Down on the Farm with Sue Glasco

You are invited to join us on this website for a visit down on the farm. I'll introduce you to our lives and my writing.

Upcoming Book Signings and Appearances--I'd love to meet you there!

Presenting on the Trail of Tears at the Mascoutah Historical Society on Sunday, November 1. This is conjunction of their hosting the Smithsonian Institution exhibit entitled Journey Stories.

Presenting on the Trail of Tears and Legend of Priscilla for Nine Mile Baptist Church Women retreat at Lake Sallateska on Saturday, November 7.

You are invited....

Do You Have An Ancestor Who Traveled the Trail of Tears?

Anyone with a story to tell about ancestors who dropped off the Trail of Tears is encouraged to share their story with the TOTA. The Illinois Chapter has an ongoing oral history project trying to capture and preserve these fascinating stories. Let us know if you have a story and we will be certain you know the next time we have a program to collect more stories.

The next general meeting ot the Illinois Chapter of TOTA in November will also be announced in local papers once the date has been finalized. This meeting will be to celebrate the unveiling of signage in Pope County marking some of the original trail segments.This is a very exciting accomplishment for Southern Illinois.

The first 2010 meeting of the Illinois Chapter of TOTA will be in cooperation with the Johnson County Historical and Genealogical Society at their Sunday afternoon, March 21, meeting. A new video on the Trail of Tears will be shown at the Vienna Library.

The purpose of the Illinois TOTA is to discover and share information about the 1838-39 Trail of Tears through Southern Illinois  and to encourage the development and preservation of the Trail.  The public is always invited to the meetings.

You are also invited:

To the next meeting of Southern Illinois Writers Guild on the third Thursday,  January 2010. (No meeting in December.) Meetings start at 7 pm and are in Room 148 just inside the main entrance of John A. Logan College. Everyone welcome.

On second Thursdays of the month, SIWG sponsors an open mike for prose and poetry reading.    Gatherings are being held at the home of SIWG president Jim Lambert. The next gathering will not be until February.

To read my journal, click here on http://sueglasco.blogspot.com.

Sue Glasco

At Woodsong where Sue compiled the book for her children

You can buy Down on the Farm: One American Family's Dream locally from Country Cupboard in Anna, Waldenbooks at the Illinois Centre Mall, Wolf Creek Antiques in Goreville, the Rose Hotel at Elizabethtown, Herrin Drug Store in Herrin, or in Carbondale at Book Worm. Or just drop by the farm, and I will autograph one for you.

To order the book Down on the Farm: One American Family's Dream, go to Amazon.com by clicking here, and then search for Sue Glasco.

Click here to go to Woodsong Notes, my journal.

See our granddaughter Erin Glasco's catch that merited being one of the "Top Ten Plays" on ESPN.

Listen to our granddaughter Leslie Eiler's prose reading at the Illinois state speech contest. She won third in this category.

Hear Leslie give her original Special Occasion Speech at state. She won second.

Notes from readers have been a joy!

"Sure enjoyed your book...didn't want it to end. When is the sequel?"

"We have enjoyed reading your book, Sue."

"Sue, I enjoyed the book. I read it three times. I loaned it to ...."

"Sue, have enjoyed reading your book."

"We both read Sue's book and we can relate to a lot of the stories."

"Enjoying your book."

"Sue, I am really enjoying your book."

"I got your book from ---. When I started reading it, I did not want to put it down."

"Enjoyed your book. I let both girls read it and sent a copy to ----."

"I had to write and let you know how much we both enjoyed your book. ---- got to it first so I had to wait a couple of days for my turn. He kept reading me short clips so I had to stop him before he read me the whole book. Ha. I'm loaning it to my daughter and know she'll relate to the antics of the children as she is raising two boys."

"---- gave each of her quilting group a copy of your book. One of the 93 year old ladies had read the book completely and the other two who are 83 and 95 were only partially done. They all were excited and really liked the book and had talked about it so much that several other people at the nursing home were waiting to read it. I'm sure they're expecting to borrow the book so it won't help your sales but I thought you would appreciate the positive response. It really made a hit. The ladies were asking if you had written any more and are looking forward to your next book."

"I appreciate your book and have enjoyed reading it."

From two fellow writers: "We read your book--cover to cover. Liked it."

"I have so enjoyed your book. It brought back wonderful memories. As I lived through your experiences as a young farm wife, I was reminded of my own growing up years. I was able to go to Illinois in late August to help Mom usher in her 90th birthday and took my copy of your book to her. She too is enjoying it."

From Union to Greene to Williamson County, Illinois

We first farmed in the Mississippi Bottoms in Union County. Down on the Farm is a compilation of columns started in Greene County, where Gerald was a farm manager at Columbiana Seed Company at Eldred on the Illinois River. Soon we bought a farm in Williamson County and have lived here ever since.

The book tells the family's joys and struggles in the first farm house making it livable after it had stood empty except for the mice. Next came the move to Pondside Farm, where the family was to live for the next 36 years.

Our daughter Katherine and her husband David live in nearby Marion. Their son Samuel attends the Marion public schools.

Our middle daughter Jeannie and her husband Rick both teach in the Freeport Schools. Their three children are all Freeport Pretzels.

More about Freeport, IL, which is 12 miles south of Wisconsin border.

Our youngest daughter Mary Ellen Taylor, Realtor. Her husband Brian, who works for Monsanto, farms our farm. Their two children are in school in the Lake Saint Louis area.

Our son Gerry Glasco, Crazy Feathers Outfitter. He and Vickie have three daughters and two grandson. Tara is married and lives in northern Illinois, Erin at Texas A&M, and Geri Ann is a sophomore at Oconee County High School in Watkinsville, Georgia.

See some of granddaughter Erin's hairstyles. This website was done for a class last yer. She's a senior now!

To go to my other web site specifically about Priscilla and the Trail of Tears, click here.

Pondside Kids Down on the Farm