NATIONAL ORPHAN TRAIN COMPLEX ANNUAL CELEBRATION!

On September 11, 2010 the NATIONAL ORPHAN TRAIN COMPLEX hosted the annual National Orphan Train Reunion at the museum in Concordia Kansas where visitors were treated to an entirely new museum layout designed by curator Muriel Anderson. Among the many new exhibits and informative displays was this two cube exhibit highlighting the early life of Orphan Train Rider Oliver Nordmark (my grandfather). Each cube included two audio recordings that visitors could listen to through the headphones attached to the side of the display cases.

The first recording, and corresponding visuals, told of Oliver's experiences in the Children's Village Orphange in NYC after being removed from his home due to neglect. This included the story of his first night in the orphanage when he cried himself to sleep, fearful of what lay ahead for him, as well as his experience of being sent to the Power House Jail in the Orphanage after being caught breaking a uniform rule by wearing two uniform shirts instead of one on a particularly cold winter morning.

Oliver's second recording told of his feelings and experience of being chosen to ride an Orphan Train after being in the orphanage for one year. He and his younger brother Edward traveled to Bern Kansas where they were placed with a local farmer and his wife.

On the second cube, visitors listened to Oliver's tale of running away from his second placement - the McCammon's Farm - by jumping onto the side of a departing freight train as it pulled out of Esbon, Kansas on July 4, 1913. In search of a life of his own, Oliver traveled on the side of the train for nearly 200 miles to Goodland Kansas where he found work with a local farmer bringing in the wheat harvest.

In the final recording, Oliver tells the museum visitors of his experiences building and living in a sod house on the prairie outside of Goodland Kansas, complete with rats nibbling on his toes at night and rain dripping through the roof of the house for several days after a storm.

In an email I received from Muriel Anderson, she commented, "I've had a really great reception of the new exhibit. People really like to hear the voice of an actual rider."

This year's reunion featured, in addition to the new museum layout and exhibits, a tribute to MARY ELLEN JOHNSON - founder of the Orphan Train Historical Society of America (OTHSA).

For more information on the National Orphan Train Complex and upcoming State Reunions, be sure and visit their website at http://www.orphantraintdepot.com/

MAYA'S AWARD WINNING DOCUMENTARY

http://www.youtube.com/user/AdopteesHaveAnswers#p/a/f/0/cWTTcNBfaRw

Wow, has it really been a month since I posted on my blog???? I really must do better, but I do have an explanation, I'm happy to say.

First off, please click on the link above to view Maya Berman's AWARD WINNING documentary on the ORPHAN TRAIN MOVEMENT. She did a fantastic job I'm sure you will agree. I am amazed that she is just eleven years old!

Secondly, I am feverishly at work putting together a museum exhibit for the NATIONAL ORPHAN TRAIN COMPLEX in Concordia, Kansas which will feature Oliver Nordmark's audio recordings in four segments: Life in the Children's Village Orphanage in NYC.... Riding the Orphan Train and being chosen from the Opera House stage in Bern, Kansas.... Oliver's decision at age 15 to hop a freight train as it pulled out of town to run away and start a life of his own.... and finally, Life in a Sodhouse on the Kansas prairie.

The museum would like to include this exhibit in time for the yearly National Orphan Train Reunion Celebration which will be held in Concordia the weekend of September 11th. The work is coming along..... I have the audio segments isolated and transferred to separate CDs ..... and I am now working on the documents and artifacts that will complement each segment within the museum display case.

I have also been working on upgrading my display materials for regional Book Festivals in order to attract interested readers to my booth when I attend these events. I have three lined up for the fall, most importantly the Baltimore Book Festival which will be the last weekend in September. I have a brand new, colorful banner that I hope will attract readers attention and am working on some high quality posters as well.

And finally, I have been preparing for my presentation this Thursday at the Shannondell Retirement Community in Valley Forge, PA as well as corresponding with a teacher from the Tidewater area of Virginia who is interested in finding sponsorship for a regional Author Visit to include schools and community organizations - much like my trip to Kansas this past April.

Add to all of that the joys of summer.... vacation getaways, kid's activities, never ending yardwark, home improvement projects ..... well, you get the picture! I promise to do better going forward with more timely posts :)

So......THAT'S MY STORY AND I'M STICKIN' TO IT! As the song goes :)

Home Sweet Home!

