The New Jersey Children’s Writer’s Guild

Image courtesy of vintageholidaycrafts.com

Join us at the Cheesecake Factory at Bridgewater Commons Mall at 7:30 pm for dinner followed by a movie at the Reading Cinema (Manville, NJ). Please RSVP to Sheila by Wednesday’s meeting on 2/1. Hope to see you there!!!

If you’re arriving late, please call Sheila Wright.

The NJCWG invites you to participate in World Book Night!

The goal of World Book Night is to distribute FREE books to light and non-readers. There is no charge to give the books, and no charge to receive them. The list of titles this year is incredible. A few notable titles in the children’s and young adult genres include: The Hunger Games, Because of Winn-Dixie, Wintergirls, and Ender’s Game.

World Book Night takes place Monday, April 23rd. If you would like to join others in the guild who will be operating as “givers” on WBN, please apply here.

Current ideas for distribution points include: Bridgewater Commons, HealthQuest, to clients of the Interfaith Hospitality Network of Hunterdon County (homeless sheltering organization), and local movie theaters. We welcome your ideas for points of distribution, as well.

Come join us in seizing this incredible opportunity to spread the joy of reading!

Sponsored by:
The Somerset County 4-H Trainmasters

Featuring demonstrations and hands-on activities as well as the
ever-growing and ever-improving O-Scale trains and layout.

Admission: $4.00 Adult, $2.00 Children under 12

Concessions available all day.

Click here for directions to the 4-H Center

Greetings, NJCWG Members! Weather related complications have resulted in the cancellation of November’s critique group meeting in Clinton. We apologize for any inconvenience. Our meeting schedule will resume in December at 7:30pm at the library in Bridgewater. We will look forward to seeing everyone there.

Ladies’ Night Out, on the other hand, is still ON. Yeah! We will be meeting at Uno’s in Hamilton at 7:30 this Friday (11/4), followed by a movie at AMC. We’ll decide together on a specific movie during dinner, and will update our Facebook to include those details. Feel free to join us for dinner, for the movie, or for both.

Hello, NJCWG Ladies!

We at CWG are excited about establishing a new, fun, ongoing event that will take place the first Friday of every month. It is completely voluntary, and you should not feel any pressure to attend.  Ladies’ Night Out is just for fun!

Ladies, you are cordially invited to join us at the designated restaurant for dinner or join us later at the theater or join us for both.  Restaurants and theaters will change from time to time, so we will send out new information every month.

If you decide to attend, you must RSVP by the first Wednesday of every month (by the time our critique group meets).  If we don’t have at least three people signed up for the event, then it will be cancelled.

This month, the ladies of CWG will be meeting at Uno’s in Hamilton for dinner, followed by a movie at AMC (located in the same complex). Uno’s offers discount movie tickets. Score! For those joining us for the movie only, we will upload movie and showing time details to our FaceBook page during dinner.

See you in November for Ladies’ Night Out!

CWG to Participate in Green Fair 6/26

Join CWG this Sunday, June 26th at the Green Fair celebration from 1:00 until 5:00 pm at Court Street Park (behind the old white courthouse) in Flemington Borough. Over 65 vendors will be participating in this special “green” event and children’s activities will be included. Our Booth is #51 near the Gazebo.

On Monday evening June 13th, my mother Flossie Mae (Mimms) Benton passed away at age eighty-five. Her family and friends surrounded her with love as she peacefully left this world behind. She had been a child of the Depression born to a minister and his wife, and raised in a small mill village in Georgia called Bibb City. It was a lovely community of caring, hard-working people.

Her life never attained the kind of fame that commands headlines or the attention of news anchors or talk show hosts, but it was a singular life that, like many unsung lives, accomplished more good than many that catch our attention.

Most of her adult life was spent nursing patients who oftentimes others avoided. She was especially passionate about the rights of children and the elderly and was a champion for both. For me she was my mother, and I am honored and privileged to call her so. But, she was also my friend and first teacher. She taught me to read. Her love of storytelling, poetry, and song inspired my appreciation, and to this day, I can recite a playful little poem (please see below) that she composed for my enjoyment as a seven-year-old. It’s funny how certain things stick with you, and shape your destiny.

Her poetry, however, was not limited to my amusement. As a non-traditional student who worked full-time, she enrolled in English classes at the College of Marin (Indian Valley Campus) in California where one of her favorite professors challenged her class to write a one-line poem. Her offering was: “The arts and I are in love.” That was the same year that the college started its own poetry journal. Her poem inspired the title for the IVC publication The Arts and I, and her work was presented as the introductory poem to the compilation. She went on to earn her degree in English (and three more to boot), giving the commencement speech for her graduating class!

Words were important to Mother. She knew that they were the building blocks of ideas, and ideas represented possibilities. Reading was an investment in those possibilities and through education, doors could be opened that might otherwise be locked. She valued learning.

To honor my mother’s life and her love of children and literature, the new literacy outreach program for children planned by The Children’s Writer’s Guild, will be known as “Miss Flossie’s Gift”. My mom, “Miss Flossie” as she was affectionately called in her later years, was a true southern belle–a real charmer. But, her real beauty came from within. She would love knowing that children who cannot afford to buy quality books of their own will benefit from a program inspired by her life. I am deeply thankful for her gift of reading to me, and for her loving care as my mother. Already sorely missed by family and friends, may she live now in the blessings of God.

I love you, Mom!

Sheila

Flossie’s family has asked that anyone wishing to express condolences, please donate to The Children’s Writer’s Guild literacy program rather than sending flowers. “Miss Flossie” gathered her flowers while living, and would have enjoyed knowing that young minds will bloom as the result of a program dedicated to her. Donations can be sent to: CWG, c/o Sheila Wright, PO Box 272, Pennington, NJ 08534. Telephone number for the Guild: 908-788-7777 or you can contact us at wright@childrenswritersguild.org. Thank you!

Following poem written for seven-year-old Sheila and inspired by her black and white cat and frequent childhood companion:

North Coast Limited 1 / George M. Weister

One of our online members wrote an article about trains not so long ago and had it published, so if you’ve been dreaming of writing a story about these American symbols of progress and expansion, you might find a lot of inspiration at this worthwhile event. Tony would also like for you to know that there will be a lot of old train magazines for you to peruse.

Best wishes!

~ Sheila