A Don't Hug Me County Fair


Book Description

"It's summer time and the Bunyan County Fair is approaching, the biggest thing that's happened in Bunyan Bay since the winter carnival snowplow parade! This year the Bunyan County Fair means one thing to Gunner and Clara Johnson, owners of a little bar called The Bunyan: The Miss Walleye Queen Competition. Bernice, the pretty waitress, sees this as her big chance to win Miss Walleye Queen. to be discovered and, more important, to have her face in carved in butter at the Minnesota State Fair. The stakes have never been higher in Bunyan Bay. The trouble begins when Gunner's wife, Clara, decides she also wants to win Miss Walleye Queen. Bigger trouble arrives when Gunner's estranged twin sister, Trigger (played by Gunner) shows up to try to win the beauty pageant. Things get ugly! Phil Olson writes in the Author's Notes that this is his fifth play (third musical) about the emotionally conservative nature of Scandinavians and their reluctance to hug or show affection"--P. 4 of cover.




Beaver Dam in Vintage Postcards


Book Description

In 1841, Thomas Mackie journeyed south along a winding river to an open meadow. There, alongside a bubbling spring, he erected a small cabin, establishing the beginnings of the community now known as Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. The city gained fame as the jewel of Dodge County, a family community that stressed hard work, good play, and awe for the almighty. This book examines that lifestyle through the unlikely means of the penny postcard. It is ironic that the postcard, which was meant to act as a disposable means of communication, has endured to become one of the greatest resources of pictorial history of small-town America.




Catalog of Copyright Entries


Book Description




Meet Me on the Midway


Book Description

Jerry Apps explores the history of county and state fairs in Wisconsin, from their earliest incarnations as livestock exhibitions to today’s multitude of exhibits and demonstrations, grandstand entertainment, games and rides, and competitions of all sorts. Drawing on his extensive research, interviews, and personal experience as a 4-H leader, county extension agent, fair judge, and lifelong fairgoer, Apps takes readers back through 178 years of Wisconsin fair history, covering everything from horsepulling and calf-showing contests to exhibit judging to the roar of gasoline engines powering the midway rides. He evokes the sights and sounds of fairs through the ages while digging in to the political and social forces that shaped the fair into an icon of our rural heritage. Illustrated with vintage and modern photos and featuring the voices of exhibitors, judges, volunteers, and visitors, Meet Me on the Midway vividly captures the thrills and cherished memories of these beloved annual gatherings.




Small-Town Sweethearts


Book Description

Summoned as temporary guardian for her teenage niece, Emily Hazard returns to Paradox Lake. On one condition--she won't let herself think about staying. Emily always felt like a misfit in her tiny hometown. But she doesn't count on falling for handsome Drew Stacey, a former Wall Streeter who's getting the town church camp ready. Though he surprises Emily with his handiness with tools, understanding of teenagers and his steady faith, she'll soon head back to New York. Unless her small-town sweetheart asks her to stay forever.




The Ghost Comes Out


Book Description

Grayton, a small fictional town community in western Tennessee, in 1964, is unaware of the civil rights movement taking place across the nation. It all begins with the Scholl family, as the oldest girl, Rosie, sets up a summer school and invites others to join. There are eight students all told, including two African Americans, which prove highly unpopular with the ice cream man, racist, and KKK wannabee, Joe Puckett. While the children gather during the summer vacation, events unfold around them, including a biracial relationship, a kidnapping, the death of a loved one, and the murder of a domestic abuser. Situated in a time shortly after the JFK assassination, the residents of this community""with all their secrets and mysteries to hide""come alive and reveal themselves when the Ghost Comes Out is played. The town is left questioning who in their close-knit community could the "ghost" be as neighbors lock their never-latched doors and question each other with distrust and fear. After the summer of '64, no citizen in that town is ever quite the same. This is a moral tale in its way in which the good get their reward and the bad their punishment, but it also recognizes that good people can get caught in the cross fire and that no one is perfect.




Trusting Her Heart


Book Description

Trusting Her Heart is the first full-length romance in Jean C. Gordon's new Paradox Lake Sweet Romance series. Spending time in the small town of Paradox Lake, NY, is the last thing that Emily Hazard wants to do. Her childhood memories, including the despised nickname Jinx, are anything but fond. However, Emily’s brother Neal is deploying overseas and needs someone to stay with his teenage daughter Autumn while she finishes her senior year. Emily is going to attempt to juggle working remotely as an assistant art director for an advertising agency in New York City and keeping an eye on her niece. With his career and life in flux, Drew Stacey is currently working for a group of non-profits that is planning to rent the Hazard family's campgrounds on Paradox Lake for a summer program. Deciding it's a good idea to have a man around while he is gone, Neal has asked Drew to stay at the house with Emily and Autumn while Drew prepares the campgrounds. A minor fender-bender as soon as she hits town, has Emily battling old insecurities. However one person doesn’t view her as a slightly klutzy disaster magnet, and that's the disturbingly attractive Drew. The spark between them is immediate, but Emily’s emotional blinders regarding the town, threaten to derail any prospect of a relationship. Can Emily see beyond the past? Welcome to Paradox Lake Any fan of sweet romance will love settling into the stories of small-town love in the Paradox Lake Sweet Romance series. Grab your tea or coffee, settle into your favorite chair, and be swept away into the cozy Adirondack town where complex characters navigate challenging situations as they find their way to love. Whether it’s love at first blush, old flames reuniting, or second chance romance, you’ll find pure reading enjoyment and satisfy your craving for sweet, wholesome romance. Part of an ongoing series full of familiar faces, each story will stand on its own. With novel and novella lengths available, there’s something for everyone. Paradox Lake is written by USA Today Bestselling sweet romance author, Jean C. Gordon, who’s penned stories for the No Brides Clubs Series, Indigo Bay Series, and Harlequin Love Inspired, as well as for multiple sweet romance collections.




I Know the Secret


Book Description




Memories of a Vietnam Veteran


Book Description

Barbara Child put her heart and soul into a letter to her partner, Alan Morris—a Vietnam War veteran. The war finally took its toll—Alan put a Colt .45 to his head and pulled the trigger. Eventually, Barbara began analysis with a Jungian psychologist and shared the letter with him. From those writings came this book.




Horse Camp


Book Description

When their mom said she was sending twelve-year-old Percy and Penny and their little brother, Pauly, to stay with an uncle they’d never met, she tried to make it sound better by saying that Uncle Stretch’s farm was a horse camp. Well, the farm animals are actually chickens and pigs, and the only two horses are mean-tempered and not too keen on being ridden by kids. As Penny puts it, “This farm is like the eighteenth century, but way worse! The water has a rusty taste, and all the meat used to be animals on the farm.” If there is one thing the twins can agree on, it’s that between endless chores, no Internet or cell phones, and the prospect that their mom might have to stay in jail (even though some people say she’s a hero), horse camp is a big, fat joke. Will they ever have a real family again? Or is there a family for them right here? Nicole Helget and Nate LeBoutillier have written a funny novel about farms and family, animals and antagonism—and the paths kids take, sometimes while living in the same house, before coming home.