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Board of

Directors Lisa Higgs President

Deborah Huffman Vice President

Darrin Moore Treasurer

Marge Deffenbaugh Secretary

John Barker

Fred Floreth

Taryn Grant

Kathryn Homa

Ted Morrissey

Catherine O’Connor

Jeffrey Perkins

Stephanie Radliff

Tracy Zeman

Odds are, if you know any Vachel Lindsay poems by heart, you know “The Little Turtle.” This lovely poem, written by Vachel for his niece Martha Wakefield, has long been a favorite of Springfield children and the young-at-heart alike. In recent months, the Vachel Lindsay Association has been collaborating with local folk artist George Colin to create an illustrated version of this poem. Our hope is to publish the poem and its vibrant, colorful illustrations in a hardcover children’s book in the coming year.

To celebrate this exciting new project, all members of the Vachel Lindsay Association are invited to meet artist George Colin and see his amazing Little Turtle illustrations at a special evening reception to be held on Thursday, July 19, 2012 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The cost for attending this membership event is $25 per person, and funds raised from the event will go in part toward the publication of this wonderful children’s book.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Salisbury, Illinois artist, George Colin began his career in the 1950s after taking an art correspondence course while working at the Pillsbury Mills sacking flour. With the help of his wife, Winnie, Colin works and sells his art from the Colin Folk

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Art gallery in Salisbury. His eleven “Little Turtle” illus-trations were created in chalk pastels, the medium he has most used since the 1980s. Look for an invitation to the July 19th membership event to land in your mailbox soon. Reservations are re-quired, so be sure to reserve your place quickly. We look forward to seeing you.

There was a little turtle. He Lived in a Box.

Vachel Lindsay

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Volunteer Spotlight: Kate Suits1. How did you become involved in helping at the Home this summer?

I started volunteering at the home when I was in 7th grade and through high school volun-teered at least two hours a month for service hours required for National Honor Society. Later, I was hired directly through the History Comes Alive program, and my title shifted to seasonal the next year.

2. Tell us a little about your background.

I live in Loami, Illinois, and went to high school in New Berlin, Illinois, where I graduated in 2011. I will begin my sophomore year at Knox College in September. My major is currently undecided, although it will probably be history and/or creative writing. At school I am part of the Improv club and am on the Rugby team.

3. What’s your favorite part of helping at the Home?

I do a little bit of everything. I dust, vacuum, weed, garden, and give tours. I dress in a historic costume every Thursday for the ice cream socials, so I do get to get into costume. But I most enjoy giving tours. There’s some-thing about teaching people something new every day that makes me very happy. Answer-ing questions is probably my favorite part of my day, even though I’m still learning myself. Something that I like to share is the fact that all the women (Kate, Olive, and Joy) were college educated. Women in education has always been something that has been of interest to me.

4. Is there any work by Vachel Lindsay that you especially like and why?

I love “Leaden Eyed.” I don’t really know why; it might be because I’ve heard it from the video that we have playing all day, and it might be the way that Nick recites it. But I love that poem. I enjoy almost all of his children’s poetry. I grew up with most of it!

Who’s Afraid of Being a Writer?This summer, the VLA and The Pharmacy (an artists studio) are co-sponsoring a series of free writing work-shops for the Springfield community. More than forty people, ranging from high school students to retirees, have been attending various sessions on the craft of writing poetry and creative prose at The Pharmacy since May.

The workshop— “Who’s Afraid of Being a Wrier?”—came about when Pharmacy artist Andrew Woolbright contacted Ted Morrissey (author and VLA board mem-ber) and Meagan Cass (UIS English professor) about organizing workshop sessions for writers who were in-formally gathering at the studio each week. Morrissey, who attended last summer’s VLA poetry workshop at the Vachel Lindsay Home, quickly involved poets (and VLA board members) Lisa Higgs and Tracy Zeman. The four met with Woolbright and Adam Nicholson, the organizing force behind the “Pharmacy Literati,” in February and March to develop the summer workshop series.

Information about the workshop was spread via email and social media postings through Facebook, Twitter, and various blog sites—and the community response was quick and enthusiastic. Two more craft sessions (one fiction, one poetry) will occur in July. For more information about this series, contact the VLA at vachellindsay@gmail.com.

“Fearlessly Struttin’ Our Stuff ” - an exciting public reading of participant work – is scheduled for Tuesday, August 7 at 7 p.m. at The Pharmacy (located at 401 South Grand Avenue West in Springfield). The free event promises to be a great night with many local voices. Join us.

Save the Date: Annual Meeting - November 10 - Governor’s Mansion.

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Vachel Shines Online!In an effort to promote Vachel Lindsay’s reputation as a poet, artist and film critic, and to advertise the Vachel Lindsay Home and its various events, the VLA has been restructuring the Association’s web and social media presence. A completely redesigned website by Ron Rollet of Rage Design was just finished and is now live at www.vachellindsay.org. In addition, the Vachel Lindsay Association has a new, active Facebook page for list-ing upcoming events at the Vachel Lindsay Home State Historic Site.

You will be happy to know that our new website still hosts the same Vachel resources as our old site, plus a few new bells and whistles, including a wonderful photo slideshow of the Lindsay Home (photos courtesy of Vone Mitchell Photography). The VLA hopes to add additional pages to this site each year, as funding allows. Imagine an online video tour of the Home or a digital archive of Vachel’s artwork, to get a small idea of our plans.

The VLA Facebook page is easy to find – simply type “Vachel Lindsay Association” into the search field on your own Facebook page – and become a VLA “friend.” All you need to do is “like” the page, and you’ll form an instant connection to our frequently updated events calendar. You’ll also be apprised of other news related to Vachel Lindsay and the Association, and be able to browse photographs and video and audio clips as they are added.

Since we can count our Facebook friends through the site, the VLA now has another way of gauging the level of interest in Lindsay and his work. More is always merrier, so we hope you’ll take the time to visit our page, “like” us, and even encourage your friends and family to do the same.

Finding Vachel online has never been easier. Be sure to take a peek.

Mr. & Mrs. Lincoln and the Lincoln Troubadours invite you to join them at the Vachel Lindsay Home State Historic Site Thursday evenings this summer, through August 16. You will find good company, much song, and of course, a perfect scoop of ice cream.

5:30-6:30 p.m.

July 5July 12July 19July 26

August 2August 9

August 16

Ice Cream Socialswith the Lincolns

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Upcoming Events Vachel Lindsay Home State Historic Site 603 S. 5th Street Springfield, Illinois 62703 217/524-0901 JULY 14 2 P.M.

Artist-in-Residence Reception featuring photographs by Laura Coffey. Refreshments. (Photographs on exhibit through Thursday, July 26).

Vachel Lindsay AssociationP.O. Box 9356 Springfield, IL 62791-9356

JULY 18 1-4 P.M.

Catharine Lindsay (Sharon Miner) will be “at home” to greet visitors, with refreshements offered at 2:30 p.m.

JULY 28 2 P.M.

Come, Let Us Be Bold with Our Songs will feature music with Lindsay lyrics, performed by singers Jim and Susie Miller. AUGUST 16 1-4 P.M.

Catharine Lindsay (Sharon Miner) will be “at home” to greet visitors, with refreshments offered at 2:30 p.m. AUGUST 18 2 P.M.

Dr. John Muchmore will be the Poet in the Parlor. SEPTEMBER 22 2 P.M.

Maureen Flannery will be the Poet in the Parlor.

www.vachellindsay.org