Memorial Weekend 2007

Yesterday, I returned to the Southern Heritage Convention at the Monroe Civic Center in the morning and continued my sales and networking there.  This was such a fantastic event for me. Not only was I able to promote my book, but I made new friends, and learned so much from the speeches.
At about 11:00 a.m., I went home, changed into my Confederate uniform for my reading and presentation at the Ouachita Parish Library. Jennifer Schneider, A fantastic Irish dancer and the children’s librarian who had organized and sponsored the event, was there in a beautiful Antebellum dress and helped us get the program off to a great start.

To our audience, the local SCV’s Color Guard demonstrated the ritual of posting the colors. Members of the color guard then took questions from the audience. I briefly told the story of Jim Limber, read a short excerpt from my children’s book, and played two Civil War songs with my guitar. I had set up a Civil War “Show and Tell” table so that children and adults could see and touch items related to the Civil War while we enjoyed the refreshments the library had supplied.
After my library signing and presentation, I and my friends, Eddy and Melissa, drove to Duty, Louisiana to Jim Bowie Relay Station where my Scots-Irish band was booked to play. We played from about 6:00-9:00 p.m., and I was able to sell several books as well. We finally made it back to Monroe about 10:30 p.m. and Tom and I went to Enoch’s for a couple of pints to celebrate.

Today, only duties (paying bills, etc) await me, though I may try to get out and make a couple of book sales. Tomorrow, I’ll be out at Kiroli Park for the Military Families Memorial Day Picnic to play music and present my book.

During this Memorial Day Weekend, I pray God will bless and protect our troops.