Schedule of Events

2015
Schedule of Events
Oak Hill Cemetery Walking Tours - Enjoy a self-guided tour to the
graves of some of the characters identified in Spoon River Anthology.
Brochures and a tour guide will be available for assistance of the tours.
Location: Oak Hill Cemetery, South Entrance, Lewistown
Dates: Last Saturday of the month from April to October. April 25th,
May 30th, June 27th, July 25th, August 29th, September 26th, and
October 31st.
Times: 6:00 - 7:00pm
*Special Notes: Dress appropriately for outdoor conditions and to walk
over uneven terrain. Creation of a Digital Tour to be experienced at
home or in the cemetery will be released in 2015. Release date to be
announced.
Traveling Exhibit, 100th Anniversary, Spoon River Anthology, 1915
– 2015, by Edgar Lee Masters –This free-standing traveling exhibit
tells the story of the internationally known Spoon River Anthology. No
other volume of poetry made such an immediate impact, both positive
and negative, and few since have been so influential. The new style of
literary expression introduced by former Lewistown resident Edgar Lee
Masters had a powerful impact on its readers and is now regarded as
one of the classics of American literature. Set in the fictional town of
“Spoon River”, characters speak from beyond the grave to tell their life
stories. The exhibit also discusses the uproar created by Spoon River
Anthology in Masters’s former hometown. Local people immediately
recognized that the “fictional” town of “Spoon River” was not so fictional
and that many of the Anthology characters were recognizable as their
friends, neighbors, relatives, and even themselves.
Location: Graham Hospital, Lower Level Atrium, Canton
Dates: March 3rd – April 30th
Location: Lewistown Carnegie Public Library
Dates: April 30th - June 5th
Location: Canton Art on Main, Jones Park, Canton
Dates: June 6-7th
Location: Parlin-Ingersoll Public Library
Dates: June 8th – July16th
Location: Dickson Mounds Museum
Dates: July 17th - August 21st
Location: Farmington Area Public Library District
Dates: August 21st – October 2nd
Location: Lewistown Visitors Center
Dates: October 3rd - October 11th
Location: Vermont Public Library
Dates: October 12th - November 23rd
“The Small-Town Experience in Spoon River Anthology” - By John
Hallwas - Author and speaker John Hallwas, who produced Spoon River
Anthology: An Annotated Edition (1992)—a Choice Best Academic
Book, which disclosed the background for Masters’ famous poetic
monologues and discussed his view of America—will speak on how the
poet’s experience in Lewistown and Petersburg impacted the writing of
his famous book. Indeed, Masters had a complex, troubled relationship
to his small-town background. Also, his book was written at a time when
the American small town was dealing with great challenges, due to
cultural change, and people who had built their lives around the rhythms
of rural and small-town society often experienced significant stress. By
reading and focusing on selected poems, Hallwas will reveal how the
Anthology reflects crucial issues about human life—such as identity,
belonging, and status—issues that were increasingly problematic
in the small-town Midwest. With two dozen books and hundreds of
articles in print, Hallwas is a widely published author, who has spoken
extensively on small-town life, Midwestern history, and Illinois writers.
Light refreshments will be served after the Lecture. Hosted by ISM Dickson Mounds Museum.
Location: Dickson Mounds Museum, Lewistown
Date: Sunday, May 17th
Time: 1:00 - 2:00pm
Masters Book Sale Celebration - Celebrate Masters’s Spoon River
Anthology with the Friends of the Lewistown Library. Book sale proceeds
go towards the new Lewistown Carnegie Public Library building.
Location: New Library Location, at 1126 N. Main St.
Dates: Saturday, May 30th and Sunday, May 31st
Times 8:00am - 5:00pm Saturday, and Noon - 5:00pm Sunday
Understanding Illinois Burial Grounds and Cemeteries - Cemeteries
are places with specific above ground visual and material features
including graves, grave markers, landscaping, fences, and a recognizable
spatial arrangement. The placement and arrangement of these items
reflect specific choices and provides insight into how people structured
and ordered their social and physical landscape. Because cemeteries
are dynamic they also reflect changing cultural and social values.
Understanding these visual characteristics and their changes through
time provides a deeper meaning of what is represented in burial grounds
and cemeteries. This knowledge, and respecting the laws that protect
them, will ensure their preservation for the future. This program will be
presented by Hal Hassen, IDNR Archaeologist, and Dawn Cobb, Physical
Anthropologist, Illinois State Museum. Hosted by ISM - Dickson Mounds
Museum.