Well, here we are on Sunday, May 2nd and I have returned safely home! What an outstanding two week adventure. I have SO MANY people to thank for the success of this book tour - I hope I don't leave anyone out - if I do, raise your hand!

First and foremost, I MUST thank Sara Gault of Shilling Elementary School in Salina Kansas. Sara, nearly single handedly, orchestrated this entire trip leaving no stone unturned. She handled the scheduling of school and community visits, publicity, and the acquisition of funding from the Salina Arts and Humanities Commission. Once I arrived in Kansas, Sara made sure that I felt welcome right from the start, introducing me to other teachers and principals in the school district and including me in the daily 4:15 pm "coffee clutch" at the mall! Coffee at 4:15....I don't know Sara, this may be the reason you don't sleep much at night-lol! Sara also made sure I wouldn't get lost while going from school to school by generously driving me around every evening showing me how to get to the next day's schools. We enjoyed some wonderful meals with Tina, Jean, Kathy and Kathleen and a special night out with Sara's family Molly, Ben, Carter and Gage - adorable little boys with excellent restaurant manners :) SARA, you are an amazing woman and I am blessed to be able to call you my friend. I truly hope that when you travel EAST in May, you give me a call and if you are anywhere near me, I will come to see you!

I, of course, want to thank the Salina Arts & Humanities Commission for funding this book tour, with a special thank you to Sharon Benson who, although drowning in preparations for a huge festival coming to Salina in June, found time in her busy schedule to come to my first presentation to enjoy my talk as well as check to see that I had everything I needed....which of course I did. The accommodations were excellent - I couldn't have asked for a more comfortable place to call "home" for two weeks.

Tons of "Thank yous" to the hundreds of students and residents of Salina Kansas who welcomed me so enthusiastically to their schools and organizations! You made me feel so welcome and I so enjoyed speaking with and meeting you. Your questions were always so thoughtful and I am thrilled to have been able to reach so many of you with the story of the Orphan Train Riders. Remember your homework assignment????? Have you found ONE person yet who doesn't know about the orphan trains and taught them everything you learned?? Remember.....250,000 riders are counting on you! (no pressure there, right?)

Muriel Anderson of the Orphan Train Complex in Concordia Kansas did a wonderful job in organizing my book signing at the museum as well as the luncheon at the Huckleberry Tea Room. And I will never forget the kindness shown me by Virginia Alexander who I had met in Kansas back in 2006 and who traveled to the museum to see me again and catch up on everything that has happened in the last four years! You made my day, Virginia!

To two of the BEST FRIENDS a girl could ask for - Donna Brown and Karen Williams - you guys are so special to me! When I would tell people what you were willing to do for me (drive out to KS, then fly back......then fly out to KS and drive back) they always looked at me in amazement and commented along the lines of, "Wow, they are good friends!" I SO enjoyed my time with both of you - I haven't laughed so hard since.....I don't know when! I will be calling you both to set up a time when the three of us can get together and laugh all over again!

A big THANK YOU to my family, Bob, Carlo, James & Estella, who agreed to "let me go" for two weeks and keep things going here at home without me. I know it wasn't easy but I hope you know how much I appreciated it! Thank you MOM & DAD who, although you couldn't come to Kansas with me as originally planned, were with me in spirit - and on the phone - throughout the entire trip. I felt your love and support during every presentation and missed not having you there. And mom....I can't thank you enough for doing all the laundry here at home while I was gone - what a priceless gift!!

Thank you to those who cooked for my family in my absence - Mary, Donna and Mom - thanks to you, no one starved!

Last but certainly not least, I want to thank EVERYONE who followed along with this blog, as well as my Facebook postings, during my book tour. Your blog comments, facebook posts and welcome phone calls kept me company, and made me feel like I wasn't alone on this adventure!

Okay.......... Did I miss anyone? Raise your hand....or post a comment to let me know!

I am posting some pictures that didn't make it onto the daily blog posts - some here on today's post, and the rest tomorrow. Then I'll be taking a few days off from blogging to get things back in order here at home before resuming my posts on the orphan train movement and individual rider stories. I hope you'll continue to follow along :)

Until next time.........

