First Visit to Deep Valley

Today's guest blogger is Jennifer Davis-Kay of Arlington, Massachusetts. She is a long-time Betsy-Tacy fanatic and one of my dearest friends. It was my great honor to be with her two summers ago on one of her 29th birthdays on her first visit to Mankato. The following is her account of that auspicious occasion. I just love Jen's writing and I will be nagging her for more tidbits from her trip to Minnesota to post here - and not just because I am in them! The third in our immortal trio is Kathy Baxter who will be the keynote speaker at the convention. Jen is the glamorous redhead in the photo, Kathy is the well-dressed, poised one on the right. I am the one that looks like she is made out of perspiration. If you want to know where this mysterious photo was taken, read on! Take it away Jen!~

Off to Mankato! So much to photo-document . . . and my digital camera wasn’t working (no batteries). Kathy and Barb didn’t even have digital cameras. Such a dilemma! We drove through “St. John” and rolled down the windows to yell “Poor old St. John! Poor old St. John!” We also passed through the valley of the Jolly Green Giant (ho ho ho)! And then—we were in Deep Valley. Weep, weep! Fortunately, the mighty Walgreens has even penetrated Deep Valley, and batteries were secured—what a relief. Barb took a test picture of me and Kathy to be sure.

Our first stop: the (closed) Carnegie Library; Barb tried to make me scale the ivy and break in, but not even for the sake of and awesome photo would I take that particular chance. We drove by churches, some original and some not. (Betsy’s Baptist church is now a frat house! Yikes!)

Next stop, Carney’s house, and holy cow! there’s a girl walking in! Barb pressed a $20 bill and the paperback of Carney’s House Party into my hands and said, “It’s your birthday, get in that house!” I stood in the hallway (it’s an apartment building) just touching the walls and feeling verklempt, when along comes the same girl, who looked at me in confusion. Helpfully, I burst into tears and began to babble. The girl seemed to catch the words “book” and “this house” and “Carney,” and said, “Um, would you like to see my apartment?” Would I! Oh, and can I bring my friends? So that is how Jen, Barb, and Kathy got into the apartment with the sleeping porch. We spied the window entrance, went on point like hunting dogs, and asked if it would bear our weight. “Sure . . .” the girl said, polite but not in any way getting why we wanted to do this. One at a time, we crawled through the window—Maud described it perfectly—and had our picture taken. HEAVEN. We could’ve stayed for hours, but oh this poor girl. So we didn’t. But we did give her the book, and she seemed pleased.

And this was especially thrilling because it was something that Kathy “Ms. Deep Valley” Baxter had never done before!

It’s worth noting that the sleeping porch is kinda freaky-looking from the outside, where it bulges pregnantly from the second story. What’s holding it up? Faith?

Time for champagne (well, when isn’t it, really)! [Note: It was the authoress's birthday, hence the boozy celebration. She is not generally in the habit of imbibing before noon, honest.] We reached the Houses, where Kristin sat on Betsy’s porch, awaiting us. No bench, disappointment, but we sat on the steps, cracked open our (first) bottle, and enjoyed mimosas and Mom’s coffeecake while gazing upon Betsy’s House and Tacy’s House. My beautifully groomed feet were noted and photo-documented, for posterity. Dang, it was hot. Thank goodness for my fan(ner), Barb. And also: nirvana.

Blame it on Joe!

It appears that no one has updated this blog in awhile! I have some feelers out for more guest bloggers - let me know if you are interested. I am currently leading a group read of Betsy and Joe on the Maud List. Which is taking all my writing time. Well, I have a list of excuses as long as my arm - but I will go with this one:

I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THE CONVENTION I CAN BARELY WRITE!

I am currently looking over the specs of the Alltel center to see where we should put different things and it just looks so amazing! The reception hall used to be the First National Bank and has been restored with the original bank vaults and stained glass windows. The pictures are beautiful. You can see some pictures here. It is just lovely.

I am also looking over the menus and it goes without saying that I will be bringing some elastic waist pants. Maybe a nice roomy sun dress. I plan to be packing it in. And I hear that when you plan ahead to be a glutton the food has half the calories that it usually contains. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Save a bit of money!

