. Thank you.

Hobby Hoedown: Author Marsha West Shares Her Hobby--Theatre

Please indulge me for a minute to remind everyone in the West Michigan area to attend the Author Event at the Artsplace, downtown Fremont, Michigan tonight (Thursday) at 6:30 pm. A panel of four authors (including me) will be discussing what stirs inspiration. Questions from the audience are welcome!

Now, please welcome author Marsha West to this week's Hobby Hoedown feature. When I planned to offer this event every Thursday, I had no idea we would be treated to so many different kinds of hobbies. Author interests are wide and varied. Marsha's hobby is attending theatre performances, not only for own enjoyment, but for a very important reason. Read on to find out what that is! 

Congratulations to Marsha on her new release in July, Vermont Escape. Information on this romantic suspense novel is at the end of the article. 

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Hey, JQ. Thanks for inviting me. My hobby is a bit odd. We’re talking about theatre. (Please note this is the correct spelling for the word when referring to a show on a stage or in the round. When it’s “er” on the end, that’s for a movie house.) For the last four years during the late fall and early spring—December through March, my younger daughter and I have attended high school musicals. Often several in one week. She is a judge for the Betty Buckley High School Musicals Awards. I’m the-go-along-with. You may remember Betty Buckley from the TV show Eight is Enough. She’s starred on Broadway in 1776, a role she won after only one audition! In CATS, she’s the one who sang “Memories.” And many other roles and recordings. She graduated from my daughter’s high school and performed in many shows at Casa Manana, the regional theatre, which sponsors these awards and named them in her honor.

Sometimes my daughter and I drive 45 minutes to get to the location. Tarrant County covers a large area. She was a dance performance major in college and after several years of traveling the country in bus and truck tours, she and her husband settled here in Fort Worth. 

Marsha's talented daughter

She has her own Pilates studio and still choreographs. I taught high school theatre years ago, and performed in community theatre for a short time. It's been a fun time for us, connecting over our passion.

Rose Theatre-location for community theatre productions, Ft. Worth, Texas

Let me tell you, these high school theatre departments produce shows of high quality. For the most part the kids in the lead roles are triple threats. In the business, that means they sing, dance, act and all well. That’s what it takes to make a living. Are they all going to go on and major in musical or technical theatre? No, but they have an opportunity to see if this is what they want.

Okay, as a former educator, I’d be remiss if I failed to point out all the crucial things kids learn from being involved in theatre/choir/orchestra. I’ve included the last two because in many schools this is collaborative endeavor between those three departments. Students develop responsibility and learn to juggle all their jobs: keeping grades up, other extra curricula activities, learning lines and choreography, communicating with family members, problem solving, being where they’re supposed to be­––prepared and on time. They learn that in most important activities, it’s not just one person who makes the endeavor successful. It takes all the participants, cast, crew, volunteers giving their all. Hey, sounds like the kinds of things we’d want all of our citizens to know and understand! Okay, climbing off my soapbox. 

This competition is held throughout the United States. Awards go to outstanding choreographer, lighting, set designers, and orchestra (which can have no more than two adults playing to be eligible). The overall best musical is selected. Outstanding students are recognized for Male and Female Lead, Male/Female Supporting Character, Male/Female Ensemble Member.

This ensemble member is the person with a smaller number of lines, who sings with the group, maybe is only highlighted for a line of song or a 16 count dance piece. They’re the ones filling up the stage, always in character and acting whether they have any lines or not. They aren’t showboating and calling attention to themselves and away from the leads. They give the stage picture fullness and variety. They help make the stage look real—whether they are town folks in BRIGADOON or people in the town of River City from THE MUSIC MAN.

The top Male & Female leads get the opportunity to go to New York City for an intense, weeklong study with other winners from across the country. Awesome experience!

After the performance, my daughter writes a critique of the show, characters, and director. Sometimes she questions decisions the director makes. Several judges attend a school’s performance, never just one. At the end of the season, the judges get together to compare notes and nominate kids for the different categories. For any shows the judges miss, they’re able to watch a video. They compile the nominations and then they vote.