DAY #12 - The National Orphan Train Complex

WELCOME BACK! I took a true day of rest yesterday and didn't even blog. The hotel pool and spa were very relaxing - 20 laps and 20 minutes - then back to the room to get organized for the new week, visit with some friends on facebook, call home to check if everyone is surviving ("barely, but don't worry mom!") and watch a bit of TV after an early dinner.

Today I headed back to Concordia, 50 miles north of here, to tour the National Orphan Train Complex, take a video to show my Dad and Mom when I get home, buy some souvenirs, and sell another 20 books. I had a great discussion with the new curator, Muriel Anderson, about the future of the museum (she plans to re-do the entire interior) and we talked about a permanent display that would document Oliver and Edward's journey from the Children's Village Orphanage in Dobbs Ferry (Long Island, NY) to Bern, Kansas. The display would incorporate two excerpts of Oliver's oral history (wasn't my Dad brilliant to sit his father down and record his story?!) One side of the display case would include artifacts, documents and audio from Oliver's life in NYC and the orphanage. The other side would highlight his ride on the train and his years in Kansas. There would also be a brief bio of his life as an adult. So.....I have a new project when I get home. It will be up to me to decide what to include on each of the two audio clips and I'll need to go through our records to make sure Muriel has all the documentation that she needs, and if not, get it to her. I also need to get up to the NY Historical Society sometime in May so that I can review Oliver and Edward's records from the Children's Aid Society to see if there's any additional info there that the previous archivist left out when he sent me papers from Oliver's file records.

"A lot to do, a lot to do, a lot a lot a lot to do!" What's that from? Quiz question for the day-lol! Joany, I'm sure you'll know!

So......after my visit to the museum, I drove around town to see the sights then visited Concordia Elementary School for a 1:30 presentation and book signing to the fourth graders. The one hour drive back along Interstate 135 was very peaceful and relaxing. There is nothing to see but gently rolling hills etched with grazing cattle, a few windmills, and open sky that goes on forever. Some people would find that excruciatingly boring....but I love it! Good thing I'm here alone :)

Two schools tomorrow - one of which is in Lindsborg, a town settled by the Swedes. They're both south of Salina so it will be a pretty long day - see you then!

Day #10 - The Huckleberry Tea Room

I'll be writing today in two posts. This picture is from my booksigning with some of the attendees at the National Orphan Train Complex in Concordia this morning. The lady to my left (as you face the picture) is a descendant of W.L. Gish - the farmer who took in Edward, my great uncle, after his second ride on the Orphan Train. Very Amazing! The gentleman next to me is her husband and they had a lot of information to share and promised to email me even more...including pictures! How cool is that?? During my visit to the complex, I also gave an interview to the local radio station about Oliver's story, my books and my impressions of the museum and the work that is being carried out there. By 11:45 we were in town at the Huckleberry Tea Room for a delicious luncheon for 14 people. Many, many thanks to my friends in Salina....Sara, Tina, Jean and Kathleen for their companionship and transportation. It was really a fun day and a great way to wrap up the week! More to come.....

WELCOME! & BOOK TOUR UPDATES

A very grateful WELCOME to my two new "followers" Beverly Stowe McClure and Kevin Atteridg. I hope you will scroll down and begin reading from the beginning - January 19th. I also welcome you to comment on anything you find interesting or anything that gets you thinking and generates a question! I'm happy you're here!

SALINA BOOK TOUR UPDATES: Things are really heating up with my book tour to Kansas which is scheduled for April 19-30th. I have three classroom presentations on Monday the 19th followed by a speaking engagement at the Eaglecrest Retirement Community @ 7:15 that evening. Tuesday the 20th I have four classroom presentations and Wednesday the 21st will find me at four different schools during the day and at the Salina Public Library @ 4:00 pm. Thursday the 22nd I will have three classroom presentations and will be the guest speaker for a fundraiser at the Smoky Hills Museum in Salina. This will be a fun event with attendees receiving train "tickets" in the name of an orphan train rider. At the end of the evening they will discover what became of "their child". Dinner will also be served. On Friday the 23rd I will have four school presentations and on Saturday the 25th I will be the guest speaker at a fundraiser for the National Orphan Train Complex in Concordia, KS. WHEW!! And that is only week #1. More updates to come on week #2.....