You have no idea how easy blogging can be if you can keep getting other people to do the writing for you!

Here is Radhika with some EXCELLENT news regarding the registration deadline:

It has been so wonderful to hear the enthusiasm from everyone who has registered for the convention! The days are fast approaching ... and you can read the counter on the convention website to count down the days and hours until it begins! We know this has been long-awaited and will be a wonderfully fun event.

When the committee started working on the convention, now almost 15 months
ago, we had no inkling (as so many did not) that the economy would take the downturn that it has. My main concern at that time was the transportation cost for our buses, as fuel was reaching near $4.50 a gallon and was predicted to go higher (which thankfully did not happen!). We did not know that times would become so hard for so many people from that time until now.

When we planned our finances, we wanted to provide an incentive for early registration, the way most conventions and meetings do, by providing a discounted registration rate of $245 per person until May 1. Well, thanks to all of the early registrants as well as a generous grant from the Mankato Convention Bureau of $1500, I am happy to say that we have all the money we need up front to pay for our venue costs and deposits.

As such, we want to extend this small bounty to everyone who may be able to attend. So, we are keeping the discounted registration fee of $245 (rather than increasing it to $275) in place until June 15. We know that so many people want to attend, but with the economic uncertainty may not yet know whether they have the funds, and as the goal of the convention is to have as
many people as would like to attend be in Mankato this summer, we hope that this helps anyone who has not yet registered have a little extra boost to make it possible to attend. In the end, this is all a labor of love in the spirit of Maud, and we really hope that everyone who wants to can come! For those who may not know, all proceeds from the convention that are not used to cover the costs of the convention will be donated to the Betsy-Tacy Society.

BTW, in terms of clothing, I am with everyone else in saying that there is definitely no formality and you may wear whatever is comfortable. On Saturday night during the Great World dinner, a dark silk will do :-) or regular everyday clothing. Costumes are definitely encouraged but not mandatory (as Barb once said, we are costume-friendly). On Sunday night is Betsy's Wedding, so, again, if you wish to dress for the occasion, that is great, or any other daily wear clothing is acceptable as well. Make sure you bring your dancing shoes, though, if you plan to Muster Your Wits and dance at Shelby's dance lessons on Monday morning! And bring your running shoes if
you want to run the 5K up the Big Hill with Susan A and friends!

We hope to see you there!

Convention List-Mania!

Today Julie and Melody (in response to queries about what to wear at the convention) have developed Betsy-like lists to help you in your preparations!

Things to Pack for the Betsy-Tacy Convention:

1. Magic Wavers
2. Boudoir cap
3. Brownie Camera
4. Plenty of clean shirtwaists
5. Cocoa pail
6. Jabot
7. Notebook
8. Sharpened pencils
9. Merry Widow Hat
10. Rabbit’s foot
11. Jade bracelets
12. Julia, to do my hair
13. Bath salts
14. Celeste and Hortense
15. Jockey Club perfume
16. A curling iron
    

List of Things to do in Deep Valley (Mankato) at the Betsy-Tacy Convention:

1. Skinny-dip in Murmuring Lake
2. Steal fudge from someone’s porch
3. Go begging on the Big Hill
4. Make herbariums. In one afternoon.
5. Take a spin in a red auto
6. Smoke cubebs
7. Paint on the roof of the high school
8. Cut locks of each other’s hair for remembering
9. Put colored eggs in the branches of the maple tree
10. Sneak into the Junior dance
11. Eat a slice of unfrosted cake on the bench
12. Play for the Lochnivar Nine
13. Hike through the Big Slough
14. Eat baklava in Little Syria
15. Spend a nickel at Mrs. Chubbock’s candy store
16. Leave a calling card at the chocolate-colored house
17. Polish Mrs. Ray’s brass bowl
18. Trample the Sibley’s side lawn
19. Sample Anna’s muffins and Mr. Ray’s onion sandwiches
20. Roll up the rug and dance a waltz in Betsy’s house
    