In late May, an Awards Ceremony is held, very much like the Tony’s. Those in attendance (I’ve been three times, my daughter has been out of town all four years!), are treated to a number from each of the shows nominated for best musical. In most cases, it’s been some time since the kids performed the number, and they aren’t performing on their home stage, still they do an amazing job. All the kids in attendance are dressed to the hilt. There’s definitely a festive air about the event. Winners come up on stage and make acceptance speeches. It’s really quite moving.

I don’t know if my daughter will continue to judge. It’s fun, but takes time from her husband and daughter. I give up time with my husband and the friends we usually have Friday night supper with. But I wouldn’t take for these four years and the wonderful times with my daughter. Watching such great performances shows me American Theatre is in in capable hands

So it’s your turn. Have you ever been in a high school play or musical or attended one? Seen anything on Broadway! What did you like best from those experiences? Love to hear from you. 

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 Back of the book for VERMONT ESCAPE 

Two years after the murder of her husband, someone guns down Jill Barlow’s father, a Texas State Representative. The authorities suspect a connection between the murders, but can’t find proof. Jill longs for the peace she found when she visited Vermont after her husband’s death. With the perpetrators still at large, she flees to the small town of Woodstock. 

          The gambling syndicate, believing she has damning evidence against them, pursues her, shattering her dreams of peace. In an effort to protect her grown children, she doesn't tell them violence continues to stalk the family.

          Despite having lost so much already, with the lives of her family and friends at stake, will Jill be required to make more sacrifices, even the hope of a second chance at love?

VERMONT ESCAPE was released July 19 in all e-formats.

Buy Links:

MuseItUp Publishing

B & N    

Amazon http://goo.gl/qhzBm

ABOUT MARSHA R. WEST:

Marsha R. West, a retired elementary school principal, is also a former school board member and threatre arts teacher. She writes romantic suspense where experience is required. Her heroes and heroines, struggling with life and loss, are surprised to discover second chances at love.

 Marsha, who loves to travel, lives in Texas with her supportive lawyer husband. They’ve raised two daughters who’ve presented them with three delightful grandchildren. She admits to being at the beck-and-call of two dogs, who run her home.

She’s currently editing her latest work in progress.  She’d love to hear from you.

Social Links

http://www.marsharwest.com/category/blog for Thoughts on Thursday and Tuesday Author Chats

https://www.facebook.com/#!/marsha.r.west  @marsha.r.west

http://www.twitter.com/Marsharwest  

Spring Walk in My Neighborhood

You can probably tell I am having a severe case of Spring Fever this year. Perhaps it's because spring has taken its time showing up in Michigan, so I really appreciate the mild temps and popping flowers and flowering trees.

This weekend the weather was perfect--for me--so I HAD to get out and capture the spring "feel" as much as I could with a camera. I'm sharing some of the 46 photos I took around my neighborhood. No, not all 46!!

We have a lovely little park near my house, Arboretum Park. The last photos are from that area. The wiildflowers are amazing! I hope you enjoy a little touch of spring courtesy of my camera.

Tulip time in Michigan. In fact this week is the annual Tulip Festival in Holland, MI.

Flowering trees are loaded with blooms this year. Spectacular!

Nothing beats the sweet fragrance of hyacinths. I could smell these beauties way before I saw them!

Wild violets abound at Arboretum Park. I don't care if they DO invade the lawns. They are so delicate and  cute.

You can see how the violets are carpeting the groundscape. 

Not sure what wilflowers these white beauties are. They make you smile when you see them.

Trillium are really putting on a show this spring.

The little creek running through the park is very full, and running fast. So peaceful.

The park is a restful, quiet place to plan another story.

Lots of events happening in May besides Mother's Day and my birthday (watch for a present FROM me to you). We begin a summer long event discovering hobbies of my author friends. Yes, authors are creative in more than just writing stories. Every Thursday I'll introduce you to their pastimes.

Thanks for visiting!

Picture Tour of Traverse City, MI Area

Last weekend, we camped in the Traverse City, Michigan area. What a perfect chamber of commerce day for the State of Michigan. The trees are not colored up yet, even though this area is two hours north of us. I guess I just get so anxious to see the fall colors. Michigan's colors are fabulous usually. I heard on the news, the foliage would be late turning this year to the dry weather in August. I really will have to practice patience.

Hope you enjoy this picture tour of the Leelanau Peninsula and the Leland Fishtown Festival. So many cars at the car show. I had never experienced a boat show similar to this one with the boats moored for inspection. Beautiful!