Location: Oak Hill Cemetery, Lewistown
Date: Saturday, June 13th
Time: 1:00-3:00pm
*Special Note: Dress appropriately for outdoor conditions and to walk
over uneven terrain.
Spoon River Anthology Radio Poetry Readings, WBYS - Readings
of selected Spoon River Anthology poems by members of Many Lights
Theatre and the Spoon River College Department of Drama & Theatre.
Broadcast on WBYS 1560 AM, 93.7 FM, Canton, Illinois Throughout the summer.
Paddy and Jon Lynn, Selections from Edgar Lee Masters’ ‘Spoon
River’ Anthology - No other literary work from Illinois has ever had the
radical impact of Edgar Lee Master’s Spoon River Anthology, published
in 1915. In Master’s 243 thinly veiled epitaph-poems, people from all
walks of life come forward from their graves and share compelling stories
of their hopes, dreams, tragedies, and joys, not to mention their advice
and warnings to those still living. The uproar that this book created
because of its unique free verse style and its portrayal of characters
with blunt, brutal honesty caused a scandal upon its debut. As a result,
it was banned from the Spoon River area schools and libraries until
1974. The stories capture all aspects of life- irony, comedy, failure,
success. These dramatized monologues portrayed by one actor and
actress, will not only reflect on the life and times of those living in 1915,
but also offer universal lessons to Illinoisans living today.
Location: Big Creek Park, Canton Illinois
Date: Tuesday, June 16th
Time: TBA
Location: Dickson Mounds Museum, Outdoor Stage, Lewistown
Date: Saturday, September 19th
Time: 2:00pm
Hosted by the Fulton County Historical and Genealogical Society.
“Love, Itself.” - Performance by the Fulton County Playhouse. A young
couple on the eve of their wedding becoming disillusioned by their
respective families. Characters from “Spoon River Anthology” meet
with the girl and talk to her about the difficulties, disappointments and
wonders of marriage and love.
Location: Dickson Mounds Museum, Outdoor Stage
Dates: Friday, July 17, Saturday, July 18, and Sunday, July 19
Times: Friday, 6:30pm, Saturday, 3:00pm, and Sunday 3:00pm
Poetry Contest - (In memory of Joan Johnson-Blackwell) Sponsored
by the Fulton County Arts Council. Contest details to be announced.
Poetry Due: September 13th
Winners Announced: September 21st
Poetry Readings: September 26th, 4pm, at Oak Hill Cemetery
Cemetery Art and Scavenger Hunt - Enjoy arts and crafts in the
Cemetery. Also have fun practicing your detective skills during the
tombstone scavenger hunt. Hosted by the Fulton County Arts Council.
Location: Oak Hill Cemetery, Lewistown
Date: Saturday, September 12th
Time: 1:00pm -3:00pm
Kids Art Workshop - “Tombstone” art workshop with Julie Wasson.
Rubbings of tombstones are made and students create an image of
that person based on features of stone and epitaph. Sponsored by the
Fulton County Arts Council.
Location: Oak Hill Cemetery
Date and Time to be announced.
“Return to Spoon River” Movie Showings - Showings of the recently
filmed and soon to be released Italian documentary film on Spoon River
Anthology. Hosted by the Lewistown Society for Historic Preservation.
Location, Dates, and Times to be announced.
Music Program - Presented by the Spoon River College Community Chorus.
Location: To be announced
Dates: Saturday, December 5th and Sunday, December 6th
Times: 7:00pm
Other programs to be announced throughout the year.
Sponsoring Organizations/Entities:
Canton Art on Main
City of Lewistown
Dickson Mounds Museum
Farmington Area Public Library District
Friends of the Lewistown Carnegie Library
Fulton County Arts Council
Fulton County Historical and Genealogical Society
Fulton County Playhouse
Historic Ellisville Restoration Organization
Illinois Arts Council
Illinois Humanities Council
Lewistown Carnegie Public Library
Lewistown Chamber of Commerce
Lewistown High School
Lewistown Society for Historic Preservation
Many Lights Theatre
Parlin-Ingersoll Public Library
Spoon River College Community Chorus
Spoon River College Department of Drama & Theatre
Vermont Public Library
WBYS, Canton
For more information about the events go to www.mastersanthology.
com, call Amanda Woodruff at (309)547-4301, or email: design.
awoodruff@gmail.com.