Things to Look For in Deep Valley (real or imagined)

1. Mr. Thumbler’s Hack
2. Page Park
3. Carney’s sleeping porch
4. The Big Slough
5. The Big Hill
6. Mrs. Ray’s brass bowl
7. The little glass pitcher
8. Tony Markham
9. A maple tree with a cigar box in one of its branches
10. The Majestic Theatre
11. Mr. Ray’s Shoe Store
12. Old Mag
13. Winged Victory, at the Melborn Hotel
14. Betsy’s trunk desk
15. Deep Valley High School
16. The Carnegie Library
17. The door with the colored pane of glass
18. A piano box
19. A sand store
20. Heniz’s ice cream parlor
21. A red auto or a Locomobile
    

Menu Items to Look for in Mankato Restaurants

1. Fried potatoes
2. Everything Pudding
3. Frog Legs
4. Onion sandwiches
5. Floating Island
6. Beef birds
7. An Imperial Sundae
8. Unfrosted cake
9. Rocks (reread Downtown if you get this reference)
10. Flopped and unflopped eggs

Thanks for the tips, ladies - see you there!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAUD!

One hundred and seventeen years ago a wonderful woman was born!

I am about to leave for a birthday party with the NEWBETSYs - the northeast Betsy-Tacy group. Our official acronym definition is the somewhat awkward "New England Women Boisterously Eating, Talking and Sharing Youth-Lit". It amazes me how many close friendships I have made thanks to this talented writer and marvelous human being!

My quest to find out exactly what this would have been the 100th anniversary of took me to chapter 20 of BETSY WAS A JUNIOR. (I love knowing what happened exactly 100 years ago or 10 years ago. I blame the metric system.)

This is a party in the waning days of the Okto Deltas. It is such a downer that Maud doesn't even tell us who is hosting the party! (Although she does walk "down the hill with the girls" to get home. And since she lives up hill from everyone else, I am going to guess Tacy or Alice. They seem up hill. But I digress.)

At this party Winona brings up the trenchent problem that the Omega Deltas are sniffing around other girls. And to add insult to injury - Tony is blowing them off! Betsy is worried about him (foreshadowing!) because he is going around with a perfectly awful girl.

A PERFECTLY AWFUL GIRL!

For those of you who are wondering why this is so exciting, a perfectly awful girl (or a PAG if you prefer) is a subset of the Betsy-Tacy fellowship who just might find herself hopping a freight to see a ball game or at the very least drinking a beer and smoking a cubeb! If you have a tatoo, you are a perfectly awful girl. If you stay out past 10 you are a perfectly awful girl. There are a lot of fun things about being a perfectly awful girl.

Here is the funny thing - in the book (page 207) there is no specific mention of who utters the phrase "perfecly awful girl"! I have always assumed it was Betsy, but perhaps not. Was it mentioned before?

So on this auspicious day which could be the 100th anniversey of the phrase "perfectly awful girl" - I ask you - Who said it? And more importantly - are you one?

Get This Girl a Reward!

Since she did such a great job on Earth Day, and because she is an experienced blogger AND because she is instrumental in keeping the tomes in print - Jen will be guest blogging again today!

I Have Handed in My Herbarium

I have finally transmitted Heaven to Betsy through Betsy's Wedding to production for their Fall reissues!! And honestly, I think it was worse than making herbariums. It didn't seem like it would be that difficult: slap two books together, add the new foreword, combine the back sections and call it a day. As if. There was searching for photos -- endlessly -- THANK YOU JULIE at the BTS for being such a godsend in that department. Then there was combining the who's who character lists in the back to avoid repetition. Then looking for photos some more. Then there was the going through each book and indicating where to combine, insert, retouch, etc. Then being visited (like an angel) by Andrea Shaw, executor of Maud's estate and poring over the photo albums. OK, that part rocked, no complaining here. Many disks that I couldn't read or access later, the images and books and forewords and updated copyright pages, etc. have been sent down to our managing editor, I have a newfound respect for editors everywhere, and I need a drink.

