be published and which would be illustrated by her. A Book of Hours is the result, and in the process Terry and Betty have become good friends.


This man’s talent and love of oral history can inspire others of us to reconnect generations, as well as preserve our his/herstories. For more information on The Elders Project, you can contact Terry at stonecir@aol.com. The following student poems are selections from the Elk Rapids Elders Project.


Spring 2009 Elders and Students


And that is what happened when Kingsley hosted The Elders Project. The activities there resulted in 30 or more free verse poems created by the students. Then, two high school teachers joined together to use the poems to create a play, In Their Own Words, which was performed in 2007.


This year the Elders Project has moved to the Elk Rapids High School. Terry brought ten students with him to MAME who have conducted interviews and written poems as a follow up.


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Terry’s account of the project was exciting to hear, but listening to the students speak and answer questions about the project and the process was almost emotional. Student after student related portions of their experiences, what they learned while interviewing and writing about the elders they paired with, and their thoughts and feelings about talking with those generations older than they, along with the friendships which were formed, created a lump in my throat.


“The Elders bring so much to the students that they do not get in their regular school day. They come from backgrounds with real live history to tell. They have encountered wars, immigration, discrimination, poverty and a very different everyday life. Yet, there is still a commonality to what the students are living today. Tears are shed, and a real bond is formed. Students talk about building a new and better understanding with the elders in their own families after participating in the project. The rewards go beyond capturing memories.”


Media


In the meantime, Terry has written another book based on the life of one of the elders in the project, artist Betty Beeby. After hearing her interview tapes, Terry conducted three more interviews with her and proposed to the President of the Elk Rapids Historical Society that a separate book of her poems


Tough Girls Betty Beeby by Gabrielle Gualtiere


At the Baumbach farm up the road they let us ride the cows.


The Baumbach girls were really tough. They had muscles.


The Baumbach’s had all girls. They milked the cows and did all the chores. We loved being there.


We’d walk from their farm to Lake Michigan, take off all our clothes and go for a swim.


One day we were out swimming and bouncing in the waves. All our clothes were on shore. The boys came down and took our clothes.


Beattie, the oldest Baumbach girl, came running out of that water swearing all the way after those boys.


She didn’t have a stitch on when she was chasing them. (Laughs)


I never saw kids so scared. They dropped the clothes and took off in a hurry!


Those Baumbach girls were tough!


Bees Bruce McLachlan by Gabrielle Gualtiere & Samantha Gilbert


When I was a kid we had lots of bees, 25 or 30 hives of bees.


I was out by the sweet cherry orchard. www.mimame.org


Spring 2010


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