In the meantime, if you're interested in the sales-y side of publishing, I've been making special Betsy-Tacy pitches to our reps who sell to children's bookstores, to reps who sell to stores in the midwest and to those who sell to christian bookstores (in addition of course to everyone else in our sales department). Everyone is so excited about these reissues! To end, I share with you a few of the great photos of Maud, and Maud and Bick, that we scanned this week. They need some retouching, but you get the idea. All are from the Estate of Merian Kirchner.

Off in search of nearest wine bottle, like the perfectly awful girl that I am.

Every Day is Earth Day When You're Betsy Ray!

Today's guest blogger is Jennifer Hart from Harper who is helping promote the heck out of the convention!

It occurs to me as we celebrate Earth Day today that Betsy Ray celebrated nature every day. There were concerns about the environment even in the early 1900s (see Sr. Year Essay Contest topic below), and Betsy had a genuine appreciation and love for the outdoors. First there was the pure joy she took in just being outside. No matter how many layers of clothing she had to put on in the winter, playing in the snow with Tacy was worth it. And as soon as the weather gets warmer, she and Tacy take their dinners outside (barefoot, natch) to eat on their special bench while Betsy spins her tales. These first Betsy-Tacy picnics would be repeated for years and years and The Big Hill itself is practically a character in the series.

While Betsy’s outdoor adventures might seem completely natural (no pun intended) to her fans now, Maud Hart Lovelace clearly chose to make nature a big part of these books. Betsy was a bookish type who longed to be a writer. She could just as easily have stayed inside her cozy parlor or room, reading and writing. Not only is this not the case, one could say that her evolution as a writer happens in the outdoors. She first begins writing while up in the tree in her yard, and she stores her papers and pencils there. Later, she reads and writes along the shores of Murmuring Lake, and floating in a boat on Babcock’s Bay.

When Betsy, like any young lady, starts to feel the lure of adolescent pursuits – boys, the moving picture show and Heinz’s Ice Cream Parlor -- she and The Crowd still probably spend as much time outside as in, hanging out on the Sibley's side lawn, riding behind (or on!) Dandy or in an auto in the open air, tramping through the snow to skate on those weak ankles, battered cocoa tin always by her side.

Some of the most entertaining stories in the series take place in nature – let us not forget the dreaded herbariums! The all-nighter that she, Tacy and Tib pull to construct the herbariums that they were supposed to have worked on for the entire year is one of my favorite moments in Betsy was a Junior. I never had to make a herbarium when I was in school and whenever I read this chapter I get a little jealous. And I found it hilarious when they went back outside in the morning to gather more plants, only to realize that flowers don’t open before the sun comes up. Kicking themselves later for not taking the project seriously, Betsy says, “I should have been interested, at least. I’m crazy enough about flowers!”

Nature even plays matchmaker in the novels as it helps to bring Betsy and Joe together. Though “held apart by that curious hostility, which, for a time, had stood between them,” Joe still defends her "rosy" apple blossoms to Mr. Gaston. When Betsy retreats to the pastoral setting of the Beidwinkle's farm, she and Joe make up from their senior year quarrel. And Betsy finally wins that year’s Essay Contest when the theme is the “Conservation of Our Natural Resources!” (Of course she may have had an unfair advantage as Joe confesses, “how can I think about ‘Conservation of Our Natural Resources” when it’s so much more interesting thinking about Betsy?”)

Yes, Betsy would have loved Earth Day, she lived a life that revelled in the great outdoors -- from her childhood and adolescence, and into early adulthood with the picnics she took in Europe on to the wonderful honeymoon that she and Joe spent in the country. So today, put everyone's dinner on a plate and carry them outdoors, to your deck, your backyard, your swing set or your neighborhood bench and enjoy a Betsy-Tacy Earth Day Dinner.

P.S: Just after finishing this essay, I had the opportunity to spend a few hours with Andrea Shaw, the Executor of Maud Hart Lovelace’s estate. She told me that Maud was quite the recycler, and would type newer drafts of the novels on the back of pages she’d already typed on. While this creates a bit of a nightmare for the person organizing her papers, it certainly supports the theory of Maud as an environmentalist!